The girlfriend and I have the first week in June off on holiday. We'd like to go and spend the week in the Alps walking. We want to fly from scotland to Geneva and stay hotel based. We'll have a hire car for the week. Any suggestions on where to go and stay folks Thanks
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 The Hotel Splendid in Interlaken is where I have stayed on several occasions. Good quality hotel and the owners are very nice. You don't need a hired car. Trains and Postbuses are the best means of getting into the mountains. Based at Inerlaken allows a choice of two valleys for your walks.
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Here is my blog from my last summer trip to the Bernese Oberland in 2006. It should give you some idea of what is out there and you can link to my photos.
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Yep another vote for Splendid, stayed once and then found its just easier to take a tent as the sites are lovely.
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 I'll agree with these two guys entirely about going to that area of the Alps. HOWEVER, I've only spent one day in Interlaken itself and I didn't like it that much as a town. If I was re-visiting I'd look for a hotel up the valley in Lauterbrunnen or maybe Grindelwald. Means less traveling each day. Lindsay is very correct in saying that a car isn't necessary in this part of the world. I stayed in Lauterbrunnen for a week and we didn't use the car once (normally as a family we'd drive lots during our holidays). In this region you have the benefit of being really really close to the mountains, you can't really drive any further up but they have a fantastic rail network and ski lifts/cable cars that will transport you around the area. There are also boats from Interlaken. Look here for details. In my opinion and experience, the Jungfrau area really is one of the most beautiful areas of the Alps, and it is incredibly accessible. It offers plenty for hardcore walkers right down to families who just want to admire the scenery. I've been to other very popular areas of the alps such as Chamonix, Courmayeur and Annecy but Interlaken wins hands down. Sometimes I feel Lindsay and I should be getting paid for the amount of times we've recommended the area!
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Thanks for the replies guys. Now looking into the Grindlewald area
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MP: give Wengen a look too in that area, superb little town and base for walking, IMO and second LB re. trains: the Swiss train system is simply sublime and will get you anywhere you want to go quickly, cheaply, in comfort and on time - even right up to Wengen, Grindlewald, Gimmelwald etc. It would be sacrilege to use a car.
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 its just easier to take a tent as the sites are lovely. Summer Alpine weather CAN give you a week of rain and low cloud, though. Happened to us once, so after the first night of being confined to the tent (t really was that bad), we checked out the forecast for the rest of the week and fled to Provence as we only had a tent budget. A B&B to go to would have encouraged us to stay longer. And some of the campsites have squat toilets...bit wearing after a couple of days. Have fun!
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The Swiss Railway timetable in English is here http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en It is well worth getting a Swiss Card which gives free travel to and from the airport on your first and last day plus half price travel on every train, mountain railway, bus and cable car (including to the Jungfraujoch) throughout your stay. www.swisspasses.com is one good source for this. Getting in advance means no queues for a ticket at the airport station which could save 15 minutes there.
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seat61.com also as always a fantastic source of train info
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If you stay in Switzerland there are several resorts you can get too easily from Geneva by train. Roughly 2 hours are; Villars, Diablerets, Leysin, Chateau d'Oex, Gryon. 3-4 hours away you've got choice of Crans Montana, Zermatt etc. All have great summer hiking and good websites. If you stay in France and use the hire car you've got the Aravis and Beaufortain ranges which have some of the best "moyenne montagne" hiking around. Lots of places to stay in the Aravis but worth considering Grand Bornand, Petit Bornand or La Clusaz. Cheers Sam
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