Trip route from Paris to Venice

Old Jan 21st, 2017, 01:30 PM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 38
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Trip route from Paris to Venice

I'm in the process of combining two different trips into one for June 2017: Paris to Colmar, Strasbourg and Basel and the other trip was Milan, Bologna ( with day trips) and Venice. Now I have extra vacation time so I have booked a flight to Paris and out of Venice, I will have 23 days total (does not include flight days) for my first solo trip. The flight cost was so reasonable, I couldn't resist. BTW, I have already been to Paris and Venice so I will not be spending much time there.
By combining these trips I will travel through Switzerland to connect Basel and Milan. After reading various Fodor posts and other resources, I am leaning towards only 2 stops in Switzerland: Bern and Thun. I think they will provide different environments, city vs town and they won't take me too off course. It was hard to pick only two spots!
The question is am I overlooking any other city/town in Switzerland with easy train connections to Italy? I considered Brienz and Spiez also.
Thanks.
Gamewood is offline  
Old Jan 21st, 2017, 01:47 PM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 78,320
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
You don't want to see the Alps at their most glorious - if so it is just about as easy to reach Interlaken by train as Bern or Thun- stay in a mountain village reachable by train like Grindelwald or Wengen and be eyeball to eyeball with glacier-girdled peaks from your hotel balcony.

Bern is a nice nice city and Thun rather average (still nice) but the Interlaken area is the essence of Switzerland for most foreign travelers- toylike trains and thrilling aerial gondolas go off in all directions -easily walk to glaciers, etc:

https://www.google.com/search?q=jung...w=1745&bih=864

Interlaken is just 20 minutes by local train off the main Bern-Milan-Italy rail route.

for lots on Swiss trains check www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. If there more than a few days check into various railpasses.
PalenQ is offline  
Old Jan 21st, 2017, 02:25 PM
  #3  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 1,963
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Congratulations on the extension of your trip. Now you can spend an extra night or two here and there and actually let the beauty sink in, and dodge and weave in case of sudden bad weather... Great!

Tell us more about your interests. Only alps and lakes and such?
Or also towns that are truly old in their architecture but fully functional as modern cities? Exquisite art collections? Wondering how the world-famous cheese and chocolate are made? Remnants, like Aventicum near Avenches, of the time the Romans colonized what is now Switzerland (the reason for the nationality plate CH = Confoederatio Helvetica)?

Bern has a lot to offer, Thun not so much (and it's really really close, plus it's a quick stop on your way to the alps from Bern).

Plan on staying a few nights in Bern, using the fabulous public transport system in and around the city. Start here: http://www.bern.com/en/

Then, as PalenQ suggests, move to the mountain region. Whether you make it Interlaken (not quite in the mountains but leaning against them...) as a great springboard in several directions, or actually up in the valleys, Wengen, Grindelwald, etc. - that's up to you.

See
www.myswitzerland.com/en/bernese-oberland1.html www.myswissalps.com/berneseoberland

Brienz is on one of the two lakes (Brienzersee - "Lake Brienz") that come together in Interlaken (which, in Latin, means "between lakes"). Nice to visit from Interlaken, and above it is the great lookout point Brienzer Rothorn -see www.brienz-rothorn-bahn.ch/en/welcome.html
But Brienz is not a good access point for trains to Italy.

Both lakes have public boats for your pleasure, and for your camera's delight - https://www.bls.ch/de/fahren/unterwegs-mit/schiff

Spiez is on the other lake, Thunersee, not much of an excursion target, a stop for the public boats, but it happens to be a stop on the fast train line to Italy, so trains from Interlaken connect there.

Take a look at a map and it will all become obvious.

Near Spiez is another great lookout point, a (minor) peak that allows views in 360 degrees, your camera will love it: Niesen - www.niesen.ch/en/

From Interlaken you take the train to Spiez (a short ride), switch to a local train for something like two stops to Mülenen, the base of the cablecar that goes up on the Niesen - exquisite! Google Niesen and click on images.

As far as access to trains to Italy goes: Spiez is it for that route through the alps (the route involves the long tunnels of Lötschberg and Simplon, so you don't see as much as you might think).

The other major route goes through the Gotthard massif, a very long tunnel ride. To pick up those trains you'd have to make it to the connection point of Arth-Goldau (similar to Spiez being the connection point from Interlaken, Arth-Goldau is the connector from Lucern for example).
michelhuebeli is offline  
Old Jan 22nd, 2017, 03:06 AM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 8,306
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Swiss towns with direct trains to Milan:
Geneva, Lausanne, Montreux, Sion, Brig, Basel, Olten, Berne, Thun, Spiez, Lucerne, Zurich, Zug, Bellinzona, Lugano.

Swiss towns with direct buses to Milan:
Basel, Konstanz, Zürich, Chur, Bellinzona, Lugano

May be you will have a look at
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/home.html
http://www.swisstravelsystem.ch/en/
http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en
http://www.italia.it/en/home.html
neckervd is offline  
Old Jan 22nd, 2017, 03:25 AM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 25,422
Received 4 Likes on 4 Posts
I seem to have travelled to Switzerland for business and family every couple of years since 1985. My advice is that the cities are anodyne. The towns are better and the villages pretty interesting. The best bits are the countryside which can be spectacular and the train/bus systems which can be very effective, do not be put off by bad experiences of public transport in other countries, the Swiss do it better than anyone and go to some remarkable places. Public transport is the thread that stitches the Swiss federation together and it shows.

I also recommend any similar areas along the Swiss border, be that France, Italy, Germany or Austria. The benefits from these is they all operate with the Euro and everything will be cheaper outside of Switzerland. I especially like the Dolomites.

I'd start with Palenque's advice and see where you can get to, the other links provided above are very useful too.
bilboburgler is offline  
Old Jan 22nd, 2017, 09:09 AM
  #6  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 78,320
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
My advice is that the cities are anodyne.>

translation - "not likely to provoke dissent or offense; inoffensive, often deliberately so."

kind of a euphenism for not so exciting - at least compared to the Alpine regions.

Indeed with just those cities mountains will be a distant view if skies are clear as trains tunnel under them going to Italy.

But if you want cities more than Alps Bern is about as good - great as they come.

The quickest rail route Paris to Italy is via Turin and Milan -both also great cities - much more interesting to me than spic-and-span spiffy Swiss cities.
PalenQ is offline  
Old Jan 22nd, 2017, 10:59 AM
  #7  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 78,320
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
, I am leaning towards only 2 stops in Switzerland: Bern and Thun. I think they will provide different environments, city vs town and they won't take me too off course>

Thun is no town but a fairly large city - well for Switzerland. Nice but... so are a zillion Swiss cities.

You say two stops -how many days do you have in Switzerland -if just two- base one place - Thun is a few-minute train ride from Bern.
PalenQ is offline  
Old Jan 22nd, 2017, 11:57 AM
  #8  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 78,320
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
If spending a few days only in Bern you could take a day trip to the Jungfrau Region -Interlaken is about 40 mins by train from Bern I think.

Or if cities day trip to Lucerne instead of Thun.

Interlaken is a smaller town than Thun I'd say.
PalenQ is offline  
Old Jan 23rd, 2017, 08:05 AM
  #9  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 78,320
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Gamewood -what do you think?
PalenQ is offline  
Old Jan 23rd, 2017, 01:16 PM
  #10  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 38
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thank you everyone for your replies.

There is a lot more to Switzerland that I want to sort through. I have been looking through the Man in Seat 61 site for train travel info in Switzerland too. He has posted an interesting twist on the Bernina Express for a reduced price from Freiburg purchased via DBahn.

Through Switzerland, can I get off at an intermediate stop, look around and then pick up the next train on the same ticket, same day? This would be a regular train without seat reservation.
Gamewood is offline  
Old Jan 23rd, 2017, 01:27 PM
  #11  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 78,320
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Through Switzerland, can I get off at an intermediate stop, look around and then pick up the next train on the same ticket, same day? This would be a regular train without seat reservation.>

With a full-fare ticket yes but with the tickets than www.seat61.com hypes those are discounted tickets with restrictions so probably not.Put into bahn.de/en a stop over request and see if the price stays the same but that I believe has to be declared exactly where and how long for a reduced price. I may be wrong but only full-fare tickets I believe allow you to willy-nilly break your journey.

check www.sbb.ch - Swiss Railways for possible discounts once in Switzerland - have some but not routinely like in Germany.

You would want to go thru Zurich and Chur if doing Bernina Pass Railway-the price from Seat 61 is probably on regular trains not the official Bernina Express and IMO regular trains sans frills and observation cars are just as neat -same scenery-same tracks.
PalenQ is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Wrexter
Europe
39
May 11th, 2017 11:37 AM
Snickles
Europe
14
Jul 8th, 2015 01:31 PM
Nine29
Europe
27
Jun 10th, 2015 03:03 PM
admf01t
Europe
13
Feb 2nd, 2014 01:48 PM
nandita
Europe
16
Jan 6th, 2014 11:39 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -