Looking for advice on where to visit in December
After looking through the links in the sidebar, i've ended up even more confused than i started.
a bit of background: i've visited Switzerland many times and i LOVE the country. My wife, however, has only been to Zurich area and i wanted her to see the French side too. Friends of ours have just moved to Geneva and we'd love to visit them. However, they're new (less than 2 months) and couldn't really give us too much advice.
We're coming from Dubai and don't get a chance to see snow (in fact, my wife has never seen snow falling, only on the ground). It's our anniversary and for her the idea of walking around during a snowfall is the most romantic thing in the world. So i was hoping for some ideas.
Our priorities:
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Visit Geneva to see her friends for a day or 2 - we can do some outings with them
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i loved Lausanne/Montreux when i visited in the summer - is it still worth going to in the winter?
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I would love to be in a city with snow - i know Geneva, Lausanne, Montreux don't really get too much snow, and i would love to be able to go to a city with a snowy Christmas market.
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Go to do some beginning snow activities - snowboarding/skiing - we are true beginners so it doesn't need to be the best-of-the-best slopes. We will probably spend more time on sleds/toboggans
We have 6 full days to fill up with sight-seeing, activities and food, but we like a slow pace - don't want to be rushing from place to place.
My basic idea -
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land in Geneva and book a hotel for 2 or 3 nights. Use the time to see the city and do a day trip or 2. (Chamonix?)
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Rent a car and go to Lausanne for the day. Like i said, i've only been here in the spring/summer so i'm not sure if this would be worth it.
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Spend the next day in Montreux - again, is it worth it?
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Drive to Zermatt for more mountain action for 2 days before driving back to Geneva and flying home.
Should i be looking at more things over the French border? Will Chamonix satisfy our (minimal) mountain cravings? Should we try other cities too?
Thanks in advance!
Posted Dec 21, 2017, 4:45 AM UTC
Do not rent a car, lausanne currently has a little snow but the big problem is ice on the road. I would not risk to find out the adverse effects of icy/snowy roads in a rented car with my relatives in it.
I would recommend rochers de naye for the view, there is a small train going up from montreux and it should be clear weather the next days, perfect for this.
Edit: you cannot drive to zermatt, the valley is closed to automotive traffic. You have to either take a train or if you are rich, a chopper.
wow. thanks for the warning!
When you recommend Rochers de Naye, would you rather skip Chamonix or Zermatt?
If driving to Lausanna is dangerous and Zermatt is impossible, i might as well just take the trains everywhere. theyre just so expensive and inconvenient when it comes to carrying luggage and having to be strict with timing etc.
Don't really know, sorry. I have never been to neither :/
If you do daily excursions luggage should not be a problem since you can leave all at the hotel. Alternatively at the big train stations there are luggage locks where you can store them for a day.