I am starting to plan a trip through Switzerland into Italy. I have been before years ago but my wife has not. As of now, I would like to fly into Geneva, take a train to Zermatt and stay 2 nights there. Then the Glacier Express to St. Moritz. One night in St. Moritz. Then a long travel day by train to Florence via Milan. I understand there will be a couple train changes here. Then 3 nights in Florence, train to Rome, and 3 nights in Rome. Then fly home. Does this sound reasonable? Thanks!
Swiss and Italy travel
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Tell us more about that "long day" to Florence. Are you trying to take the Bernina route, i.e., from St. Moritz to Tirano changing for Milan and then changing there for Florence?
It is in some ways even more scenic than the G-Express route IMO (some don't think the GE is worth it but I do).
Hi JeffRome,
imo, a scenic train ride isn't all that splendid -- you are seeing the scenery from a tv-sized window. Spending two nights in Zermatt and one in St. Moritz just to experience this ride is counter-productive imo. You'll waste so much time with checking in & out of hotels and unpacking and packing again that you won't have that much time to see the mountains.
Much better, I think, to get yourself onto a mountain or two and take some nice walks -- that's where the views really are. I would rather go to St. Moritz (or to a town nearby) and ascend some peaks, take some walks, or take some bike rides. Then I would take the Bernina Express (better scenery and more diversity than the GE imo) to Tirano and go on from there.
Have fun as you plan!
s
Oh, I should have said -- I wouldn't fly into Geneva. I'd fly into Zürich and to right to St. Moritz.
s
OK, Ingo...those windows on the Bernina aren't any bigger than the ones on the GE and those are pretty BIG "TV's" wouldn't you say?
But to each their very own
uh. Not Ingo. But what a great compliment!
No, I wouldn't say they are big tvs -- they are nothing compared to the 360 deg views when you have the sun on your face and the wind in your hair, and when you can soak up the views over a period of a few hours while walking (instead of the landscape streaming by).
The Bernina Express has more variety in the ride, so that one I think is worth it. The GE is vastly over-hyped imo.
s
When are you planning on going? Winter? How long will the days be?
And it's not clear how many days and nights you really have.
I wouldn't want to spend all my time on a train either.
If you provide more specifics perhaps people can help more.
I think maybe 9 nights total. I coule skip one of the scenic rides--I am fine with the Bernina express from St. M to Tirano. But Zermatt looked pretty fun and that would eliminate that if we went from Zurich to St. Moritz and then down into Italy. How do St. Mortiz and Zermatt compare? We will be going in mid to late September, I believe. If St. Mortiz, and we decided to stay there, the smaller towns nearby--how does one get to them if one takes the train into St. Mortiz?
Hi again,
I personally didn't care for Zermatt even though it is a car-free town. It sits at the end of a valley, so there is limited building space -- yet hotels and apartment buildings continue to go up, and the effect feels crowded to me. And, they appear to put up buildings just anywhere there is a small flat square of land, so the atmosphere in town isn't neat and orderly imo. In addition, it is crowded with tourists most of the time.
St. Moritz has a city feel, unfortunately, but the smaller towns and villages nearby do not. I would stay in Sils, Silvaplana, or maybe Pontresina. You get to them either by train or by the integrated bus service; you can get the complete schedules from the Swiss rail site at
www.rail.ch
and just enter
From Zurich airport
To Sils (or Pontresina or Silvaplana)
You can get more information at
www.engadin.stmoritz.ch/sommer/en/sils/
www.zermatt.ch
http://www.pontresina.ch/en/winter.html?cHash=ede908bdcf361d39fc049436270f39a3
And of course you can look for images at google's images search engine.
Have fun as you plan!
s