Switzerland

[africanpete]

Hi

We're off to Switzerland the 2nd week in March and would like to get some route/site recommendations.  Will be staying in the South near France so any waypoints, road names, route numbers etc would be much appreciated.

Not limited to the South so could go anywhere but would prefer to spend the time in the Alps.

Thanks
Pete

[diggerdog36]

There is a mountain with a cable car up to the top, its just inti France from Geneva. Cant remember what the mountain is called but there is a resteraunt at the top and you can see geneva airport and the planes take off under you in the distance.  You can also see Mt Blanc on a clear day with all the snow, especially this time of year!! Ill muti map it and see what i can find.  Geveva is a lovely place too.

Are you going over the Simplon pass??

[diggerdog36]

T'is the mountian in between Monnetier-Mornex and Pas de l'echelle, its actually in France but passport control is a Partacabin!!!  The view from the top is fantastic.

http://www.multimap.com/maps/?hloc=GB|geneva#t=l&map=46.15721,6.21185|13|32&loc=FR:46.19418:6.23897:14|annemasse|Annemasse,%20Haute-Savoie

[EvilEd]

Going that way myself in August...

Zermatt has a gondola / cable car that heads over the matterhorn and into Italy, Grindelwald... well, google it... tis meant to be nice. The two St Bernards passes near Charmonix are good too.

Just off to find out what the Simplon pass is :)

[diggerdog36]

Its the main pass over the alps into italy, I think it was Top gear that took an alpha up there and couldnt wheel spin it due to the lack of air up there. it lost most of what power there was!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplon_Pass

[EvilEd]

Quite a way across, and would have to do it, then come back :)

Not that far from grindalwald IIRC....

I'll be staying near chatel just on the french side of the border... already worked out over 1500 miles of trips from there :)

Saas fee is near it too, which looks good (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saas_fee) IIRC that's where the glacier caves were. (it was a week back I was looking at the places and what they had... :))

[ozzycraig]

The mountain with the revolving restaurant at the top is called the schilthorn  and its utterly stunning, we spent nearly 6 hours just taking in the views and watching the gliders gliding benieth us.

[sardonicus]

I crossed the alps from germany a few years ago in my old merc camper,in July ,went over the grimsel pass,fantastic! stopped for one night at the top,the next day was a sunny clear day and you could see for miles.As the day went on the car park filled up with hundreds of bikes ! got to go there on a bike one day too.
went to grindewald as well I think (where the glacier is?).then on to france past the lakes .
You must visit the swisslakes too,Interlaken,Fantastic clear blue water!

BTW it might be a bit snowy the second week in march.........dont think the passes willbe open. 2000metres+ ???

[Nobber]

tghe simplon pass is always kept open for the trucks , apparently its the highest pass or something like that. i drove it twice now on my way to corfu and probably will again in a few months. i can recommend the hotel beneath the stone eagle.
just beyond the simplon pass is another pass , the name escapes me but the locals directed me to go under the mountain rather than over it , on the back of an open top train. scary buiscuts.

[africanpete]

Thanks for the all the good info guys, we had a really good time.  Most of the roads (in the mountains) were snowed over when I went which made driving tricky but very interesting.  Didn't get to do much off roading as I couldn't really tell where the tracks were and what condition they were in because of the snow, there were a few I could of probably attemped if there was another vehicle but I didn't want to chance it on my own.

Will post some pics soon

Pete

[Chomp]

Looking forward to them photo's Pete

[Nobber]

pete?
pics?

[africanpete]

Hi Nobber, sorry, forgot about them.  Cant seem to resize my pics and dont want to make about ten posts :shock:, any tips?

[Nobber]

photo bucket is pretty good.