Help me keep sane....I have my brother in-law (29ish) coming to visit for a while and am sick of doing the same old touristy-things (gruyere, montreux, bern, yvoire, etc). We live in canton Vaud. Am looking for ideas on what to do over Easter break? Any ideas welcome....

Are you looking for something near canton Vaud or all of europe?

Anywhere within driving distance (day trip or few days) as flights are too expensive over easter (have already looked into going abroad). No bad ideas are possible???? Thanks

How about taking him skiing?

Or if you havent already been, how about the Jungfraujoch (the top of Europe). The Ice palace there is quite impresive from what I remember.

That is a good idea as haven't been skiing in Jungfraujoch. Thanks pacman.
Any non-skiing ideas?

If you've "done Switzerland" then Paris or Milan are good for a long weekend in Springtime. No need to fly and with direct trains from Lausanne you can avoid the stress of driving. CFF travel office in Lausanne/Montreux can book the trip and the hotel as a package to suit any price range. If you don't have a half price railcard then buy one as it will cut the costs and you have the rest of the year to travel half price. Lugano and the Italian lakes are also good but you have to connect thru Zurich (it's a long drive by car). Nearer home I assume you've been to Annecy and done the MOB train trip to Interlaken?

Thanks Nev. Some good ideas here :-)

Couple questions though:

1. I have never been to Milan - what is there to do/see?
2. How long would it take to get to Lugano from lausanne (either train or car)? How long would you need at Lugano?

Take them hiking and stay a night in the mountains in an SAC hut.

How to get to Milan or Lugano by train:
CFF's website gives you departures and travel times
http://www.sbb.ch/en/

How to get to anywhere from anywhere by car:
Michelin website provides journey planner - routes and travel times
www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/ gbr/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm

Things to do in Milan:
http://www.milancitytourist.com/milan-attractions.html
Don't forget Lugano and Milan are quite close (less than an hour by train) so you could stay in Milan and visit Lugano or vice versa and get best of both worlds -

Things to do in Lugano:
Chill out and enjoy the lake:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Lugano
Don't forget Lake Como is close and that's a major tourist destination

Last year easter weekend there was a huge music festival in Geneva that I landed at. I completely reccomend it for the party and the city sites (including well placed starbucks with cushy outdoor seating on the waterfront).

Hi Jo,

I live in Vaud, and understand how you feel about visiting the same places with visitors all the time. Gruyeres isn't quite the same on your fifth visit.

I always find Ticino to be an excellent place to go for a weekend holiday. You can get to Locarno quite easily from Lausanne: take a train to Domodossola, then take the train through the very scenic Centovalli region to Locarno. My personal favourite town is Ascona (near Locarno), but Locarno, Bellinzona and Lugano are also quite nice, and nothing is very far by train. The Valle Maggia area (accessible by bus from Locarno) is breathtakingly beautiful, and the food in Ticino is great.

Personally, I find Milan to be quite unattractive and not that tourist-friendly, although I have to admit the Cathedral is impressive. As someone already mentioned, it is a very easy day trip from Ticino if you'd like to go.

One thing to consider is that there might be a lot of things closed for business over the Easter weekend, seeing as Ticino and Italy are Catholic places. However, I'm not totally sure of this, as Italians are a bit more open to Sunday shopping, etc. This might be worth looking into before you commit to travelling there.

HM

Wherever you go, don't forget that Easter is also holiday for masses and masses of people who head south. So plan early and reserve early, or head North against the tide as an alternative. You might find Munich and Rothenburg empty, for example.

I once took of on a lark with some visitors, no reservations, no planning, for Florence for Easter. Only found a run down hotel somewhere way out in the country at 3:00 in the morning and the rest of the time was a crowded catastrophy.

I assume that you've also seen the thread "Zermatt for one day ...", that would make a nice trip from Lausanne if it's not on your list of places you've been too often.