Advice needed with short trip
 

Hi,
Hopefully I can get welcomed tips and advice.
We are mid aged couple and will be in Italy late May and early June and we are wanting to go to Switzerland for about 6-7 days, and would like to know if it would be enough time to go to the following places.

We were thinking to
Travel from Milan to St. Moritz ,
Glacier express from St. Moritz to Zermatt
Go up the Gronergrat Mt ? And the Matterhorn ?
Spend time in the Bernice Oberland? area, maybe go to Jungfrau,

Would 2 nights each be enough time for Zermatt and Bernice Oberland?
We're not sure which way would be better Milan to St. Moritz or Milan to Zermatt,

We would like to go on 1 of the scenic tourist train, go up one or two mountains and do some short hiking
We have been to Lucerne and were taken up a mountain (not sure which one - long time ago on a tour)

All suggestions will be appreciated. We would like suggestions for hotels (mid rang prices)
We would need to get back to Milan so that we can continue going south in Italy.

Thank you
Meg

You may need to use Milan railway systems but the town itself really only offers a couple of days entertainment at best, though there are nice spots like Bergamo nearby.

St M is a bit meh, but it is fun to count the Russian Mafia and the Arab Princes with their much younger PAs. There are certainly nicer hiking areas but if you need to go there to catch a train you need to go there.

Good to see you are generally staying out of the big cities in Switzerland, good decision.

The classical loop would be:
Day 1:
Milano Cadorna dp by train 9.00 - Como Lago ar 9.55, dp by Lake Como boat 10.30 (restaurant on board) all along Lake Como to Bellano ar 13.04, dp by train 13.29 - Tirano 14.50/15.00 - Alp Grum ar 16.12, enjoy the view to Palu Glacier and Piz Palu (13000ft) from the railway station restaurant. Alp Grum dp 17.03 - Pontresina ar 17.50, sleep at or around Pontresina.

Day 2:
Day trip from Pontresina to the glaciers of Bernina Diavolezza (train and gondola, some hiking possible).

Day 3:
Pontresina/St. Moritz dp 9.00 by Glacier Express to Oberwald ar 14.35, dp 15.30 by Swiss PostBus (from June 6th) to Grimselpass - Meiringen ar 17.14, dp by train 17.22 to Brienz ar 17.33, dp by Lake Brienz boat 17.40 all along Lake Brienz to Interlaken ar 18.53.

Day 4:
Bernese Oberland

Day 5:
Interlaken dp by train 8.30 - Spiez ar 8.52, dp 9.12 by scenic train Loetschberger (splendid views to Blumlisalp 12000ft and Mischabel 15000ft) to Brig ar 10.24. Visit the Stockalper castle and have lunch in the medieval city center.
Brig dp by train 13.27 - Zermatt ar 14.50

Day 6:
enjoy Zermatt

Day 7:
Zermatt dp 17.37 - Visp 18.45/19.32 - Gallarate 21.03/21.34 - Milano Porta Garibaldi 22.12/23.17 - overnight train with sleeping cars - Salerno ar 10.32

Don't stay in St. moritz rather in nearby picturesque Pontresina. Hotel La Collina is very nice.

Thanks all with your replies,

Neckervd we will look at the Swiss map and see where your suggestions take us,,...


One suggestion we were given was to go
Milan to Interlaken area - spend 2 nights there going up Jungfrau if the weather is suitable.

Train to Zermatt, again staying there 2 days, going up one of the mountain there, then
Going on glacier express to Chur staying there, overnight then going on Berninaa express to Tirano? Onward to Milan.

That would put us in a good position to continue going south towards Sicily.

We have 8 - 9 days in total before we need to be in Sicily, and will have another 7 days in Rome before flying home.

Do you think getting the Eurorail Flexi, Swiss Flexi pass or the half fare card is the best way to go, or should we pay point to point for each trip

Thank you again
Meg

"One suggestion we were given was to go
Milan to Interlaken area - spend 2 nights there going up Jungfrau if the weather is suitable.
n to Zermatt, again staying there 2 days, going up one of the mountain there, then
Going on glacier express to Chur staying there, overnight then going on Berninaa express to Tirano? Onward to Milan."

That's more or less what I suggested, but just the other way round and with more backtracking.

Milan - Brig - Zermatt - Interlaken etc. - Meiringen - Grimsel - Pass - Oberwald - Glacier Express....
is a much better solution than
Milan - Brig - Interlaken etc. - Brig - Zermatt - Brig - Oberwald - Glacier Express.....
Pros of my solution:
shorter Glacier Express ride
scenic Swiss Post Bus ride obver the Grimsel Pass
boat trips on Lake Brienz and Lake Como
visit of the stupendous glaciers of Bernina (ticket 4times cheaper than Jungfraujoch with Swiss Pass).

But it's up to you, of course!

BTW: there are cheap low cost tickets from all Swiss airports and from Milano Malpensa to Catania and to Palermo.
If you prfefer a mini cruise, you may also board a very comfortable Genoa - Palermo ferry