Pauline
Forums Admin
I posted the "what is your favorite town" question on this forum months ago and keep struggling to determine my answer. We have spent many weeks hiking in Switzerland in the last 20+ years - Engelberg, Grindelwald, Kandersteg, Gstaad, Saanen, Lenk, Leysin, Crans Montana, Zermatt, Davos, Locarno. The area that we like best for hiking is Gstaad - Saanen, but I don't like the town of Gstaad. It is too jetsetty. I like Saanen but it is tiny.
We are now planning a 2 - 3 week trip to Switzerland in September. The last time we were there was 2009 but we did not have a great trip because we had been in England the month before and that was the year of the Swine flu epidemic and we both caught it on the plane to Geneva (yes!!! someone sneezing nonstop a few rows behind us), so spent 2 weeks in Nendaz (Valais) and a week in Grindelwald mostly sick (really sick, first Steve, then me). So - we are owed a trip to Switzerland!
We want to return to the Gstaad area, but I don't want to stay in Gstaad (we spent 2 weeks there in 2007). I have been searching the Interhome listings and have come up with a plan - 2 weeks in Lenk! We spent 3 nights there many years ago and always planned to return. It is 34 mins by car to Gstaad, so we can easily go there to hike. Much of the hiking we liked in the Gstaad area is in between Gstaad and Lenk. Plus Lenk has a good selection of summer mountain rides and trails.
The current plan is to spend the first two weeks of September in Lenk, then a week somewhere else. Interhome is the best resource for vacation rentals in Switzerland, or go to the local tourist website and book through them. There are listings on the HomeAway websites, but most of them are from Interhome. I found a few interesting listings on AirBnb.
Switzerland is expensive these days, but now that they have linked the Swiss Franc with the Euro (more or less), it is not as bad as last year. Vacation rentals were inexpensive in Switzerland when we traveled there before, but now they are not as cheap. The good things is that there is usually good availability in the summer and the winter skiing season is the high season. Many people go in the summer for hiking, but more go in the winter. The summer season is short. In the high areas July - September is best, and things are starting to close at the end of September.
Photo from 2007, hiking in the Gstaad-Saanen-Lenk area.
We are now planning a 2 - 3 week trip to Switzerland in September. The last time we were there was 2009 but we did not have a great trip because we had been in England the month before and that was the year of the Swine flu epidemic and we both caught it on the plane to Geneva (yes!!! someone sneezing nonstop a few rows behind us), so spent 2 weeks in Nendaz (Valais) and a week in Grindelwald mostly sick (really sick, first Steve, then me). So - we are owed a trip to Switzerland!
We want to return to the Gstaad area, but I don't want to stay in Gstaad (we spent 2 weeks there in 2007). I have been searching the Interhome listings and have come up with a plan - 2 weeks in Lenk! We spent 3 nights there many years ago and always planned to return. It is 34 mins by car to Gstaad, so we can easily go there to hike. Much of the hiking we liked in the Gstaad area is in between Gstaad and Lenk. Plus Lenk has a good selection of summer mountain rides and trails.
The current plan is to spend the first two weeks of September in Lenk, then a week somewhere else. Interhome is the best resource for vacation rentals in Switzerland, or go to the local tourist website and book through them. There are listings on the HomeAway websites, but most of them are from Interhome. I found a few interesting listings on AirBnb.
Switzerland is expensive these days, but now that they have linked the Swiss Franc with the Euro (more or less), it is not as bad as last year. Vacation rentals were inexpensive in Switzerland when we traveled there before, but now they are not as cheap. The good things is that there is usually good availability in the summer and the winter skiing season is the high season. Many people go in the summer for hiking, but more go in the winter. The summer season is short. In the high areas July - September is best, and things are starting to close at the end of September.
Photo from 2007, hiking in the Gstaad-Saanen-Lenk area.
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