If you go to Interlaken

By Alan Behr, Globe Correspondent, 1/10/99

Getting there: Several airlines fly to the Alps, but only Swissair will check your luggage straight to the train station nearest your hotel. The gateway airport is Zurich.

Staying and dining there: Doubles at the Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa start at $290 per night; spa packages are available. The hotel's gourmet restaurant, La Terrace, offers traditional meals and ``Cuisine Minceur,'' a diet program of four-course dinners in the 600-calorie range. Dinner for two with a bottle of wine costs about $150. Call The Leading Hotels of the World at 800-223-6800.

At the smaller Hotel du Nord, just down the road, doubles in ski season start at $200. Its intimate restaurant, Im Gade, charmingly served us the most enjoyable meal of our Alpine stay. At $90 with a bottle of Dole, it was also the best dinner bargain we've had during three trips together to Switzerland. Telephone 822-26-31; fax 823-33-37. (Dialing prefix for the region from North America: 011-41-33.)

In Wengen: the Hotel Regina has doubles with breakfast and dinner for $280 per night; weekly plans available. Phone 855-15-12; fax 855-15-74. Similar: Hotel Restaurant Caprice, telephone 855-41-41; fax 855-41-44.

Given flight times and the distance of the airport from Wengen, figure on spending your final night in Zurich, which we have done several times and always enjoy. On this trip, we stayed at the relaxing Spluegenschloss, in the city's former Jewish quarter, dining well and quizzing each other on the pronunciation of Spluegenschloss. A double goes for $225 on the weekend and dinner runs about $150 for two, with wine. Call Relais & Chateaux in New York: 212-856-0115.

Ski lessons and rentals: Near Interlaken: Alpin Rent and Swiss Ski School Wilderswil, both run by Heini Zurbuchen; telephone 823-55-23; fax 822-30-19. Skis for a week are $125. An instructor/guide like Ueli Schick costs $200 a day and is worth it.

If you are under medical treatment: Listen to your doctor and work with him. Ask what potential complications may arise from your illness and treatment, what care might be required, and where it can be received. When Julie's doctor confirmed that she needed to stay near a medical facility skilled in caring for chemotherapy patients, we shifted our venue from Zermatt, which is relatively inaccessible, to Interlaken, where skilled care was within reach. In short, don't take unnecessary risks, but enjoy yourself.

-- ALAN BEHR AND JULIE HACKETT