Cologne to Rome
 

Two of us, mid-fifties, experienced travelers, will be driving from Cologne, Germany, to Florence, Italy over the course of several days in September. Tentative itinerary is:

1. Cologne to Luxembourg City, via Aachen to see the Cathedral
2. Luxembourg City to Colmar, France, via Saint-Avold to pay respects to Grandpa
3. Colmar to Zurich
4. Zurich to Liechtenstein (Vaduz? Nenholm?)
5. Liechtenstein to Lake Como--where's the best town to settle in for the night?
6. Lake Como to Verona or Mantua--preference on which we should spend our time?
7. Verona or Mantua to Florence
8. Florence to Rome

Question is, what route and what must-see sights should we take in along the way and in each location?

Thanks in advance for the tips -

Caleb

You are going by car? How long do you have for that trek. IME Luxembourg City and Zurich are not that great compared to other possible stops.

Honestly, Luxembourg City is purely just to tick Luxembourg off the list. We could just as easily pass on through and spend a night elsewhere if you have suggestions. Ditto Zurich--it's close enough to Colmar that we could keep on going, maybe just passing through for lunch, and going on toward the Bodensee before popping down to Liechtenstein.

Luxembourg The Grand Duchy is a lovely small country -to get that notch on your belt I'd suggest stopping for the night in a neat smaller town - Luxembourg City is bland - physically neat because it is bisected by a deep gorge but basically a blah modern city - oh as every city goes has its pluses - like sitting on the outdoor cafe-studded Grand Place - but the countryside has some really neat towns like Clervaux and its dreamy castle.

Zurich is a large modern city with again some neat sights but a bit of a detour off Colmar-Zurich route. I'd suggest perhaps going via Basel and say Schlaffhausen - neat regional town with famous Rhine Falls just outside making a great short stop - and then maybe over to a smaller easier Swiss town to drive into like St-Gallein.

-Lieichtenstein again is a nice rural 'principality' to drive thru - but again how long do you have to do all this - those are fairly long drives you have for a day.