bloop12345

We have 5 weeks to divide between Italy and Switzerland. We will use trains exclusively, except for the hill towns around Orvieto. We have tentatively decided on the following.
All comments and suggestions are welcome.

ROME – 8 nights
Sorrento and area– 5 nights
Orvieto hill towns – 3 nights
Siena- one night
Florence – 3 nights [2 days for museums; 1 for side trips]
Cinque Terre - 3 nights [Is Monterosso a good choice?]
Lakes area [Varenna] – 3 nights
The following Swiss segment is mostly train trips with overnights:
Bernina Exp. To St. Moritz – [St. Moritz 1 night]
St. Moritz to Locarno [Locarno 1 night]
Locarno to Spiez [Spiez1 night]
Spiez to Montreux; Montreux to Interlaken [Interlaken one night]
Interlaken to Luzerne [Luzerne 2 nights]
Luzerne to Zurich [Zurich 2 nights]
Fly home out of Zurich

My questions:
1. Does the Italian portion of the trip sound well allocated? We learned too late of the beatification of John Paul on May 1, but will be in Sorrento by then.
2. Our main interest in Switzerland is viewing the scenery, with no strenuous hiking, biking, etc. We hope to get a flavor of the various regions with our afternoon / overnight stays. The main areas to see [we think!] are the Bernina Express area, and also Montreux to Interlaken section of rail. We are not interested in the Glacier Pass rail. We have total flexibility, but DO want to make reservations soon. I realize that we have several segments of backtracking, but could not see a way around it. Perhaps I am missing something. [Note that I also have an earlier post about getting from Tirano to Locarno].
3. All comments and advice are welcome, especially time allocation and routes.
4. I will have more questions after I firm up the itinerary.
THANKS VERY MUCH IN ADVANCE!!!

PalenQ

You are traveling so much by train in each country that you should investigate both the Italy Railpass and especially the Swiss Railpass - the latter is a no-brainer for your plans IMO - and passs cover not only trains but many lake boats, postal buses and give 50% off on lifts to mountain tops. In Italy the more days you buy on the pass the more viable it becomes with extra days at some point being only about 13 euros a person. But it is less clear if the Italy Pass would be the best - you'd have to compare fares and decide if you want to go for some discounted tickets that have restrictions and need to be bought well ahead perhaps, etc.

Anyway for some great sites with loads of great info on trains and passes, etc. I always spotlight these fantastic IMO sites - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com. A factor about a pass in Italy is that you must still pay 10 euros supplement to ride the fastest trains so factor that in as well.

Ingo

Re: Swiss part of your trip - you're travelling too much by train. Even if you don't hike you need time to soak up and enjoy the scenery. That means stops, resting. One-nighters are not exactly helpful.

Also, I'd skip Locarno as you will see Lake Como/Varenna. Locarno is too similar to do that backtracking from St. Moritz. Instead add a night to St. Moritz (but stay in a village nearby, more beautiful) and do a cable car excursion, take a horse-drawn carriage or something like that. Or do an excursion to Soglio.

You cannot see every region of Switzerland in one week (8 nights, right?)

In your case it would probably make sense to take the Glacier Express from St. Moritz to Brig, continue from there to Spiez or Thun. There is no need to move from Spiez to Interlaken - stay in one town for two nights. As I said, Spiez or Thun are convenient.

PalenQ

a novel but efficient way to go between St Moritz and the Interlaken area is to take the Glacier Express rail route to Andermatt, then hop on a Swiss postal bus that traverses a rugged Alpine pass down to Meiringen, which is a short train ride from Interlaken. You'd have to coordinate with bus schdules as they only go several times a day but for something real special IMO taking an iconic Swiss postal bus over such terrain is a real treat!

mjknycmjk

I agree, way too much train travel and moving around in Switzerland. Having been to both Bellagio and Locarno, I agree with the previous poster. Skip Locarno. In my opininon it pales to the Lake Como region. Also, one night in Interlaken doesn't make much sense to me. I would spend a couple nights in that region, and stay further up in the mountain in Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, or Murren. It's just gorgeous there, and plenty to see and do withuot rigorous hiking. You can't see everything, so see a few great places and go back for more at another time.

flygirl

The following Swiss segment is mostly train trips with overnights:
Bernina Exp. To St. Moritz – [St. Moritz 1 night]
St. Moritz to Locarno [Locarno 1 night]
Locarno to Spiez [Spiez1 night]
Spiez to Montreux; Montreux to Interlaken [Interlaken one night]
Interlaken to Luzerne [Luzerne 2 nights]
Luzerne to Zurich [Zurich 2 nights]
Fly home out of Zurich


My thoughts:

Stay in Interlaken (or Lauterbrunnen or Wengen) as much as you can. Luzerne - day trip. Zurich - just the last night. That would be four nights in this region which still isn't enough. In fact I'd consider the Engadine region for three nights (St Moritz or Pontresina, etc), Berner Oberland for four nights, the last night Zurich.

You spaced yourself well in Italy and then Switzerland is zoom-zoom. Too much.

ggreen

Agree, you space the Italy part well. One thing you might consider is flipping the Campania (Sorrento etc.) and Rome portions. If you're flying into Rome FCO, you could basically take the train from there to Naples, then switch to a local train to Sorrento; you could also look at the low-cost carriers to see about a cheap flight from FCO to Naples.

Putting Campania first would help for a couple of reasons: since it seems you'll be in Italy during "shoulder" season, you'll be in the warmest place first; your dates in Rome might work better with the John-Paul events; and (less importantly) you're geographically going in one direction instead of back and forth.

Jean

I agree you need to re-think the Switzerland part. You're spending half a day to reach a place and then only staying overnight, moving on again in the morning. There's not enough time left after finding/checking into your hotel each day to explore/enjoy where you are. About the only thing working in your favor is that sunset will be around 9:00 pm by the time you get to Switzerland.

huett

Monterosso is a great place to stay. It means that you can take the ferry to Riomaggiore the first of the villages and begin your walk from there. Monterosso being the last village means that once you have finished the walk you are home - you don't have to take the ferry or train back at the end of the day.

We stayed at a B & B, L'Antica Terrazza. Wonderful place in the middle of the village with a great roof terrace for relaxing with a glass of wine at night. Raffella is a great hostess and speaks good english.

bloop12345

Wow! What great responses and good advice. I will go back to study a bit more and revise. We suspected we were doing too much, but feel very appreciate to have it confirmed.

More comments/suggestions are still welcome! Many thanks to everyone!

flygirl

ROME – 8 nights
Sorrento and area– 5 nights
Orvieto hill towns – 3 nights
Siena- one night
Florence – 3 nights [2 days for museums; 1 for side trips]
Cinque Terre - 3 nights [Is Monterosso a good choice?]
Lakes area [Varenna] – 3 nights

Just thoughts, I do think Italy is OK but here are some ideas:

You could also consider cutting Rome down a little unless you are definitely doing day trips. Yes, I love Rome, and yes I could spend a lot of time there, but you do have a 5 week trip planned and are shorting some other areas. With that much time to spread out, try not to make certain parts of it fly-by-nights. Why not cut a day or two from there and move it somewhere else? Unless of course you have some dream hotels already booked.

Are you going to be in Orvieto three full days, or day trips?

Overall Italy is well spaced so other than considering moving a day or two from Rome elsewhere... OR you could make Orvieto a day trip from Rome, and then have three whole nights to move elsewhere?

PalenQ

Locarno to Spiez [Spiez 1 night]
Spiez to Montreux; Montreux to Interlaken [Interlaken one night]

Am I understanding correctly - in the same day you will go from Spiez to Montreux and then right away back to Spiez to get to Interlaken?

Coming from Locarno you take the sweet Centovalli tiny train to Domodossola (Swiss Passes valid even though it goes thru a lot of Italy) and then take a train to Brig and go to Montreux a much faster route - via the mainline up the Rhone Valley to Montreux - and yes overnight there for a night or two - take a lake boat ride, visit the famous Chateau Chillon of Lord Byron fame, etc. Then take the Golden Pass scenic train route via Spiez to Interlaken.

PalenQ

The Interlaken region (a k a Berner Oberland or Jungfrau Region to me is the highpoint, literally and figuratively, for Switzerland - this is the Alpine Wonderland etched in our minds' eyes - snow-capped glacier-girdled peaks, thrilling aerial cable car rides - tiny mountain-climbing trains - glaciers to walk to and on, etc.

If you just stay in Interlaken you will only see the fabulous Jungfrau Region from a distance - you should go up into the hills to a place like Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen - I would suggest a stay of three nights minimum in Interlaken and doing excursions both into the hills and by lake boat on the two lakes bookending Interlaken - so much varied things to do in this Valhalla area. Don't cut it short but instead cut some other things IMO. (But not the Bernina Rail route - to me the most awesomely scenic in all of Europe and I think I've ridden them all.