We were in Manor Farm 5 years ago, had a great time. That year the £ took a dip against the Swiss Franc, so it was expensive (the £ dropped from somewhere around 3SF to 2SF). I don't believe it has ever recovered, in fact it is now around 1.5SF so yes it is an expensive option.
Tips :
Investigate some sort of public transport card and use local buses into town and trains to where you want to go.
Don't miss Trummelbachfalle (waterfalls inside a mountain) - they're more spectacular in Spring but still worth it.
Boat trips on the lakes Thunersee and Brienzersee.
Walks in the nearby mountains - I can recommend both Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg (which is the last station before Jungfrau) and the circular route around Schynige Platte as being relatively easy and spectacular.
Trip to Jungfrau is obviously famous but it is very expensive and you do have to be alert to the weather each morning
We are going to do a two night stay next year as part of our European tour which will take in Switzerland, 6 nights in Italy, 6 nights in Austria, 2 nights in Germany (still trying to find a suitable site/location) and the. Into Belgioum for one or two nights before home,
We did consider just driving through Switzerland, or just doing an overnight stay, but decided we would spend 2 nights so at least we can have a day experiencing some of Switzerland.
I hope you have a great stay where ever you decide on
------------- Nat
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Thanks Nitnat. Still planning but for us it's looking like 4 or 5 nights in the Netherlands (doing the Hull to Rotterdam crossing), 6 or 7 nights in Germany divided between the Mosel region and the Black Forest, 8 or 9 nights in Switzerland, then 7 nights in France / Belgium to bring us back to Zeebrugge for the ferry back to Hull. Will post reviews once we're back.
I think the high cost of living in Switzerland and the need for 2, expensive,annual motorway vignettes, ie, car AND caravan have made it too expensive for many people.
We went as a family caravanning to the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland over 10 years ago. We loved the area it but found it very expensive. It is however a stupendously beautiful country which is very clean and efficiently run.
After looking at larger sites near Interlaken, we stayed at Camping Seegartli, a lovely little site right on the shores of the Brienzersee - at the opposite end of the Brienzersee to Interlaken. The site appears to be still going as it's in my 2014 copy of the CC "Caravan Europe" Guide. It's a small site behind the owner's home but our 'van was right on the lakeside, literally only a couple of feet away, and with "views-to-die-for along the lake to the high mountains. We had not booked but just turned up and got a superbly placed pitch, even though it was early August.
(The date of the review is wrong - it was more like 2000 when we went.)
There is a larger site. Camping Aareg, with a lot more more facilities on the same road but we opted for the smaller one. Our boys used paddle the short distance in our inflatable to buy sweets from the shop at Camping Aareg. There are 2 reviews of this site on UKC
We brought transport passes which enabled us to travel on all of the boats, buses, trains and cable cars and we made VERY full use of those. The passes were very expensive but I think the children might have been free. We made very full use of the passes including travelling to the station at Jungfraujoch. It is possible to travel into the mountains by one route and then walk to another cable car for the descent. The Swiss transport system is VERY comprehensive and EXTREMELY punctual. We caught the boat or train from Brienze to Interlaken and then linked up with the train and cable car network to get up into the mountains.
As has already been said the Trummelbachfalle are, also, very worth a visit.
We did take our bikes and cycled along the flat valley floor to Meringen where there is a museum to Sherlock Holmes. We, also, visited the Reichenbach falls where Sherlock Holmes "fell to his death."
We had a superb holiday and just writing about it bring happy memories flooding back. I would recommend doing plenty of research on the rail passes, etc, before you go so that you can maximise your time when you're actually there.
Cary and I have visited subsequently visited Vevey, on Lake Geneva, and driven through Switzerland with the caravan en route to Italy, but the Bernese Oberland stands out for us.
Thanks for your positive post Tim. We know it's going to be expensive but this is the right time to do it for us. As you suggest, I've done lots of research and have got various options to look at when we get there. Getting excited now!
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Switzerland - fallen out of favour?
