CatchK

Hi Everyone,

As usual - I want to thank everyone in advance for all of your willingness to share knowledge and experience!

I am planning my 2nd trip to Europe (last year was solo, 2 weeks, Italy only, Venice-Brescia-Positano-Rome). It was the perfect trip for me. This year will be a little different as I will be traveling with my great aunt. I will be 29 and she will be 72. We get along great and are really looking forward to sharing this experience. I love history, she hates it, neither of us are into art, I love crazy outdoor things, she does not but doesn't mind watching me...we both love good food and wine and laughing together.

If it were just me, I would be planning this entire trip in June, but she likes to be very early. We will be buying our flights next week and would like to start booking hotels immediately.

Our trip is planned for July 26 - August 16, 2014 and is tentatively as follows:
Land in Venice
Venice - 2 Nights
Train to Brescia, Car to Garda
Garda - 3 Nights
Car to Brescia
Brescia - 3 Nights
Train to Riviera
Camogli or Portofino (opinions?) - 3 Nights
Train to Alba
Alba - 3 Nights (Do we need to rent a car here?)
Train to Zermatt w/lunch in Milan
Zermatt - 2 Nights
Train to Lucerne
Lucerne - 3 Nights
Train to Zurich
Zurich - 1 Night
Depart from Zurich

Things we know we have/want:
Westin Hotel in Venice (paid with timeshare points)
Garda - birth and resting place of family
Brescia - Visting living family
Riviera - we both love the ocean and spend much of the summer in Newport, RI. We would also like maybe a day trip to Monaco?
Alba - we would both LOVE to take a cooking class - any recommendations?
Zermatt - See the Matterhorn and ski and paraglide here, should weather be a concern?
Lucerne - final relaxation destination after the craziness
Zurich - the new Sheraton not far from the airport to fly home.

Also just a note, we both were looking forward to including the French Riviera but are just worried we don't have time and don't want our trip ruined because we are rushing everywhere.

Just about everything else is up in the air. I am looking specifically for the questions above, critique of above, as well as what else to do/see in these places, as well as where to stay (hotels are probably our priority right now) and where to eat.

Our budget is flexible but on the budget end - obviously some of these locations are more than others and we understand that, but as a teacher and a retiree we would obviously like to save where we can without skimping on the experience.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can tell you that will help with recommendations and I thank you for all of your help!

PalenQ

Zermatt - See the Matterhorn and ski and paraglide here, should weather be a concern?>

Definitely as the Matterhorn can always be socked in fog or clouds even if the weather down in Zermatt is fine.

I would suggest you could cut travel time by substituting the Jungfrau Region for the Zermatt region and have everything there you'd find in Zermatt (save the Matterhorn and to me the glacier-girdled Jungfrau Massif is just as awe-inspiring - do both if you can - you could laze back in the Interlaken/Grindelwald/Wengen area also in lieu of Lucerne, a nice city but always rather boring to me at least.

Anyway you can't go wrong but the Matterhorn viewing can always be iffy if you are there less than two full days. But I do agree it is an awe-inspiring site.

I'd recommend doing both Zermatt and the Jungfrau Region, to me and many the absolute highlight of Switzerland with so many varied things to do - not just Alpine things but relaxing boat rides on either lake the bookend Interlaken - each lake with a panoply of neat places to get off and see - plays at the William Tell Playhouse in Interlaken or replace dwindling trip funds at the fancy Interlaken Casino.

Interlaken and its area can be very very relaxing - no need to to the rather hectic IME Jungfraujoch train or Schilthorn but just sit on your hotel balcony and get drunk on the intoxicating views.

Interlaken is also IME significantly less expensive on hotels than pricey Lucerne.

If Lucerne definitely do a boat cruise on Lake Lucerne - like the classic cruise to Fluelen, at the end of this fjord-like arm of the lake - take the train back. You could take the William Tell special deal boat with lunch and commentary on that route too.

for Switzerland the train is the way to go - cars can even penetrate Zermatt but must be parked a few miles out of town and you take a shuttle train into town and also in the Jungfrau Region many places ban cars. For lots of great stuff on Swiss trains and Swiss Passes which may be of use to you as it covers trains in full to Zermatt and Grindelwald, Wengen (a favorite tranquil Alpine village that many Fodorites - especially older ones like moi - rave about - no cars allowed and very very tranquil and arguably the finest views in the whole area.

great sites for Swiss train info - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.sbb.ch - ther Swiss Federal Railways site for schedules and prices to compare against passes.

Jean

I would rent the car in Venice as you're leaving, drive to Garda, drive to Brescia. Otherwise, you're doing some backtracking. If you switched the order and visited Alba before the Riviera, you could keep the car and then drive Brescia-Alba-Rapallo. Turn in the car in Rapallo which is only about 10 kms. from both Camogli and Portofino. IMO, a day trip from there to the French Riviera isn't realistic either by car or train.

It will be a long train ride to Zermatt, but it's actually a shorter journey with fewer connections from Rapallo than from Alba.

Unless you're getting a big discount on the Sheraton at the Zurich Airport, I'd spend the last night in the city center. The train from the main Zurich train station to the airport takes less than 15 minutes.

neckervd

Why do you need a car at Garda? There are tons of buses and boats to all directions.
Just take a train from Venice to Peschiera (1 1/2 hrs journey) and go on by bus (1/2 hr journey).

Portofino is rather expensive and rather isolated. What about Rapallo or Sta Margherita (railway stations, bus and boat from Sta Margherita to Portofino)?

Alba - Zermatt takes about 8 hrs, with train changes either at Cavallermaggiore, Turin, Novara, Domodossola and Brig
or at Bra, Turin, Ivrea, Aosta, Martigny and Visp
(Aosta - Martigny by bus).

I suppose you know that there are tons of gems along these 2 itineraries.

As you will arrive at Zermatt in the evening, sleep there 3 nights or leave Zermatt at day 2 in the evening over the fastest and not very scenic itinerary.

Scenic itineraries Zermatt - Lucerne:
Zermatt - train - Oberwald - bus - Grimsel Pass - Meiringen - train - Brunig Pass - Lucerne,
Zermatt - train - Andermatt - Fluelen - Lake Lucerne steamboat - Lucerne,
Zermatt - Brig - Kandersteg - Spiez - Interlaken - Meiringen - Brunig Pass - Lucerne,

PalenQ

Why do you need a car at Garda? There are tons of buses and boats to all directions.
Just take a train from Venice to Peschiera (1 1/2 hrs journey) and go on by bus (1/2 hr journey).>

Yes we got a boat pass for a day and saw everything of interest - boats are frequent so you can get off at several places inone day or do two days by boat, etc.

Lexma90

Another option. If it were me, I would consider renting a car from Garda/Brescia on. But that's partly because I don't like changing trains, and like the flexibility providing by driving. The travel times may well be the same.

Portofino I've only visited once, as a day trip, and it does indeed look like an expensive place to stay. Camogli is probably better for your budget.

Alba is a nice little city/town, but I would not want to stay there for 3 nights without a car. What led you to choose Alba? When visiting the Piemonte, we stayed further south, in the heart of the Barolo villages, and spent our days driving from town to town, soaking up ambience, beauty and wine.

CatchK

Hi Everyone,
I apologize for the delay - I have had a lot going on lately!

Lexman - I have to be honest, I am a little nervous since I have never driven in Europe and am not very proficient in the language. I think both of us would prefer train travel over driving, especially if travel times are the same. Also, I chose Alba simply because I have read about it and it was recommended to me by a few people here and elsewhere. I honestly don't know much at all about the region except that we wanted our trip to be varied and see different sights. Would we still be able to do what you said from Alba or would you recommend staying further south?

Neckervd and PalenQ - I guess I hadn't thought that through! I literally just drove through town last year so I assumed I needed a car (silly I know). We do have some specific sights that we will want to see (a cemetery, for example) and IF we had time thought maybe a day trip to Padua would be nice. Would any of these factors make a difference? Also, do the buses get crowded in the summer? In the towns that I visited last August, the buses all looked SO crowded that I avoided them like the plague.

Jean - That is an interesting switch - I will have to look into that a bit more, but it does make sense if you think the car won't be an issue. We had figured we would just rent a car two separate times, bringing the cost down also.

PalenQ - Great info - where do you recommend staying in the Jungfrau region?

Thans to everyone for all of your help!

Jean

I think you'd enjoy the Alba area more if you had a car.

PalenQ

PalenQ - Great info - where do you recommend staying in the Jungfrau region?>

anywhere up in the hills will be super - many here love Wengen because of its isolation - cars cannot even approach the town - ditto for Murren - those who like a bit more apres-hiking or whatever activity like Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen where the sidewalks are not rolled up at night.

But you can't go wrong in any of those places. Wengen and Murren are more remote than Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen if day tripping out could be a factor.

Be sure to get a hotel with a balcony with a view of the glacier-girdled peaks in any case!

CatchK

Ok great! Thank you all!

Is there anything else I should keep in mind?
Any specific hotel - restaurant recommendations?

As time goes on I will keep a folder on each place (I'm kind of an obsessive planner) of scheduled items as well as suggested items in down time!