International (Europe/Japan/Southern Hemisphere) Alps Summer Road-trip

[dovski]

Well ski season is officially over for us, and we are almost done putting storage wax on all our skis. This seemed like a good time to finalize our summer travel plans which this year are in Europe. One week visiting my wife's family in the UK and then off to Geneva where we are renting a car and driving through the Alps. Current plan is the following:
Geneva - 1 day
Zermatt 1 Day
Lake Como 1 day
Charmonix 2 days
Back to Geneva where we fly on to Amsterdam for 3 days and then home.

With the above in mind we were hoping to get some recommendations for must do things while in the Alps. Sights to see, activities to try and of course great restaurants. All advice and contributions are appreciated. Currently we have flights, car and hotels booked, though we have some flexibility with hotels and can easily make changes.

 

[luliski]

Hiking in the Alps would be my recommendation, but you’re not staying very long in any one place.

 

[dovski]

Hiking in the Alps would be my recommendation, but you’re not staying very long in any one place.

We are planning to do some day hikes but nothing too intense. Ideally will be taking trams to altitude and doing some shorter hikes. We also want to do Summer Luge, some mountain biking and also visit some of the villages ... etc

 

[scott43]

Don't go in August..

 

[Kyle]

Chamonix and Zermatt are both awesome. You may need to be flexible and get up early to make sure you see the Matterhorn. You will want to see it in the early morning light regardless. The Sunnega/Rothorn funicular lifts offer quick access to iconic Matterhorn views, good walk/hikes and take less time/cost than Gornegrat train (which is also great but lots of people will recommend that). The 5 Lakes trail system (or some portion of it) make a great walk/hike.

In Chamonix, I would buy a two day lift pass and use it to go up the Augille Du Midi on one day (earlier is definitely better), stop at the mid-way point and hike the Gran Balcon (South) to the ice cave and the train back into town. On the second day, explore the Gran Balcon (North) on any of the series of trails and lifts.

Not sure I would do all the 1 day stays in light of the travel times involved. Zermatt to Lake Como is about a 5 hour drive and probably 6 or 7 hours by car isn’t it? I would be tempted to stay 2 nights in Zermatt (or Wengen/Murren).

We had some good meals but I don’t really recall the restaurant names but make sure you get raclette (and probably fondue) somewhere in your travels.

 

[dovski]

Chamonix and Zermatt are both awesome. You may need to be flexible and get up early to make sure you see the Matterhorn. You will want to see it in the early morning light regardless. The Sunnega/Rothorn funicular lifts offer quick access to iconic Matterhorn views, good walk/hikes and take less time/cost than Gornegrat train (which is also great but lots of people will recommend that). The 5 Lakes trail system (or some portion of it) make a great walk/hike.

In Chamonix, I would buy a two day lift pass and use it to go up the Augille Du Midi on one day (earlier is definitely better), stop at the mid-way point and hike the Gran Balcon (South) to the ice cave and the train back into town. On the second day, explore the Gran Balcon (North) on any of the series of trails and lifts.

Not sure I would do all the 1 day stays in light of the travel times involved. Zermatt to Lake Como is about a 5 hour drive and probably 6 or 7 hours by car isn’t it? I would be tempted to stay 2 nights in Zermatt (or Wengen/Murren).

We had some good meals but I don’t really recall the restaurant names but make sure you get raclette (and probably fondue) somewhere in your travels.

Current plan is to drive from Nyon to Tasch so we can explore Zermatt a little on the first day and then get up early and take a Tram up to the peak for the views as opposed to the Gornegrat train. We are staying in Carate Urio on Lake Como which is a little less than 3.5 hours drive. And it is about the same time to drive from Carate Urio to Chamonix.
Staying on Lake Como was a fun way to break up the drive to Chamonix where we will spend a solid 2+ days. So definitely will get the two day pass.

The place we are staying in Chamonix is a 10 min walk from Aiguille Du Midi, which we want to do at the crack of dawn. Our kids also want to do the Summer Luge at Planards. We also wanted to visit Montenvers - Mer de Glace. We also read somewhere that there were tunnels in one of the glaciers that you could explore. Will be in the area for the last week of June and are traveling with our kids so hiking will be limited to shorter excursions. If all goes well this will be the first of many trips to the area

​

 

[fatbob]

Yeah agree that Como makes little sense for such a short stay. No way is it anywhere near breaking up the journey between Tasch and Cham which is dead easy via Martigny. You could easily stay there or in Sion or Sierre and pack in a days activities in Verbier, up the St Bernard , Crans or Zinal/ Grimentz instead mentioning only ski related villages.

 

[dovski]

Yeah agree that Como makes little sense for such a short stay. No way is it anywhere near breaking up the journey between Tasch and Cham which is dead easy via Martigny. You could easily stay there or in Sion or Sierre and pack in a days activities in Verbier, up the St Bernard , Crans or Zinal/ Grimentz instead mentioning only ski related villages.

All good points, Lake Como is out, so the question is what should we replace it with. Love Verbier but have only been there in the winter. Would be great if we could find a small mountain village in the area to stay in as I think that would be a great experience for the kids.

 

[Cheizz]

Try google 'most charming village in Wallis'... serious suggestion

 

[dovski]

Good call, Lake Como is out and Grimentz is in

 

[fatbob]

Good call, Lake Como is out and Grimentz is in

Enjoy the scariest road in the world!

 

[slow-line-fast]

Good choice on Como. Nice but lots of driving for the time you have. Save it for another trip, in and out of Milan, Italian lakes and nearby Alps.

A second day in Zermatt is a good option - plenty to do, and that second day gives you a better chance to catch some good weather thus see the Matterhorn.

 

[dovski]

So curious what folks think of the Swiss Pass, or more importantly the half price pass. Seems if I buy an adult pass you get the kids pass free. It also looks likes with the pass adults get half price and kids get to ride free on many trains and cable cars ... etc.

 

[Kyle]

You should definitely look at it when you finalize your itinerary. It is relatively expensive but does cover a lot of trains, lifts, funiculars, etc. It definitely penciled out on a family trip where we spent 4 days in Switzerland in Murren and Zermatt and traveling to and between them and then on to Italy. We got way more than our money's worth buying it (which is not a frequent occurrence in Switzerland).

It often covers lifts up to a certain point or elevation. For example, in covered you up to Murren and a little above it but not all the way up the Schilthorn (or Jungfraujoch). In Zermatt, I recall that it covered the Sunnega funicular but not the Rothorn gondola to the top of the mountain.

 

[crosscountry]

So curious what folks think of the Swiss Pass, or more importantly the half price pass. Seems if I buy an adult pass you get the kids pass free. It also looks likes with the pass adults get half price and kids get to ride free on many trains and cable cars ... etc.

If you're relying on the train for your vacation, no brainer. But you're planning to drive for most of your days. How much do you plan to ride the trains?

 

[dovski]

You should definitely look at it when you finalize your itinerary. It is relatively expensive but does cover a lot of trains, lifts, funiculars, etc. It definitely penciled out on a family trip where we spent 4 days in Switzerland in Murren and Zermatt and traveling to and between them and then on to Italy. We got way more than our money's worth buying it (which is not a frequent occurrence in Switzerland).

It often covers lifts up to a certain point or elevation. For example, in covered you up to Murren and a little above it but not all the way up the Schilthorn (or Jungfraujoch). In Zermatt, I recall that it covered the Sunnega funicular but not the Rothorn gondola to the top of the mountain.

I know that the half price pass applies to things like this

Matterhorn Glacier Paradise online booking | Zermatt Bergbahnen

The Matterhorn Glacier Paradise can be reached from Zermatt in a journey time of around 40 minutes, including changes. Here you can find the return ticket to

www.matterhornparadise.ch

and kids get their pass for free. Just trying to figure out if kids then travel for free or just half price. Was really just thinking of the half price pass for trams, cable cars and attractions as the price for many of these are quite steep. Does anyone know how much is covered by the half price pass?

 

[Cheizz]

Does anyone know how much is covered by the half price pass?

Doesn't it say in the conditions? It mostly does.

 

[Choucas]

Nice if can do it without a car. The Swiss make that option very easy with access to trains, boats, buses, and cable cars. Less of a carbon footprint. Also look into sending bags ahead by train to your next destination. Less schlepping bags on and off trains. You can also store bags at the train station. Hotels will hold bags for a day or so as well. Hotels near to train stations make sense if you go that route. Temptation is to try to do it all. Staying at a base (I favor smaller family run hotels) for a couple of nights is less hectic than loading up and hitting the road every morning for the next destination. You have picked a great part of Switzerland to visit. Enjoy and get the most out of it.

 

[dovski]

So we ultimately decided (with advice from all of you) that we should really do 2 nights in Zermatt, so new plan is Geneva, Zermatt, Chamonix, Geneva and Amsterdam.
Still trying to work out the best option for lift passes in Zermatt. Their summer ski pass is quite reasonable and gives you access to every lift and train, but they let me know that if you did not have skis you cannot use it, for some reason I think they will actually enforce that rule. So now looking for options to get a packaged pass or discount pass, otherwise riding these lifts gets quite pricey in Summer.

While train is nice, we really wanted to drive through the alps with the freedom to stop and explore whenever we wanted, unfortunately the train is point to point, it also forces you to plan around their schedule, so we opted to drive instead.

 

[crosscountry]

While train is nice, we really wanted to drive through the alps with the freedom to stop and explore whenever we wanted, unfortunately the train is point to point, it also forces you to plan around their schedule, so we opted to drive instead.

Train are only "point-to-point" if you want to. You can get off and on along the way.

"Their schedule" is typically quite frequent. You do have to "plan" it so you don't arrive at the train station 5 minutes after one train leaves and the next one won't be for another 25 minutes.