Switzerland/Austria - suggestions?

[DownhillGoat]

I would highly recommend Zermatt. Went there last year. I'm at work now but ill post some details when I'm back home.

[troutman]

[getbak]

I have no idea if there's anything worth seeing in Davos, but I would love to visit the arena where they play the Spengler Cup.

[Table 5]

Getbak, It would definitely be awesome to watch a game there....it's like a cathedral of hockey.

Spoiler!

I would highly recommend Zermatt. Went there last year. I'm at work now but ill post some details when I'm back home.

Definitely would love to hear your thoughts...looks like a beautiful place.

You could take advantage of Switzerland's liberal marijuana laws if you're into that sort of thing.

I'm not. I get enough second-hat pot smoke wafting in from my neighbors.

[AvsJerk]

Rent a limo, drive around asking hot women if they would like to throw some shrimp on the bar-b?

[Brewmaster]

Originally Posted by Zulu29

That is so beautiful it made me pause for a moment to consider if it was real or not.

I took that photo less than a minute after getting off the train at Lauterbrunnen. Was an impressive introduction to the alps to say the least!

I'll also second Hulkrogan's recommendation on Bern and swimming down the Aare river in the summer. People were sunbathing under the parliament building and swimming the river all afternoon:


It was also really cool to see open meadows with cows grazing way up high in the mountains:

[DownhillGoat]

From the edge of town in Zermatt:


Spoiler tag for more pics:

Spoiler!

So some of the highlights I guess:

- I rode the train there. It was roughly 4 hours from Geneva airport and really easy to get to. The train system is awesome. Keep in mind if you do go to Zermatt, it's a car-less town. If you drive at the very least you have to park about 10km (there's another town) out and take the train in. Alternatively, you could stay in that town and take the train into Zermatt for the day. I had a hockey bag, ski gear, and 2 carry-on backpacks and lugged it around on the train by myself, so between you and your wife carrying the kid-type stuff is still probably doable. The train there would be better IMO, but I very much see your point too. Tough call.

- Switzerland (Zermatt in particular) is expensive. Like ridiculously expensive. Like having to pay 12 francs for a litre of water at the ski hill/glacier expensive. Meals ran an easy 20-50 francs per person (sit down meals). Watches surprisingly are not cheaper there than they are in Canada.

- The fondue is spectacular. As is the chocolate. I don't even like chocolate.

- Very easy to communicate. Most people speak french or german (Zermatt is mostly german), and at the very least fractured english. Almost everyone in the tourist/service industry speaks english.

- There's a few places to go on day trips from Zermatt. Leukerbad (hot springs/baths), Visp, Montreaux, Sass-fee. Lots to do with the family.

- Lots of things to do in Zermatt. Hiking (tons of good hikes, a lot of which are easy and doable with a newborn), skiing (even in the summer), parasailing if you're looking for some adventurous sight-seeing, there's trains/gondolas/trams to most of the peaks around the Matterhorn.

- And my favourite part, it's the home of the Matterhorn.

- Warning - I thought altitude sickness/adjustment wasn't really a real thing until going to the top of the Matterhorn my second day there. I was a bag of crap the whole trip. Jet-lag and drinking until 4am every day probably had a bit to do with it, but the altitude definitely affected me.

If you end up deciding to go there I can take a look at some of the restaurants I went to and throw out a few recommendations. Try the rosti. It's delicious, and can be found everywhere.

[Dion]

[Bill Bumface]

The Matterhorn photos are just Swiss propaganda. I went to Zermatt twice, which isn't in the easiest part of Switzerland to get to, and both times the locals expressed their disappointment that "The Matterhorn was covered in cloud and completely invisible, what a shame as it's spectacular". Sure it was... you sneaky Swiss #######s!!

One thing I'd highly recommend is making sure you have one stop at least in the French, German and Italian regions. It's kind of interesting to notice the cultural differences in such a small geographic area.

[FlamesAddiction]

When I see pictures of the Swiss landscape, it actually really reminds me of the area around Smithers, BC.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

The Matterhorn photos are just Swiss propaganda. I went to Zermatt twice, which isn't in the easiest part of Switzerland to get to, and both times the locals expressed their disappointment that "The Matterhorn was covered in cloud and completely invisible, what a shame as it's spectacular". Sure it was... you sneaky Swiss #######s!!

Ha, I had a similar experience with Mount Vesuvius. Hiked up the bloody thing only to have it be so misty/cloudy that you coudn't even see inside the crater even though the edge was only 20 feet away. Of course as soon as we left, the cloud lifted....sure looked pretty from far away at least.

[simmer2]

I had the great fortune to live in Switzerland for a year.

It is hard to go wrong, lots of great suggestions:

-Locarno/Bellinzona/Lugano 2 day trip
-Goldeneye Bungee Jump http://www.trekking.ch/en/bungy/007-...ike-james-bond
-Montreux near Geneva
-Interlaken
Lausanne
-Chur for white water rafting
-Endless hiking anywhere

My favourite area of Switzerland by far was the Italian area. It was different than anything I had seen in Canada.

[#22]

Neutral Ninnies!!! Land locked Losers!!!

[Sylvanfan]

Go thru the 22 km tunnel they have somewhere on the road between Venice and Lucerne. You should just save your money and cancel the trip though....you'll need it for daycare next year.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

You should just save your money and cancel the trip though....you'll need it for daycare next year.

Pfft, that's a problem for 2014 Table 5 to deal with. 2013 Table 5 needs fondue.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Table 5

2013 Table 5 needs fondue.

From wikipedia, because I can't explain it properly:

Originally Posted by the Fondue page on wikipedia

A cheese fondue mixture should be kept warm enough to keep the fondue smooth and liquid but not so hot that it burns. If this temperature is held until the fondue is finished there will be a thin crust of toasted (not burnt) cheese at the bottom of the caquelon. This is called la religieuse (French for the nun). It has the texture of a cracker and is almost always lifted out and eaten

I had no idea, until an delightful elderly Swiss waitress tried to explain that I was leaving the best part, then scraped the whole thing out onto my plate. I'd order an entire fondue just for that part.

[Table 5]

Oh man, that sounds amazing.

[Mark]

Came in to add Hallstatt, but happy someone already suggested it. Such a beautiful area with salt mines, ice caves, and a gondola system to get you anywhere. Definitely one of my favorite places and not too far from Salzburg. Everyone has seen pictures of Hallstatt somewhere.

[Language]

Nothing to really add to this thread as most people have places to see already covered. Salzburg in Austria is a beautiful place.

It makes me so jealous to think that there's literally thousands of little towns all over Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, etc. that are incredibly beautiful. Don't think I'd ever get bored travelling around Europe.

[Suave]

A great day trip would be to the Borromean Islands on Lago Maggiore. You take a bigger ferry to the main island and then you can hop on small boats between the other two. One island is mainly a large villa, the other an elaborate garden and the third is a little fishing village. Just can't remember if you can take a ferry from the Swiss side or if you have to cross over into Italy. Either way worth spending a day there.