FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Anything fun to do in Zurich, Switzerland for 1 day?
Old Jan 16, 2009 | 11:33 am
  #6  
Helena Handbaskets
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: (not Montana. Nor is my name really Helena, nor am I female)
Programs: Delta, USAirways, Starwood, Priority Club, Marriott, Amex
Posts: 2,557
Rent a car and drive to Lauterbrunnen. Park the car there and take the funicular up to Muerren (that's Murren with an umlaut [two dots] over the "u" - on maps.google.com, it comes up in a search for "murren" but not "muerren"). Return at the end of the day. IIRC it's about 2 hours each way (unless there's snow, ice, etc.), but about half the trip each way is as spectacular as any destination as you might choose, except for Muerren itself. You can get there by train, but I believe it takes longer and the trip is via a route that is much less spectacular along the way. If the weather is nice, a short hike downhill from Muerren to Gimmelwald is a great idea, and you can take a cable car back up to Muerren, or take the cable car down to Stechelberg in the valley, where I think you can catch a bus back to Lauterbrunnento pick up your car.

Forget the above if you've already been or if you plan to return to Switzerland with more time, as you'd ideally want a few days to visit the Bernese Oberland. But if this is your only chance, and if clouds/fog don't obscure the view, it'll redefine your concept of "dramatic scenery."

If you've been to the Bernese Oberland, you can also make a day's visit to places like Davos or the Appenzellerland from Zurich in a car, also for beautiful scenery.

The art museum in Zurich is not bad, but not on par with more famous museums like those in Paris, London, Florence, Madrid, etc., and certainly not worth passing up a chance to see the Lauterbrunnen valley.
Helena Handbaskets is offline