jennygrlo1

Hello, My husband and I are lovers of nature and quaint towns. We are looking to travel to Switzerland and Italy for a 12-13 day trip. In Italy, I would like to see Venice, Lake Como, and Cinque Terre. In Switzerland, I want to do interlaken, zermatt, and at least one other location that's on the route of a scenic train (ideas? I'm open to anything, including Zurich )

I most definitely want to do a train ride through the alps such as the Glacier express, Wilhelm Express, or Bernina express but don't know which is my best bet. I am having a hard time planning this out this time line and the order in which to do to things. I'm open to flying to either Switzerland or Italy and flying home from a dif location that I flew in to. I also don't know what the best way to travel is. I don't know if I should do a Swiss rail pass or something different. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Edward2005

Interlaken is fine but it's not actually in the alps. The good news is that from Interlaken you can take a train south an in less than 30 minute have several alpine towns at your fingertips. Check out Murren or Wengen to stay high in the alps in a traffic-free town.

I don't have much experience in northern Italy so I will leave that to others.

PalenQ

for insights on Swiss trains and passes and where to go by train check www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Offhand if going to more than two locals a Swiss Pass should be a good deal.

Mimar

What time of year are you traveling? Where are you flying into and out of?

You're talking about 6 locations in 12-13 days. That's lots of travel time, little sightseeing time.

You'll want to travel by train. Look at www.seat61.com for detailed information on trains in Europe.

tower

Looks like Sir Palenque and I are among the only Interlaken fans here. Based in Interlaken and heading south into the Alps was a very pleasant and scenic way to see the Berner Oberland,.... a 15 minute walk from Ost Station, along the handsome promenade on the pretty Aare (see pix)

The boat port is also in the same vicinity. We found a lovely lodging, <b>The Goldy Swiss Hotel</b>, smack on the promenade with balcony overlooking the river and the town, next to the footbridge which takes you into Interlaken inside of ten minutes. The Goldy is the only hotel on the south side of the river, in a quiet idyllic setting.

isabel

I'm another fan of Interlaken. The town itself can get crowded with tour groups but most of them never venture in the 'quaint' old town. Plus it's just a really sensible base to have lots of options. The mountains can get very cloudy and then there's just not much to see. If you are based in one of the traffic free towns on a rainy day there's not much to see/do. But by basing in Interlaken you have lots of options - often not cloudy in other parts of Switzerland and with trains from Itnerlaken you can get to Bern, you could take a boat ride on the lake (several nice towns to visit), you could go south or into the Bernese Oberland towns mentioned above. So if you only have a few days - and it looks like that's all you've got - I'd base in Interlaken.

I think your trip will be much better if you eliminate one place. So you could do:

a) fly into Venice - 3 or 4 nights, train to Lake Como - 3 or 4 nights, train into Switzerland for the rest of the time. Fly home from Zurich (or Geneva if that works better, if Zurich plan the last 1-2 nights in Lucerne which is close to the Zurich airport.

b) fly into Venice 3 or 4 nights, train to Cinque Terre (will take most of a day) 3 or 4 nights, train to Lugano Switzerland and base there - from there take train further into Swiss mountains for a day trip (couple different options) and do day trip to Lake Como. Fly home from Milan.

Dukey1

Of those "three train rides" the one I would do (again, in my case) would be the Bernina Express but IMO you are simply <B>too all over the map</B> in too short a time.

Have you LOOKED at any maps, BTW? Your questions indicate that you have not.

tower

https://goo.gl/photos/FSYMcwMPV2qfbEPb8


these photos will familiarize you with the region.

michelhuebeli

I agree with Dukey1’s notion that you are “too all over the map”.

Follow two rules-of-thumb as you revisit your plan:

1) Everytime you relocate, you give up a day of sightseeing to a day of travel. The rare exceptions are relocation by scenic routes, i.e. Bernina Express or such.

2) It takes two nights to have one day in one place. So list your day-to-day itinerary as a night-by-night itinerary.

Now you’ll see how many days are left, and deduct from that number all days of relocation.

Very few days will be left to actually do and see something if you stick to your “too-all-ove-the-map” plan.

A day here and a day there doesn’t reward you for your time and expense. Lake Como is just another pretty lake if you simply blow in and blow out the next day. There are lots of pretty lakes on Youtube...

If you go, stay a few nights, do boat trips, do day trips, do walks, eat dinner al fresco and stroll during sunset, let the beauty sink in.

Interlaken is on the flat, not a mountain town, between two lakes with public boats (seasonal), on a fairly convenient side-spur of the train system, but in itself not a rewarding destination. Convenient, welcoming with a centuries-long history of hospitality, full of hotels and shops and restaurants, and with great views in many directions, it is nevertheless best used as a springboard for day trips in the region.

Some argue that, while you go to stay in the region, you might as well stay further up, actually in the mountains, rather than down on the flat, and that’s a valid argument also.

But you don’t “do” Interlaken, you visit the region and spend a few nights, enough to give you a few days to visit various targets, day-by-day depending on the weather (unpredictable in the mountains) and ready to change plans when needed.

Assuming the 12 days you mention are full days on the ground (not counting days spent flying in and flying home), at a minimum, you could fly into Venice, book three nights in a hotel to give you two full days there, that we’ll count as days 1 and 2.

Map out with a good guidebook (I highly recommend DK Eyewitness) what you will go see, mostly on foot, occasionally by public boat-bus (vaporetti - see http://actv.avmspa.it/en/content/wat...ce-timetable-0), and which islands you want to visit, Burano, Murano, Torcello.

On day 3 take a train (and possibly switch to a bus or ferry) to your chosen target on Lake Como. Book four nights so you have three full days, days 4 and 5 and 6.

Since the train that gets you to the Bernina Express leaves from Varenna, consider staying on that side. If you choose Bellagio, you’ll need to verify that there is a ferry to get you to Varenna in time for the train on day 7. See www.navigazionelaghi.it/eng/c_orari.asp

On day 7 take a train to Tirano (www.trenitalia.com) where you pick up the Bernina Express (https://www.rhb.ch/en/panoramic-trains/bernina-express). Decide where you wish to spend the night - in Davos (requires longer travel time the next day) or in Chur. You arrive in either place around dinner time.

On day 8 take the train to Interlaken-Ost, takes a good three hours. This will involve two or three switches of trains, in Zürich and again in Bern, possibly also in Spiez. www.sbb.ch/en

Around lunch time you’ll be in wonderful Bern - might as well stash your bags in the lockers and spend a few hours in Bern - see www.bern.com/en/

Then pick a train to carry on - no reservations, no obligations, just pick one.

But be sure that it goes to Interlaken, or you may have to change in Spiez.

Before dinner you check into your Interlaken hotel (or Wengen or Grindelwald or wherever you decide to stay).

Now you’re in the region called Berner Oberland (“upper land” of the canton of Bern) - see http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/b...oberland1.html

Fly home from either Zürich ZRH or Geneva GVA or - if within Europe - Basel BSL. Trains at www.sbb.ch/en

bvlenci

If you're interested in nature and quaint towns, you should be informed that the Cinque Terre towns and the towns on Lake Como are the meccas of mostly English-speaking tourists. If you hit the Cinque Terre on a day when there are cruise ships in the port of Livorno, here's what you may see:

http://www.repstatic.it/content/loca...f7582915a5.jpg

As for Lake Como, we spent several days in Bellagio and never heard anyone speak Italian, except for tourist industry workers talking to each other. It's the only place in Italy where we've ever been asked if we could please speak English, when we ordered something to drink at a bar.

I agree that you have very little time, especially since you want to see nature and quaint towns, which rarely are found anywhere near train stations. I don't know where you're from, but I'll use and example from the USA. If someone wants to visit Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington in 12 days, I could give them an idea of how to do it in a very short time. However, if they say they want to visit the Maine coast, the Adirondacks, Lancaster County, and the Blue Ridge mountains in 12 days, I would have to tell them it couldn't be done.

To see nature and quaint towns, I would suggest spending half your time in Switzerland and the rest of your time in the Piemonte region of Italy, or in rural Lombardia. In Switzerland, you could get around by train, but in Italy it would be better to rent a car. If you don't want to rent a car, then Lake Como might be your best option, but I wouldn't stay in Bellagio. Varenna is marginally less touristy, but I would suggest finding an even less popular town, maybe Menaggio or Tremezzo. I don't know much about either town, but I'm sure they're less touristy than Bellagio and Varenna. Maybe someone who knows the smaller towns better can help you decide this.

PalenQ

In Switzerland, I want to do interlaken, zermatt, and at least one other location that's on the route of a scenic train>

The train from Brig to Zermatt is as scenic as they get -ditto for trains in the Interlaken area- Brig to Zermatt is part of the Glacier Express route as one of its most scenic stretches.

The whole GE is about an 8-hour marathon ride thru at times awesome scenery and for long stretches tediously scenic scenery - the Bernina Express is great but a long way out of where the other two places are.

I'd suggest ending up in Lucerne and you can take a very scenic railway -the Golden Pass or regular trains on the same route from Interlaken-Ost to Lucerne up and over the Brunig Pass, having to use cog wheels at points because it is so steep - the whole route is scenic- first along Lake Brienz to Meiringen then up and over the pass then along a couple of long lakes down to Lucerne.

Lucerne makes a fab base -great boat trips on the lake to place like Mt Rigi -one of the most famous lookout points in Switzerland with lateral views over the rocky central Alpine spine of Switzerland or other neat places.

Swiss Passes would cover in full regular trains, the GP train and lake boats as well as covering entry to sights and museums in Lucerne.

https://www.google.com/search?q=brun...HccUApYQsAQIHA

Lucerne is a short train ride from Zurich airport. Start your trip Zurich or Geneva airports to Zermatt.