Summer in the Swiss Alps
 

My wife and I are going to be spending 2 weeks in the Swiss Alps in late August/early September, working our way over from Geneva to Lake Como (where we have a wedding to attend). We hiked the Dolomites (Italian Alps) last summer and absolutely loved it, and we enjoyed our time in Annecy (which is on the outskirts of the Alps) a couple years back, even though that was in February. My tentative plan right now is:

-spend a couple nights in Geneva (although I have flown through GVA before, we have never spent any time in the actual city before)
-spend 3-4 nights in Chamonix
-spend 4-5 nights in Zermatt
-end with 3-4 nights in Como (we need to be there for at least 3 nights)

Does anyone have a strong opinion of spots along this general route that would be good to stay in, whether for more or less time? Really the only requirement is modern upscale accommodations and central accessibility to hiking routes (ranging up to 15 miles roundtrip). Suggestions on cities to stay in, as well as hotels / lodges, would be greatly appreciated.

My first question would be how are you travelling? By car(own or rental), by train? The answer to that leads to convenience, cost and route choices. If a rental car, what about a drop off fee? If by train, what about a Swiss Rail Pass and if so, which type of pass?

For the places you mention, I would say that I like Geneva and do consider it worth a few nights provided you like what cities have to offer. I would definitely include a day trip to Montreux and a visit to Chateau Chillon either from Geneva or enroute to your next stop.

I also like Chamonix but it is of course in France and is a bit awkward as far as a route is concerned simply because it does require some backtracking no matter which way you go. So does Zermatt. Neither is a really big deal backtrack time wise but there may be alternatives that are on a more direct route to Como which appears to be your only must other than Geneva as your starting point. I would suggest you look at a road map or rail map as appropriate.

Some places like Zermatt, Interlaken, Lucerne, etc. are on most people's lists but often only because they happen to be the places they have heard of. I am not a Zermatt fan or an Interlaken fan at all. I find both far too touristy for my liking. As an avid hiker, I prefer smaller villages which may be in the same areas as the more popular tourist destinations but nowhere near as 'in your face'. For example, I prefer Tasch near Zermatt which also happens to be as far as you can go with a car if you are driving.

But if I were going from Geneva to Como and whether I side tripped to Chamonix and was travelling by car or train, I might decide to skip Zermatt altogether and instead stop in Leukerbad.
https://www.leukerbad.ch/adventures/summer/hiking/ Or in the Riederalp/Bettmeralp area where hiking alongside the Aletsch Glacier has to be one of the most spectacular places to hike anywhere.
https://www.aletscharena.ch/sports-s...resting-walks/ The problem is there are many, many places for hikers to base themselves and trying to suggest a 'best' is simply impossible. I could easily add another dozen stops for hiking between Geneva and Como.

One of my favourite spots near Como but still in Switzerland is Ascona. As a place to sit at an outdoor table and take in the passing parade, I prefer it over Como. Como is well known by tourists from everywhere, Ascona is well known primarily by European tourists. I consider Ascona touristy but not over-touristy. I'd say it was what Como was in the past and wishes it still was.
https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ca/ascona.html
Who would think you can find palm trees in Switzerland!
Swiss with a twist: Fine wine, Michelin-star food and Lake Maggiore? Ascona looks and feels Italian - but this is 'hidden' Switzerland | Daily Mail Online
I might be temped to stay in Ascona and just drive across into Italy for the day of the wedding. :cool:

Thanks! For our mode of travel, we are going to be driving...surprisingly, a one-way rental from GVA to LUG clocks in at 233 francs a week - quite reasonable. I don’t mind not going directly in the most efficient manner to Como, so going to Champnix or Zermatt don’t bother me too much.

For Zermatt - how similar to Cortina do you feel it would be? That was a bit larger than I would have preferred last summer. At the same time, I don’t want to be too isolated - and I do want to stay somewhere nice, and a cursory look at Hotels.com didn’t reveal a lot of choices outside of Zermatt. The locations to stay are largely for centrality - so even if we stay in Zermatt, I don’t mind taking the train to Tasch and driving to somewhere nearby to hike. I care more about staying somewhere nice than parking myself right next to certain hikes. I also would rather spend a block of nights somewhere as opposed to jump between different towns after 1-2 nights.

Hopefully that gives more a sense what I am looking for :) I will definitely look up some of these places you have mentioned though!

Take the drive over the Simplon to Domodossola. From there drive through Centovalli to Locarno. Make sure to check out the huge church in Re along the way. The drive from Locarno to Como. There are plenty of nice hiking opportunities in Centovalli. You can stay in Locarno and take the train to shuttle you along, or drive to trailheads.

First, Tasch to Zermatt is 12 minutes by train and there are around 83 trains per day. So obviously, not a factor in deciding which to stay in when the car must be parked in Tasch. Parking however may be a factor. It costs $16 USD per day to park in Tasch. If you stay in Tasch however, you park at your hotel for free.

Second, I never use third party booking sites for hotels in Switzerland (or anywhere else for that matter). Your comment that you didn't see a lot of choices outside of Zermatt is just one reason why, they don't list everything. I usually start any search on a given area of Switzerland on the My Switzerland website. https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ca/taesch.html Then I might look for hotels in Zermatt, Tasch or Randa (a couple of miles farther from Zermatt but still 15 minutes by train). Randa is even smaller than Tasch. I might look for hotels with this Google map site: https://www.google.ca/search?sa=X&rl...6!2i490!4f13.1

Once I had picked a hotel I would then book directly with the hotel.

I don't know what you mean by 'nice' in terms of where to stay. Everyone has their own definition of that. We definitely prefer smaller villages rather than larger and less tourism rather than more. Zermatt is not our idea of a 'real' Swiss village by any means. It's as touristy as you can get. Tasch less so, Randa even less again.

As for where to hike, I don't know how familiar you are with how extensive the hiking trails are in Switzerland. Here is a link to let you see what to expect: https://map.schweizmobil.ch/?lang=en...1750&N=1189000 If you zoom in on the map you will see all the trails in any given area.

Lots of hike descriptions can be found on sites like this: https://www.zermatt.ch/en/Media/Plan...urs/Arigscheis

If you’re around at that time and the weather happens to be great (which is never guaranteed in the Alps) get up there and do some high altitude hikes. Go up to the Mischabel Hütte and spend the night there, watching the sun set over the glaciers. It’s a heck of a pull up there and the last bit is mildly scary, with chains and rungs, but well worth. If I can do it and you are hikers, I’m sure you can manage it. Or do one of the “bisse” walks in canton Valais which involves less strenuous height differences when walking.
Gosh, I would even myself be up for hooking up and making trip with you up to one of those mountain cabins!