8 day Italy, Switzerland trip
 

We are planning a Trip in June 2016. Tentatively, we are flying into Venice and spending 3 days, and want to travel to Storo for a genealogical visit for one day. From there we are considering a day trip to Schwangua, Germany to see the Neuschwanstein Castle, then on to Lucerne. Switzerland. We are thinking of staying two days in Lucerne then go to Zurich for one day. Is this timetable reasonable? Also, is the most efficient way to travel by rail? Any information and advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Kelley

Is the entire trip 8 days, or just the Switzerland portion? If it's the whole trip I would drop one country - do southern Germany and Switzerland, or Venice and either Germany or Switzerland. And even that will be a bit rushed. Train from Venice to Lucerne is about 7 hours, longer to Germany. Flying essentially eats up a whole day by the time you get to airport, security, waiting, etc. Kind of a pain for an 8 day trip. I frequently do trips with 2 or 3 (or even occasionally, 1) night stops but those are interspersed with longer stays and are closer geographically.

So if you really want a taste of Italy plus Switzerland, then I'd do 3 nights Venice, train to Interlaken for 3 days (about 6 hour train ride, nice scenery) (either stay up in the mountains or stay in Interlaken and do day trips) and finish with 2 in Lucerne. Zurich is the least interesting in Switzerland, a nice enough city but certainly not what most people go to Switzerland for. Don't you want to see mountains? Lucerne is a beautiful city though and worth a couple nights but I'd skip Zurich if your total is only 8 days.

Zürich, IMO, ia a big blech. If you can avoid it, do so. Isabel's got a good plan for you. And consider open-jaw tickets so you're not backtracking.

The simplest way to get from Venice to Storo is to rent a car -- but I don't know how much you would pay to drop off the rental car in another country. One possibility might be to rent a car in Venice, drive to Storo, but then drop off the car in Trento and proceed into Germany by train. (Can't help you with the rest of your plans for Germany and Switzerland).

I'm not sure if it is even possible to get from Venice to Storo by public transportation, but if it is possible, it would probably involve either taking a train from Venice to Desenzano del Garda and then a series of buses or taxis after that, or from Desenzano del Garda take the hovercraft ferry up the lake to Riva del Garda, and then either take a bus or taxi from there. The following day, however, you would have a complicated journey from Storo onward to Germany, unless there are easy buses or an affordable driver from Riva del Garda to Trento, where you can catch a train.

I just looked an there is a fairly reasonable bus connection from Riva del Garda to Trento. However, getting to and from Storo is complicated. You would almost certainly need a car -- so you might as well rent one in Venice.

By the way, Storo is located in exceptionally beautiful part of Europe and if you haven't got a lifelong dream of seeing Lucerne and Zurich (or the castle in Schwangau), you might find it utterly amazing to spend all your time in Storo after Venice. There are many castles in the area -- none of them as over-the-top as the castle in Germany -- but they are beautiully situated.

http://www.tr3ntino.it/en/highlights/castles/

It's an memorably charming part of the world, much of it totally uncrowded, with very few tourists (which cannot be said for Venice and Lucerne or the Neuschwanstein Castle), and I highly recommend spending time there, especially if it is part of your family history.

Actual timetables, valid until June 2016:

VENICE - STORO

Venezia SL dp 8.50 - Verona 10.00/11.02 - Rovereto 11.41/12.37 - Riva 13.20/13.25 - Storo ar 14.30
not daily, check http://www.ttesercizio.it/Extraurban...aDelGarda.aspx

Venezia SL dp 9.50 - Verona 11.00/11.50 - Rovereto 12.38/13.27 - Riva 14.10/14.13 - Storo ar 15.30
not daily, check http://www.ttesercizio.it/Extraurban...aDelGarda.aspx

Venezia SL dp 11.50 - Verona 13.00/13.50 - Rovereto 14.38/15.09 - Riva 15.52/16.30 - Storo ar 17.50
not daily, check http://www.ttesercizio.it/Extraurban...aDelGarda.aspx

Venezia SL dp 14.12 - Verona 15.39/16.09 - Rovereto 17.13/17.34 - Riva 18.20/18.47 - Storo ar 20.04
not daily, check http://www.ttesercizio.it/Extraurban...aDelGarda.aspx

You may also travel via Trento - Tione:
Trentino Trasporti Lines 201 and 215

You may also have a look at the timetable of http://www.arriva.it/home/trasportibrescia/
(buses from Brescia and Salo to Bagolino - Storo)

STORO - NEUSCHWANSTEIN

Storo dp 6.56 - Trento 8.56/9.59 - Innsbruck 12.32/12.38 - Garmisch 14.00/14.04 - Reutte 15.00/15.09 - Ulrichsbruecke - Fuessen ar 15.18
not daily, check http://www.ttesercizio.it/Extraurbano

Storo dp 9.14 - Trento 11.14/11.59 - Innsbruck 14.32/14.38 - Garmisch 15.57/16.04 - Reutte 17.00/17.09 - Ulrichsbruecke - Fuessen ar 17.16
not daily, check http://www.ttesercizio.it/Extraurbano

Last departure: Storo dp 11.44
not daily, check http://www.ttesercizio.it/Extraurbano

To get a better idea of time, how many NIGHTS do you have for this trip, including the one before flying out?

We are thinking of staying two days in Lucerne then go to Zurich for one day. Is this timetable reasonable? Also, is the most efficient way to travel by rail?>

Well for the German and Swiss parts yes IMO and easy to get to all those places - for one thing renting a car in one country and dropping it in another can result in steep dropoff charges and trains are so so good, especially in Switzerland as they go everywhere - even places cars can't go like the Jungfrau Region above Interlaken (south of) and which to me is the absolute highlight of Switzerland for first-time travelers - the easiest Alpine resort for you to reach from Germany - ensonce yourselves in a small mountain village like Grindelwald or Wengen (trains go there) and be eyeball to eyeball with glacier-girdled soaring peaks thousands of feet high - toylike trains and thrilling aerial gondolas going off in all directions - hiking paths from super easy on up.

The Jungfrau Region is the picture of Switzerland many folks have etched in their minds' eyes but which will not be fulfilled in either Zurich or Lucerne - I'd say spend you whole precious few days in the Jungfrau Region - a fairly short train ride from Zurich Airport if returning from there.

For lots on Swiss and Jungfrau trains check www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Zurich is a lovely city (the many folks that poohpooh it probably have not even looked around much more of it than around the train station - IME it is one of the nicest large cities in Europe!) as is Lucerne but for the average traveler with precious time the rugged awesome Alpine Switzerland around the Jungfrau Region will be much much nicer. Swiss cities are great but Swiss Alpine areas are magnificent and IMO on short time one will be most happy to spend their time there.

To neckervd, I want to make sure I am reading your response correctly. I am reading the train schedule you posted and it appears that I can take a train from Venice to Storo arriving in 5-6 hours? Is this correct?

To all others who responded, is it possible to hire a driver in Storo to pick us up in Venice, then use the same service to take us a few days later to a train station that will allow travel to Lucern? How can I contact one? The trip will be seven nights then we will meet a tour in Frankfort. Thank you for the helpful responses and opinions.

Train: Venice - Verona (change train) - Rovereto
Bus: Rovereto - Riva (change bus) - Storo

Open the links I sent you in order to see the detailed bus timetables.

Of course, it's possible to go by taxi from Venice to Storo. Count about 300 EUR plus the tip for the driver.
http://www.tourshuttle.com/EN/ITALY/...del-Garda.html

What do you mean with "a train station that will allow travel to Lucern"? Lucerne can be reached by train from all European train stations. If you mean a train station with DIRECT trains to Lucerne (no train change), you must go up to Lugano.

I strongly urge you to reconsider Lucerne and head to the awesome Jungfrau Region not far away for the Switzerland of many folks dreams - Lucerne is a lovely city on a lovely lake but not at all the Alpine Wonderland of the Jungfrau Region - even a few days here will be the absolute memory of all your travels.

https://www.google.com/search?q=jung...w=1745&bih=868

http://www.swissvistas.com/jungfrau-...l#.VoBHpBUrKUl

If going to Lucerne then there are some lovely day trips from there - especially those by boat on lovely Lake Lucerne, to me the loveliest of all Swiss lovely lakes - like to Mt Rigi, Mt Pilatus or Engleberg and Mt Titlis - the latter a neat Alpine wonderland like the Jungfraujoch but on a mini-scale.

kelmehl,

Obviously you should stick with neckervd! Sorry I gave you poor advice. However, I do want to point out that neckervd's information indicates (and correct me if I am wrong) that the bus service from Rovereto to Storo or back again is not daily service.

I can understand why you might want a taxi from Rovereto to Storo and a taxi ride from Storo onward to another train station. I don't know why you would want one from Venice, however, since you can take the train so easily to Rovereto in 3 hours.

Have you booked a hotel in Storo? They should be able to arrange for a driver to pick you up in Rovereto and take you to Storo, and the same driver could drive you to where you need to catch a train the next day.

Hope that helps but maybe like the last time, it won't!

https://www.google.com/search?q=lake...w=1745&bih=868

Lovely Lake Lucerne Boats!

! Sorry I gave you poor advice.>

that is rare as sandralist is one of the real experts on Italy - she knows of what she talks about with a rare blip.

Buses up to Riva (from both, Rovereto FS and Peschiera FS: daily, about every 2 hrs or so
Buses Riva - Storo: 7 buses, but each of them runs only on certain days and periods (during school period, etc.) No bus on Sundays and holidays
Riva - Tiarno (very close to Storo): more buses, even on Sundays and holidays, but each of them runs only on certain days.
Trento FS - Tione - Storo: many buses, even on Sundays and holidays, but each of them runs only on certain days.

There is a solution for every day, but in order to find it, one hs to open http://www.ttesercizio.it/Extraurban...iudicarie.aspx

Thanks to everyone who responded, your comments have been very useful as I continue to research and plan. I am reading this to say I can take a train from Venice to Rovereto or Riva, then a bus to Storo. Can anyone recommend a Hotel in Storo? It is my grandparents birth place and I would prefer to stay there over Riva. Is that possible?
Kelmehl

Open https://www.visittrentino.it/it/trentino/destinazioni and look for alloggi in Val Chiese

concerning transport Venice - Riva, you may have a look at my posts from Dec 26th and 29th