Family Trip to Scotland or Switzerland Next Summer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Switzerland sounds great, but I am now beginning to worry about staying in the Alps. My parents cannot join us for any of the hiking, biking, mountain activities -- so maybe it would be better to stay in a bigger town with other things to do? I expect we would be able to take 1 (maybe 2) day trips to close locations (no more than 2 hours travel time).

Yes, it would be a much more fun adventure to "leave the grandparents at home," but this is their desired trip to spend time with their family. So we have to plan around them!

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Do they have any mobility at all? One of the great things about Switzerland (and the Bernese Oberland in particular) is that there are cable cars and trains to many scenic areas (and once there the terrain is often easier).

For example, from Grindelwald you can take a cable car up to First and there are some relatively flat walks there (and some more adventurous ways down for the kids).

You could visit Jungfraujoch by train. Or take a cable car to Schilthorn and back.

There are some gorgeous relatively flat walks easily accessed from Murren or Wengen, or along the Lauterbrunnen Valley.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Switzerland sounds great, but I am now beginning to worry about staying in the Alps. My parents cannot join us for any of the hiking, biking, mountain activities -- so maybe it would be better to stay in a bigger town with other things to do? I expect we would be able to take 1 (maybe 2) day trips to close locations (no more than 2 hours travel time).

Yes, it would be a much more fun adventure to "leave the grandparents at home," but this is their desired trip to spend time with their family. So we have to plan around them!

I still think Switzerland is the answer, but it would help if you have a hefty activity budget. If so, I would plan for one family activity per day, which could be a boat ride on a lake, or a cable car up a mountain to a view, a train ride or similar. Maybe the most active people hike up rather than take a cable car. Or go biking afterwards. Or the family activity is going out for dinner, and the active people go on a full day hike first.

[Anonymous]

You should take a look at the Tauck Bridges tours and Disney Adventures tours for the places you're considering. They've planned for people with less mobility so you can use that to see what options look like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Switzerland is breathtaking.

Yes, lots of great things about Switzerland. And the flag’s a big plus.

I see what you did there!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a house in Switzerland. But I will not share any advice with you.

Does being an a-hole just come naturally to you, or do you have to work at it?

Oh I think that PP has been working at it for a very long time.

[Anonymous]

Haven’t been to Switzerland. We went to Scotland a couple summers ago for a week, and it was a charming trip but…. It was mid July and it rained (snowed?) for most of the trip and was frigid cold. Like hovering around freezing for most of our time north of Edinburgh. We had a nice time, but it would have been disappointing if it was our “big” trip of the year.

[Anonymous]

For a summer vacation a few years back we found a ski resort town, Lenk, and spent several days there. There are numerous buses and lifts that take you up the mountain, and then you can hike downhill back to the town. The scenery is stunning! There are many such towns.
Someone upthread mentioned the Italian alps. I've never been, but that reminds me of the one downside we found to the Swiss alps: The food was very heavy, pork, cheese, that kind of thing. Maybe they do better in the Italian alps.
Oh, and Switzerland tends to be very expensive.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Talking about travel plans with my parents this weekend! Thanks very much for all of the ideas. I'm not sure why my parents selected these two countries as possibilities -- I think they just have them in their minds as pretty countries that would be fun. (This is a very hard decision! I want to experience both!) The rain and cold do not both us at all in regards to Scotland. I suppose I will just have to present all the ideas on both sides. Though, I think my parents will want me to choose and plan everything.

[Anonymous]

What about the French Alps? You can fly non-stop to Geneva and then drive to Chamonix, Annecy, etc. Lots of varied things to do around there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about the French Alps? You can fly non-stop to Geneva and then drive to Chamonix, Annecy, etc. Lots of varied things to do around there.

Yeah was thinking the same- or the Italian lakes for the same. Some nice little towns to stay in, and then do activities around the area. Parents could do some things or just stay in the town a day or two and enjoy the lake, etc.

[Anonymous]

just one heads up about switzerland- hiking there is very.. vertical. you need proper hiking shoes, sticks and do some inclines to train for them. i did seealpse and was so so slow!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the French Alps? You can fly non-stop to Geneva and then drive to Chamonix, Annecy, etc. Lots of varied things to do around there.

Yeah was thinking the same- or the Italian lakes for the same. Some nice little towns to stay in, and then do activities around the area. Parents could do some things or just stay in the town a day or two and enjoy the lake, etc.

Could combine Dolomites (say Ortisei) with Lake Garda but I’d still probably lean towards Switzerland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1 for Switzerland. You could do Geneva + Zermatt or Zurich + Lucerne if you wanted to try to combine a little nature and history. If you really only want to stay in one place, you could do Lucerne and do a couple of day trips from there? The train system in Switzerland is amazing and so are the roads if you wanted to rent a car.

I like Interlaken as a base for exploring the Bernese Oberland. Annecy is also nice.