Help! Swiss-Italy train - Lausanne to Milan ending in Rome. Hotel ideas!

www.lacalcina.com is my suggestion for a Venice hotel

For your wife in Lausanne, while you are at the conference, she can go to the next two towns over (by train or bus) of Vevey and Montreux. These are very pretty walkable towns, right on Lac Leman, quite a bit smaller than Lausanne itself (which is more spread out). On Friday morning she can go to the Farmer's Market under the pergola in Montreux then visit Chateau de Chillon.

Hi prakashcs,

Here are links to my "reviews" (w/photos) of my favorite activities at the lake:

Montreux old town
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g188108-d546444-r4080258-Montreux_Old_town-Montreux_Vaud.html

Lavaux
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g188108-d548013-r4089520-Corniche_Lavaux-Montreux_Vaud.html

Promenade Fleuri
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g188108-d546443-r4085751-Lakeside_Promenade_Fleuri-Montreux_Vaud.html

Morges
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g198828-r4080228-Morges_Vaud.html

Gruyeres
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g198820-r4082503-Gruyeres_Fribourg.html

Saanen
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g188079-r4085665-Gstaad_Bernese_Oberland_Swiss_Alps.html

Gstaad
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g188079-r4082703-Gstaad_Bernese_Oberland_Swiss_Alps.html

All of these are truly easy to get to from Lausanne by train or ferry boat. You can get the train schedules at

www.rail.ch

and the ferry schedules at

www.cgn.ch

I'll add that Gstaad, Gruyeres, and Saanen are not at the lake but are about 90-120 minutes inland.

Also note that you can rent bikes at the Lausanne train station and return to another station; you can also take the cycles onto the ferry (5 chf fee). I've cycled the vineyards, and it's fun, and it would also be fun to cycle the lakeside promenade from Montreux to Villeneuve. I've also heard that there is a lakeside promenade that runs clear from Morges to Lausanne, and that would be great on a bike.

Anyway, have a blast!

s

A railpass is rarely cost effective for Italy. You will be better off buying point-to-point especially if you are just traveling Milan/Venice/Florence/Rome. Each leg will cost around 40€ on the fast trains (AV/ES) including seat reservations. 2nd cl is fine on these trains. Railpasses do not include seats (required on fast trains in Italy) and will add 15-20€ each time you take the train.

Since you are staying in Lausanne, naturally you should visit the city, especially the old town of Lausanne first including the cathedral. Also your hotel is located in Lausanne-Ouchy by the port, so it's easy to take one of the boats. Info and timetable as given above : www.cgn.ch
Your wife might like to cross the border by boat just for an exprierice and visit Evian on French territory. Also consider doing one way Lausanne to Chillon by boat and return by train. Lavaux - Vevey - Montreux mentioned above are all in between so you could visit any of them on the way back by train. Or do a walk of Lavaux (its vineyard classified as a UNESCO's World Heritage) on another day only for itself. This walk in the corniches gives a magnificent view of the lake and alps mounatains.

http://www.lavaux.com/index.asp?language=EN

For Milan, since it's for one night I suggest a Mini-Hotel Aosta 3*. It is right by the Milano Centrale station. A modern hotel with aircon (a must in July for me). The hotel is not that "mini". When I stayed there last December, it costed EURO 45, possibly their lowest season rate. In summer (middle season)you may pay a little more. The Historical Center with Duomo is 3 - 4 subway stops away from the Centrale Station. I booked the hotel thru venere.com.

In Venice, above mentioned la Calcina is EURO 150 - 250 nowadays for summer/middle season for a double room (depending on with or without view). That's about USD200 - 300? Very nice hotel, itself and location wise but if you need to stick to your budget, I suggest Hotel Mercurio 2* in San Marco area near Teatre Fenice. Aircon worked well in mid summer when I stayed there, tiny shower, ok size room (standard) or larger room (superior) for EURO 90 - 140, plain breakfast included. Monica (owner?) at the reception was cheerful and helpful.

Wow, thanks to all of you for taking time to reply tp my query, and for your wonderful insights and advice. We just saw the Rudy Max's DVD on Italy, and now I am sold on Lake Como. Can one go there directly by train from Lausanee or is it better to go to Milan, and then take a bus or train from there? Any suggestions on an inexpensive place to stay there at Lake Como, perhaps in Bellagio?

kappa1~ Thank you. I didn't check and hadn't realized Pensione La Calcina rates had gone up that much since I was last there. That would be too rich for me also. Unfortunately because it's a very nice hotel.

You do not want a railpass for Italy. For the amount you're travelling, point to point tickets will be cheaper. You can check out routes and prices here:

http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/homepage_en.html

Also, if you check travel times, in your somewhat limited timeframe, Lake Como, especially Bellagio is out of the way. By train it would take about 6 hours from Lausanne to Como, and then another 1 1/2 hours to Bellagio by ferry or bus. However, if you decided to substitute Stresa on Lake Maggiore for Bellagio, you could be there in 2:45 with no changes from Lausanne, and then continue from there to Venice. In stresa you can take lake ferries and see the Iles des Borromees.