Hello!

[Dean]

Hello!

I hope that I am posting this in the right place and apologize for only speaking English (my high school German is very old and would be insulting for me to try it). I never want to be an "Ugly American" and presume, but does anyone here speak English? If so, are you willing to lend a hand? :-[

My wife and I are planning a trip to Switzerland in the fall (September-October) and we are looking for information on travel and hiking. I've received several information packets from MySwitzerland.com, and while they are very nice, they are sparse on details and aim more at selling packaged tours.

Can anyone suggest English-speaking websites or other sources of information I might try? Guide books are always good, as are snail-mailed brochures.

Vielen Dank für Ihre Hilfe!

-- Dean (Bellevue, Washington)

[Flachlandtiroler]

Welcome Dean,

what do you intend to do in Switzerland -- sightseeing, dayhikes, trekking, mountaineering? As fall is a common season for dayhikes I suggest to visit http://www.wandersite.ch/1tagUebersicht.html , which unfortunately is held in german, but the trips suggested should be self-explaining.
Do you plan to rent a car or use public transport (www.sbb.ch)?
If you want to know more about a town in switzerland www.<town>.ch usually helps, often in english; at the most popular places even in japanese ;-)

The most rewarding and scenic region in my eyes is the Bernese Oberland; on the "Jungfraujoch" Europeans sometimes are quite a minority under the visitors... quieter albeit also beautiful places are found in the western part of the range, e.g. Lötschental, Öschinensee etc.

To escape bad weather the Oberengadin (St. Moritz and surroundings) is suitable, as this valley is right next to Bergell and Lago Maggiore (on the sunny side 8)).

HTH, Martin

[Dean]

Thank you!!

We're planning on a combination of day hikes, some multi-day treks and altenating camping with hotels or bed-and-breakfast accomodations. We've done the four-star hotel routine and enjoy being travellers, not tourists.

We will be using public transport exclusively (when we're not walking). The Swiss rail system looks to be a very good resource indeed.