UKC

booked a ferry from newcastle to amsterdam in the summer hols and have 2 weeks to tour. 2 adults, 2 kids (10 and 8). and a campervan.
roughly looking to go down through germany, through tirol, switzerland and back up through eastern france.

does anyone have any tips on what not to miss and/or what to avoid?

thanks,
dan.

In reply to dan bulman:



Dan, on the way done through Germany, call at the aircraft museum, its right at the side of the autobahn. There was a concorde and a concordeski when we went past 10 years ago.
You must not miss the castle of Neuschwanstein near Fussen in Bavaria. The castle featured at the end of the film "The great escape"
Interlaken, Grindlewald and a trip upto Kleine Scheidegg are also not too be missed. The train is a bit expensive!!!

regards John
ps hope you enjoy your trip.

In reply to johnwright:

Thanks John. Interlaken looks amazing. Could do grindelwald from there as a daytrip.

In reply to dan bulman:

Interlaken looks amazing. Could do grindelwald from there as a daytrip.

The last time me and my wife were in Interlaken was about 2.5 years ago. We worked for a camping company and we were there to close down the mobile home for the winter. I was in October, the weather was awesome about 30 deg c all week. We took the trip on the train from Grindlewald to Kleine Scheidegg, the views of the Eiger are amazing. I pissed it down the next day as we drove back into France. Brilliant week.Hope you will be as lucky as us.

regards John

In reply to dan bulman:

Lauterbrunnen, Murren and Wengen are well worth a visit, then a nice drive over the Grimsel pass over into the next valley, take in Zermatt and the Gornegratt railway then down to Sion and the vineyards, pop over the Grnd St Bernard pass into Aosta valley, round back over into Chamonix for you east France return trip.

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

Thanks rich. That's it sorted! There are places I've never heard of in there so will look them up.

Any campsite experience?

In reply to dan bulman:

Yeah the one in Latterbrunnen is expensive but very good, Camping Jungfrau, its right under one of the falls, Stubbach i think, its only a 20 minute drive round to Grindelwald from there, i am sure there is camping there but you cant beat Lauterbrunnen for the views, plus the train from Lauterbrunnen up to Wengen then Kleine Scheidegg is very nice.

The one in just outside Zermatt is OK, http://www.camping-randa.ch handy parking for bus into town as its traffic free

We stayed at one up the valley towards the Grimsel pass, http://www.campingaugenstern.ch/camping-en was good for a cycling base to take in Grimsel, Nurfenen etc.

Never stayed in Aosta valley but we have never struggled to find sites, plenty in Chamonix, the Les 2 Glacier is generally quieter as its out of town.

If you have a plan in mind give me a shout, i may have some other ones we have stayed at that i can point you in the direction of.

These were all in a van by the way.

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

brill. thanks very much.
camping jungfrau looks awesome. i;m getting excited!.

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

interlaken or lauterbrunnen? both look great but only 20 mins apart. which would you stay at?

In reply to dan bulman:

In Switzerland, you might take in the Walensee on the way over from Austria. Sitting below the towering cliffs of the Churfirsten, it is perhaps one of the lesser known scenic delights and easily accessible from the motorway. At the eastern end, Walenstadt has a lakeside restaurant, a refreshment kiosk and a large grassy playground.

I'm not sure how feasible it is to drive over the passes in your campervan, but to get from there over to Interlaken, the Klausenpass followed by the Sustenpass would be one option (perhaps not both passes in the same day!) , while replacing the Sustenpass with the Brünigpass would be an easier drive. The Klausenpass road is quite narrow and challenging at points as well (the whole western side of the Klausenpass isn't available in the Street View coverage of Google Maps...which is fairly restricted in Switzerland for security reasons or something!).

The Klausenpass has a small refreshment stall at the pass itself and a larger hotel restaurant just down on the west side of the pass, both with large parking areas. If taking the Sustenpass, one has to be aware when coming south from Altdorf on the motorway that this is the way to the Gotthard tunnel, and traffic jams of several km are commonplace: best to get off the motorway sooner rather than later, at Amsteg for example.

The more southerly route via Chur, Oberalppass, Andermatt, Furkapass, Grimselpass is a longer alternative.

Innetkirchen, at the foot of the Grimsel and Sustenpasses has several campsites and would be a (much) quieter alternative to Interlaken, but Grindelwald should not be missed. Or else the main goal would be Zermatt and the Matterhorn, unless you can fit both in.

There is a good on-line map of Switzerland here: map.geo.admin.ch.

In reply to dan bulman:

Depends what you want to do but Lauterbrunnen is stunning, take a walk from the campsite to the Trümmelbach falls, get the cable car up to the Schilthorn, its just so atmospheric.

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

great. sounds awesome. thanks.

In reply to dan bulman:

Some good suggestions above - I used to live in Kandersteg in Switzerland, so have added some extra options below:

Good for the kids - Brigger Bad in Brig - outdoor thermal pools with some fun slides.
Visit Kandersteg, hike up to Oeschinensee (lovely alpine lake), have a swim (it might be a touch chilly…) and ride on the Rodelbahn (summer sled run).

Nice gentle hiking - Gasterntal, very picturesque valley tucked away above Kandersteg. Or Manlichen - Kleine Scheidegg using the lifts - very simple but picturesque walk using gondola and train (or walk down).

Wetish weather option - Aare Schult between Interlaken and Meiringen or head to Trummelbachfalle near Lauterbrunnen. First is a pretty incredible river gorge with walkways - gorge is narrow enough that you can touch both walls at one point, Second is big waterfalls carved in the Lauterbrunnen cliffs. Both are good wet weather options (you don't see much sun in either and Trummelbach falls kick up enough water that it might as well be raining!).
Very wet weather option - visit Cailler chocolate factory near Broc (over towards lake Geneva), its a bit of a cheesy tour, but the samples at the end make up for it.

Whilst in Switzerland, make use of a BBQ platz or 2. There's lots around the country - generally consist of a fireplace equipped with grill and wood supply. You just need sausages - makes for a more interesting lunch whilst out hiking.

Personally I'd leave the train to Jungfraujoch - it is pretty amazing place to get to by train, but very touristy, really expensive and a long time to sit on a train. Instead either just catch the train unto Kleine Scheidegg - essentially halfway up, but still with great views of the Eiger.

In reply to Gustav:

Thanks very much Gustav. Great ideas and information. Super ideas to do with the kids. I think I'm more excited though.