In mid-September, my husband and I, along with two single friends (early thirties) are planning a trip- with a few days in Germany, a day or two in Switzerland, and some time in Italy where we are meeting up with others. This is what I was looking at, with only preliminatry research.

Fly into Zurich- Drive to Bodensee area (not sure where yet)
Day 1-3- see area towns. (lindau, etc)
Day 3- drive to Ascona Switzerland (about 2 hours)
Day 3-4- Meet friends in Ascona.
Day 4- Drive to Milan, drop off car.
Day 5-8- Train to Florence- 2/3 days in Sienna, fly out of Florence.

Does this sound crazy? I know that we are only spending a few days in each place, and that many people might suggest spending more time in one, but we really wanted to be in these area. Suggestions welcome. Thanks

I would research two things:

the cost of dropping that car in a different country (from where rented)

the possibility of taking the 4+ hour train trip from Ascona to Milan

Exactly my thoughts, Dukey! Except that I must say Ascona doesn't have a train station - you could take the ferry to Stresa and then the train from there to Milan.

Plus I doubt you can drive in 2 hours from somewhere near Bodensee to Ascona. I'd think 4 hours is closer to reality.

Ingo,

Thanks for that correction. I wondered why the trip was so long...must be the ferry portion included when I looked it up at the Bahn site.

Thank you for the feedback- what if we just drove instead of taking the train? I think the "drive n rail" option with Rail Europe allows you to rent the car in one country and drop in another.. we can use the rail to get around locally.. ??

I looked on mappy, and four hours in more accurate like you said, from Bordensee area to Ascona.

We drove from Ascona to Milan in about one hour two years ago.

Does it sound too hectic though?

ttt

It's doable. The Germans go through Switzerland all the time on their way to Italy and never make a stop. Luckily, there are no holidays mid September so you won't run into any traffic jams.

While driving on the Autobahn through Kanton Uri, there's a nice autobahn raststätte (restaurant) somewhere after Fluelen. It's a nice place to stop for a bite before going through the Gotthard tunnel.

thank you for the feedback- we are now thinking of staying in northern Italy vs. Tuscany