travelbug7

Am having trouble locating escorted tours of ONLY Austria, Switzerland and Northern Italy. Has anyone visited these three areas with a tour company? We will either fly in and out of Zurich or we could fly into Frankfurt and out of Zurich. We're interested in seeing Salzburg (2 days), Innsbruck (1 day), Interlaken (1 day), Venice (3 days), Verona (1 day), Neuschwenstein (?) Castle area (1 day), and the Lakes region in Italy (Lake Como and Maggiore) (2 days). Would this itinerary be hard to do by train on our own? Is the weather better in May or October (want to miss the heavy tourist time)? Any suggestions to add to this itinerary would be greatly appreciated.

kleeblatt

Please don't do Interlaken in one day. That's like staying at a hotel near JFK and saying you've been to New York.

travelbug7

Thanks for the info. I take it there are lots of places to go from Interlaken. Would two or three days suffice?

bettyk

We spent 4 days in Lauterbrunnen (near Interlaken) and wished we'd had more time. The Berner Oberland is rich is places to see and things to do. Some consider it to be the most beautiful part of Switzerland.

travelbug7

Thanks bettyk. Is Lauterbrunnen better to stay overnight at than Interlaken? Do you have any suggestions for hotels in the area?

bobthenavigator

First, decide how many nites you will spend in Europe. For this itinerary I would start in Zurich and end at Munich and you will need 20 days to see the area.
Berner Oberland--4
Italy lakes---4
Venice---3
Bavaria castles--3
Salzburg and Salzkammergut---4
Munich--2

You could cut to 18 if you plan well. This is a nice loop that you could do either direction. You may need a car for Bavaria and Salzkammergut. I have done all of this--more than once---and it is a fabulous itinrary.

bettyk

Lauterbrunnen is one choice. There is a train station and several nice hotels. We stayed at the Hotel Oberland. Depends on if you want to be higher up in the mountains or down in the valley.

travelbug7

bobthenavigator: Being you've done the area, I'm glad you liked my itinerary. Unfortunately, Munich is not an option as my available flights are either Zurich or Frankfurt. Can this loop be done by trains?

bettyk and bob: I don't think I need to see all the Italian lakes. Is there one or two you would suggest as being the best and most picturesque? Or are they all so gorgeous that I'd need to see them all?

travelbug7

BTW, would anyone recommend which month to travel in these Alpine areas. I don't want to go during a heavy tourist month, but I do want to ensure shops, restaurants, etc. are open. Thanks for your help.

marg

This is another recommendation for Lauterbrunnen. We stayed there for three days last year and would love to go back for a week or so. We stayed at the Hotel Staubbach which had views over the valley and the waterfalls - absolutely beautiful.

travelbug7

Thanks marg. Sounds like Lauterbrunnen is the place to stay. Do you think we'd have good weather in April or October?

travelbug7

Has anyone been on the Tauck Alpine tour? It's the closest thing I can find to this itinerary.

bettyk

We went in mid May and the weather was good. Some of the hotels and restaurants in the higher elevations, such as Murren, may not be open until June. I can't comment on October since we haven't been to Switzerland that late in the year.

Also as far as the Italian lakes, we've only been to Como.

pja1

Hi,

Just wanted to say October is our favorite time to travel in the Alps. Switzerland once and Bavaria/Austria/Dolomites (N.Italy) a few times. Each trip had similar weather (although you can't predict it!), daytime in the 60' to 70's and early am and nights in the 40's to low 50's with very little rain. I'd choose October every time.

Paul

pja1

Just wanted to add that we never had a problem finding choices of hotels, shops, restaurants that were open.

We've been to a few of the place on your list... Salzburg, Innsbruck , Interlaken (actually Wengen), Neuschwenstein/Castle area (Fuessen) in October.

Paul

travelbug7

Thanks for the info Paul. Since I've never been to Europe before, I'm hoping this itinerary is giving me a taste of Europe's best scenery, castles, architecture and food. Yes, food is important, and I'm looking forward to sampling northern Italy's local cuisine. Since I'm basically only in Lake Como, Verona and Venice, can anyone suggest good restaurants in either of these three areas.

bobthenavigator

Lake Como will give you a good taste of the lakes.
I would set your dates and time first--that will determine what is feasible for you. Where to eat is step 5.

pja1

I agree with Bob once again. You are doing this a bit backwards. Number of days (even if you're flexible) come first. Then see what fits to your timeline. The only thing you've established is Zurich and Franfurt as your options for arrival/departure points.

Paul

travelbug7

Thank you for your comments. It would be so much easier if I could just find an organized tour that covered many of these areas. To do it all on my own is so overwhelming. Once I have the itinerary down, I'll post.

TAW

I assume this trip will be in 2011?
Planning can be overwhelming but also fun...just keep on asking questions, etc. I got loads of help and encouragement when I was ready to throw in the towel on my trip.
Everyone is correct...get your dates and #nights figured out first. Don't worry about restaurants until the end. We had no plans for specific restaurants and ended up having THE BEST FOOD EVER just by asking locals and our B&B persons and following our noses! We ate in Italy, Austria, Germany but not in places where all the Americans eat. We ate where we were usually the only Americans...and we loved it!
I know you'd like a tour but independent travel can be so much more rewarding and flexible. Have fun planning and have fun on your trip!