text: 4 days in Switzerland | Europe Forum | Fodor's Travel Talk Forums
  Posted by: oceania on Aug 30, 12 at 08:53 AM
  I'll be in Switzerland for 4 days at the beginning of January by myself (extended stopover). I will be flying in and out of Zurich. Arriving Jan 2, 6:45am and will have a 4 day Swiss Pass.
  I was hoping for itinerary critque/suggestions. I have been to Switzerland (Lucerne and Jungafrau) about 10 years ago.
  I'm looking for a mix of medieval town, scenic views of the Alps and a bit of city life. I really want to visit Geneva even though there's supposedly nothing there. I'm also basing my overnights in cities with hostels as I prefer to keep my budget low.
  This is the itinerary I have come up with and looking for suggestions - particularly what train route to take during my times in the Alps:
  Day 1 - morning Zurich & afternoon Bern (overnight Bern)
  Day 2 - morning Gruyeres* & afternoon Chillon* (overnight Geneva) - I think I'll only have time for cheese factory and castle in Gruyeres but will try for the chocolate factory if I can.
  Day 3 - morning in Geneva > afternoon in Alps (overnight Interlaken) - train route in Alps: Interlaken - Grindelwald - Kleine-Scheidegg - Lauterbrunnen - Interlaken - so I would do on/off, spending a little time in each place
  Day 4 - morning in Alps (potentially Riederalp - Bettmeralp) > afternoon Lucerne (overnight Zurich)
  Day 5 - fly home at noon.
  Sorry I had to re-post this because I didn't tag Switzerland the first time around
  swandav2000 on Aug 30, 12 at 11:04 AM
  That's quite a bit of running around, moving every single day. I personally wouldn't like that pace -- Remember that you lose about half a day of "outside" time with every move because of the chores of packing up & checking out, then checking in & unpacking again. With four nights, I would have only one destination, and I would see it in some depth.
  But for what you have outlined here:
  Chillon castle closes at 17.00 in January, with the last entry at 16.00, so you'll have to leave Gruyeres on the 13.59 train to arrive in Montreux at 15.13 (next possible departure from Gruyeres will get you to Montreux at 16.13). Imo, the best thing about Montreux is its flowered lakeside promenade, and it would be a shame to be there and to miss walking it. The walk from Montreux to Chillon takes 45 minutes. Bus takes about 10 minutes, and busses come along every 10 minutes.
  Riederalp and Bettmeralp are just outside of Brig, so you may want to schedule that when you are around Geneva. So maybe a better plan would be to see Riederalp and Bettmeralp on Day 3 and do the other train trip on Day 4.