Any Swiss on my Flist?

[elrhiarhodan]

I am working on a new White Collar story that puts Neal in Switzerland in the winter. I've tentatively set it in Bern, but I'm not married to that particular city. What I am looking for is an urban location fairly close to the Alps. A major plot poin has Neal leaving his hotel room and going for a drive at night on rather trecherous mountain roads.

In fact, it doesn't have to even be Switzerland.  Northern Italy or Austria will work too - I just need a city that is in the mountains with difficult driving conditions.

Many thanks in advance.

Comments

[elainasaunt.livejournal.com]

I have a cousin who lives in the mountains above Lake Geneva. Gotta tell you, the Swiss keep those roads up like nobody's business - two minutes after the snow stops falling, everything's plowed and clear. There are even long overhangs in avalanche zones to make sure the road stays unblocked. Still, for someone not used to driving them, they might be pretty treacherous. I think you could go with one of the cities along the lake. Montreux, for example.

[elrhiarhodan]

Thank you!

It's not road maintenance, or even snow - I need narrow switchbacks, close to a city.

Will check out Montreux

[elainasaunt.livejournal.com]

It's the biggest town on that side of the lake, I think (besides Geneva and Lausanne, which are farther from the mountains), and the sort of town I imagine Neal loving - I could really see him being in Montreux or maybe Vevey. Lotsa money there. My cousin lives in Leysin, a ski resort pretty high up in the Chablais Alps above the winemaking town of Aigle - but I think Aigle may be too small and rustic for your purposes.