Switzerland beta needed...

**GoldMember** · 05-09-2007, 09:51 AM

Yeah, yeah, I know....search function, JONG...

My wife and I, kind of on a whim, booked a trip to Torgon, Switzerland for the end of June. I've never been to Europe before so have some questions and am looking for any cool tips anyone has on places to go, see, hike, whatever. First, what's needed for electrical stuff (laptop, cellphone charger, etc.). Also, how's driving there? Visas?

Any help/suggestions are appreciated.

**Idris** · 05-09-2007, 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by GoldMember

Yeah, yeah, I know....search function, JONG...

My wife and I, kind of on a whim, booked a trip to Torgon, Switzerland for the end of June. I've never been to Europe before so have some questions and am looking for any cool tips anyone has on places to go, see, hike, whatever. First, what's needed for electrical stuff (laptop, cellphone charger, etc.). Also, how's driving there? Visas?

Any help/suggestions are appreciated.

Ok, laptop and celphone charger, have a look at them. Should say something like 240-110v 50/60Hz this means you just need an plug adapter.

Cell phone coverage - as your provider

visa - if you are a US citizen you don't need one.

Driving - can you drive stick? narrow but (in switzerland) good roads. - Don't speed there are cameras everywhere and the rental company send you the bill - can be $1000's

Torgon is overlooking lake geneva, just round the corner from Evian france. in winter it is part of the portes du soleil. one of the bigest ski areas in the world - imagine summit county colorado interconected.

Summer skiing, Glacier 3000, Zermatt and Sass Fe are all day trip distance. Chamonix is nearer but you need skins to ski in summer here.

Must ride the Aiguille du Midi in Cham - no other ride like it.

Easy hiking - straight out your door. Chamonix is 1-1.30 hours from your door (via Martigny, col du forclaz and col du montets). Or Zermatt about 2.5 hours away both have some of the biggest hills this side of Tibet

http://www.viamichelin.com/

To work out where things are and how long to drive.

Beware gas costs $6 a gallon or more here.

Italy, go via Great St Bernard pass, come back via Mont Blanc Tunnel

LITT, Ripzalot and TeleAl are all nearby.

Tom

**Ripzalot** · 05-09-2007, 11:14 AM

^^^ that was pretty good.

i would add:

good hiking and biking in torgon. by the end of june the lifts will be cranking, and i will be mountain biking. hike or rent a bike and tour around portes du soleil. from torgon to chatel to morgins to champoussin to champery. and back. give me a shout if you want a bike tour.

a day trip to chamonix and up the aguille du midi is a must. and if you have the time a day trip to zermatt or saas fee. both are pretty spectacular.

otherwise just kick back in the sun and enjoy the mountain air.

**FrankZappa** · 05-09-2007, 12:33 PM

I know nothing of the place, but I would've started at the Swiss Army Knife Factory.

**GoldMember** · 05-09-2007, 12:53 PM

Laptop and cellphone charger - Check.

Cell phone coverage - Check.

visa - US citizen - Check.

Driving - can you drive stick? - Yes. Check.

Don't speed - Check

Summer skiing - arrrrgggghhh....no check. Wifey wants to sightsee, I want to hike. I'm hoping to do a skitour next year in the first part of April.

Aiguille du Midi in Cham - Check

Easy hiking - straight out your door. - Check

Chamonix - Check

Zermatt - Check

Beware gas costs $6 a gallon or more here - Check

Italy, go via Great St Bernard pass, come back via Mont Blanc Tunnel - Check

Thanks for all the information! Thanks to Ripzalot too. Ripzalot, I may take you up on the bike offer. I'll have to see how the schedule works out. We're only there 7 days and I know there's lots we want to travel around to and see. I'll pm you if I think it might work out.

**hemas** · 05-09-2007, 12:56 PM

If wifey wants to sightseeing... You might consider visiting Lucern, Interlaken and especially Grindelwald/Klein Scheidung (prolly misspelled that one). Checking out Eiger N-faces is really humbling.

**GoldMember** · 05-09-2007, 02:09 PM

Thanks hemas. I know Lucerne is on the list but I don't know about the other places. I'll have to check with her. I definitely want to check out Eiger but again don't know what's on her agenda. Thanks for your help.

**greg** · 05-09-2007, 02:37 PM

if you enjoy hiking be sure to enjoy one sunset just across the valley at the auberge de sonchaux. you have a spectacular view over the entrance of the valais and the whole lac geneva as the sun sets down at its other end.

food and wine are simple and also not very elaborate but view and ambience is magnificent..

http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/offe...omy-17537.html

http://maps.google.de/maps?f=q&hl=de...&t=k&z=18&om=1

**2-czech** · 05-09-2007, 05:50 PM

Originally Posted by hemas

If wifey wants to sightseeing... You might consider visiting Lucern, Interlaken and especially Grindelwald/Klein Scheidung (prolly misspelled that one). Checking out Eiger N-faces is really humbling.

i will second that. hiking around there is awesome...you can take the gondy up to Jungfrau, its expensive but worth it...

**GoldMember** · 05-09-2007, 11:15 PM

^^^ Jungfrau....I know that's on the list! We'll hit that for sure. Thanks!

**GoldMember** · 05-09-2007, 11:16 PM

Originally Posted by greg

if you enjoy hiking be sure to enjoy one sunset just across the valley at the auberge de sonchaux. you have a spectacular view over the entrance of the valais and the whole lac geneva as the sun sets down at its other end.

food and wine are simple and also not very elaborate but view and ambience is magnificent..

http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/offe...omy-17537.html

http://maps.google.de/maps?f=q&hl=de...&t=k&z=18&om=1

Cool! Yeah, we'll try to hit that for sure. Thanks!

**Ripzalot** · 05-10-2007, 12:19 AM

just to give you an idea of how close/far everything is:

Torgon -> Chamonix = 1:33
Torgon -> Zermatt = 2:35
Torgon -> Saas Fee = 2:28
Torgon -> Grindelwald = 2:55
Torgon -> Lucerne = 2:48

imho, i would recommend picking maybe 2 of the 5 for a 7 day stay. spend more time in the mountains relaxing and hiking rather than driving.

also:

lavey-les-bains, a hot springs wellness type place is about a half hour from torgon just off the highway. your wife will love it. it's something you could do every day after hiking.

an evening cruise on lake geneva might be nice too. start at villeneuve, cruise to lausanne and back. great views of the vineyards along the lake. stop in montreux and see the chateau chillon (old castle/fortress in the lake)

hit me with a PM if you need more details.

**brice618** · 05-10-2007, 01:10 AM

Originally Posted by Ripzalot

blah blah blah blah

blah blah blah

blah-lesbains, a hot springs wellness type place blah blah blah. your wife will love it. blah blah blah

Fixed it for you

**verbier61** · 05-10-2007, 02:12 AM

Originally Posted by GoldMember

Beware gas costs $6 a gallon or more here - Check

euro cars (and compact in particular) need much less gas

**PeterK** · 05-10-2007, 02:27 AM

Depending on your schedule, it could be cool to do the Passportes VTT while you are there. It's basically a discovery tour of the Portes du Soleil mountainbike area with food stalls, wine and beer along the route.

More info can be found here: http://www.passportesdusoleil.com/in...GE_USERLANG=en

I've never done it myself but everyone I know who've tried it says it's a blast. It will most likely be very crowded in the weekend so try for the Friday the 29th if that fits with your schedule.

**Ripzalot** · 05-10-2007, 03:05 AM

Originally Posted by PeterK

Depending on your schedule, it could be cool to do the Passportes VTT while you are there. It's basically a discovery tour of the Portes du Soleil mountainbike area with food stalls, wine and beer along the route.

More info can be found here: http://www.passportesdusoleil.com/in...GE_USERLANG=en

I've never done it myself but everyone I know who've tried it says it's a blast. It will most likely be very crowded in the weekend so try for the Friday the 29th if that fits with your schedule.

i've never done it either (i hate crowds) but i've done the full circuit many times on my own. monster queues at the lift stations. it takes a while to get all those people up with all those bikes. not recommended for casual bikers. you should be a pretty competent mountain biker and have a decent bike. i would recommend at least some light armor (helmet & elbow/knee pads). it fills up fast too. i think they have sold out (3000 bikers) every year.

personally, i really don't see the point...it's much nicer when the place is empty!

**PeterK** · 05-10-2007, 03:34 AM

I've been in the Portes du Soleil area for mountainbiking a couple of other weekends and except for the Chavannes lift in Les Gets where all the british tourists go, there has been basically no queues. But as you say, I guess this weekend is fairly different.

Helmet, leg armor and full fingered gloves and some previous mountainbiking experience would be very recommended, yes...

The point I guess is to make a nice discovery tour of the area and enjoy lots of local food and wine along the way. For crowd haters, there are for sure much better places. I'm still bummed that I can't make it this year

**Ripzalot** · 05-10-2007, 04:09 AM

Originally Posted by PeterK

I've been in the Portes du Soleil area for mountainbiking a couple of other weekends and except for the Chavannes lift in Les Gets where all the british tourists go, there has been basically no queues. But as you say, I guess this weekend is fairly different.

Helmet, leg armor and full fingered gloves and some previous mountainbiking experience would be very recommended, yes...

The point I guess is to make a nice discovery tour of the area and enjoy lots of local food and wine along the way. For crowd haters, there are for sure much better places. I'm still bummed that I can't make it this year

les gets used to be my go-to spot until they stop letting bikes on the mont chery chair. i can't believe that people actually push their bikes up now. morzine can be quite busy as well. but usually not more than a 10 minute wait on even a busy weekend.

i usually start at morgins or champery, then make my way over into france down to les lindarets, to avoriaz, to morzine, to les gets, and back. but now the areas of les lindarets and chatel linga have some of the best trails imho.

give me a shout the next time you go to PDS. i'm usually biking every weekend in the summer. i'll be posting in sprocket rockets.

**PeterK** · 05-10-2007, 05:39 AM

Originally Posted by Ripzalot

give me a shout the next time you go to PDS. i'm usually biking every weekend in the summer. i'll be posting in sprocket rockets.

Will do

If you happen to be in the Geneva area with your mountainbike tonight a bit before 7pm, swing by the telecabine du Saleve (the one that crosses the Autoroute Blanche). We are a gang of people who are heading up there for some riding after work tonight.

GoldMember: Sorry for hijacking your thread. Back to what to do in Switzerland now...

**GoldMember** · 05-10-2007, 02:05 PM

Rippzalot and Peter, Thanks for all the beta! This is all really helpful. I ride mountain bike a lot and am a pretty decent rider, for an old man.... If the rental stuff looks like it's pretty good, that sounds great. The lake cruise sounds like a good time. I'll have to gather all the ideas up and figure it all out now. Looks like we've got plenty to do. Thanks again for all your help!

**Buster Highmen** · 05-10-2007, 02:24 PM

Originally Posted by Idris

... plug adapter.

Not sure you copied this piece. You do know that the voltage will be different and you need a plug adapter for your chargers, right?

Yes, I'm a boor.

**lemon boy** · 05-10-2007, 02:32 PM

not for AC->DC chargers generally Bustah. Just have to get the prongs right (no converter).

**Buster Highmen** · 05-10-2007, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by lemon boy

not for AC->DC chargers generally Bustah. Just have to get the prongs right (no converter).

Did you see "plug adapter" check on Goldmember's list? Because then, your young eyes are much better than mine.
Anyway: http://www.enjoy-europe.com/hte/chap11/electric.htm

**GoldMember** · 05-10-2007, 02:35 PM

^^ but a helpful boor. Yes, I know what he's talking about. I've seen them before but didn't know the lowdown on what was necessary in Switzerland.

This thread has been a great help. Thanks to all of you.

**GoldMember** · 05-10-2007, 02:37 PM

Originally Posted by Buster Highmen

Did you see "plug adapter" check on Goldmember's list? Because then, your young eyes are much better than mine.
Anyway: http://www.enjoy-europe.com/hte/chap11/electric.htm

Now I see what you're saying. You're right, I didn't have them on the list above. My bad. I thought I had it on there. Thanks!