twins77

Traveling in June with twin 16 year old twin boys and husband to Northern italy and want to include Switzerland in this trip. We have about 20 days. We did Rome, Florence last summer and would like to stick to Northern Italy this year. Milan, Lake Como, Maybe the Italian Riviera if time and I would love to end with showing them Venice for a few days. I have heard that Lake Maggiore is beautiful I am not that familiar with Switzerland or Northern Italy and I welcome and suggestions in planning this trip. We have traveled the last 6 years or so to Europe but mainly cruises/ land and this year we would like to do a land trip only. I was told from Milan to Switzerland we would need to rent a car? We have usually taken trains in the past in Italy. Any advice would be very helpful as well as what places in Switzerland would be the best to see during summer for about 3-4 days.
Thank you again.

flygirl

Where do you plan to arrive and depart?

I've noticed Venice departure flights when heading back to the US can be very, very early (because so many of them are connections) and so if possible consider flying into Venice first. As a bonus you don't have cars to contend with and can ease into your days. By early, I mean a 630AM flight which can easily translate into waking up at 330 AM in order to catch a 430 AM water taxi to the airport - or waking even earlier given that you have family members to get out the door with you.

If you have 20 nights in Europe then you can give decent attention to four destinations, maybe even 5 if they are not too far apart. Just keep in mind that each time you move to a new destination you will be eating up a good chunk of a day, even if that new destination is only a few hours train ride.

When I went with my parents, we did four nights in Venice, one in Verona, five on Lake Como, four nights in Wengen (Berner Oberland) with the very last night in Geneva in order to fly home. That was 15 nights total. It worked out fine - more time is always better, but we did not feel horribly rushed. If you have an extra five nights you could do something similar (maybe dropping Verona) and add a few nights to the Italian Riviera and maybe an extra night or two in Switzerland.

Jean

You mention 5 destinations in Italy plus the entire country of Switzerland, and you have 20 days. I suggest you first decide whether you really want to include Switzerland (which sounds more like an after-thought) and then prioritize what you want to see/do in Italy. We don't know your interests or what sort of trip you're hoping to have.

You don't "need" to rent a car for any of the places you mention, but it might be helpful for the Italian lakes area (again, depending on your interests and what you want to see/do). If you rented a car in Milan and dropped it somewhere in Switzerland, you'd likely be charged a large fee. If you drove the car from Milan to Switzerland and back to Italy, you need to find out how much time all this driving will take.

Will you be able to fly into Milan and out of Venice (or somewhere in Switzerland) or will you have to return to Milan?

Sassafrass

Fly into Venice and out of Milan. It gets hot in Venice by July, so start the trip there. Logistically, it is quicker and easier to get to Venice from the airport, and a great way to get over jet lag.

isabel

You have two almost identical threads going. I answered your other one as did someone else so be sure to check both as you will be getting answers on both.

twins77

I had forgotten to tag Italy so I reposted in Italy sorry. We most certainly want to see Switzerland. My husband and I spent 6 days in Venice two years ago and we have been to Italy this will be our fourth trip just not N. Italy. Switzerland is a must I just really adore Italy and our sons did too last summer so we had hoped to take them to N. area this summer and incorporate some of Switzerland too along with Lake Como, and Lake Maggiore and possibly the Italian Riviera I leave this off if need be. Venice was very hot in mid June two years ago. I think 2-3 days at most and my sons will be ready to go unless we are using as a home base, two days probably. I thought Milan might be more convenient to fly into then Venice after experiencing flying into Venice. I have not yet been to Milan's airport. We just do not want to spend many, many days on the train we have about 20 are we better off starting in Switzerland

twins77

WE are departing from Atlanta and originally I though arrive in Milan I have not booked air yet we can go to Venice or wherever. I want to find the best route that will work. If we need to add a few days here and there I can.

Jean

If it matters, I don't think there are direct flights between either Atlanta-Milan or Atlanta-Venice. There are direct flights between Atlanta-Zurich and Atlanta-Rome.

Investigate your European gateway city options flying to/from Atlanta. That may help you decide where to start and end and whether to include the Riviera which is pretty far from the rest of your destinations on your list. For example, if you want to go to the Cinque Terre, the Pisa Airport is much closer than Malpensa/Milan.

"We most certainly want to see Switzerland... We had hoped to incorporate some of Switzerland..."

You still need to figure out what that means to you and how much time that will take. Four days may not be enough time.

lavandula

We once had a holiday where we rented a house in Carlazzo (between Lake Lugano and Lake Como, near Lake Piano), and we saw Lugano, Como, went by boat to Bellagio, drove to Milan and St Moritz, and did some of the local hikes with spectacular views of Lake Como. We also visited the local market in Porlezza and had dinner there one night, and walked on the ice of Lake Piano (it was over the New Year's Eve period). Everywhere we went was charming.

At the time we were living in Germany and drove there through Switzerland, via Lucerne, and the return was via Liechtenstein and Bregenz. It was a really good holiday and had a little bit of everything. I think if you base yourself near a border you get a lot of different cultural possibilities. You could vary it a lot by driving into Switzerland more, as we didn't see that much of it (and we were in that location for a week). The only thing I will say is that the roads in that area are windy and it was actually pretty cold (they don't call it the 'pre-alpi' for nothing). I could see that a destination between the lakes could work quite well for you with your objectives.

Lavandula