Family of 4 for 2.5 Weeks in FRA/SUI/ITA -- Itinerary Feedback
 

We are a family of 4 (two kids -- 6 and 9 -- kids are pretty well seasoned travellers....see our past trip reports). Looking for any feedback on this itinerary that we are thinking off for this coming august. All travel will be by public transport (bus/train). Goal is a mix of urban and non-urban adventures.

Aug. 3 -- Arrive in Lyon
Aug. 3-6: Lyon
Aug. 6-9: Dijon
Aug. 9-11: Basel
Aug. 11-14: Interlaken
Aug. 14-17: Zermatt
Aug. 17-20: Milan
Aug. 20-23: Bologna
Aug. 23-25: Venice

Taking Lyon and Venice as endpoints, how does the route in between the two sound. Appropriate # of days per town? Or is there a better routing?

These are all great places to visit. If you look at the number of full days, you have:

Lyon (2 full days)
Dijon (2)
Basel (1)
Interlaken (2)
Zermatt (2)
Milan (2)
Bologna (2)
Venice (1)
Plus, of course, some part days. But it seems less when you couch it in the number of days where you awake and go to sleep in the same town. Eight hotel changes in a short timeframe is quite a lot with a family. Is that pace okay for you?

You also have only towns in Italy (at the hottest time of year) so I would be inclined to drop one town and possibly replace it with somewhere greener and more rural. I'd probably drop Milan because it's the biggest but that's purely subjective. With only one day in Venice, can you fly home from Bologna? Do you have particular plans for visiting Basel?

FYI, the biggest summer holiday in Italy is Ferragosto on Aug. 15th.

Be careful as you plan your sightseeing. You're counting your days twice. For example, you can't do much sightseeing on Aug. 17th in both Zermatt AND Milan. It will take a half day to travel between cities.

I don't know why you picked what you picked, but I'm a little surprised you've allotted the days nearly equally as if all destinations were equal. Or have you been to any of these places before?

Just personal preference, but I wouldn't stay in Interlaken. I'd stay in one of the mountain towns.

The whole itinerary is easily feasible by train and makes sense if you are interested in the cities resp resort towns you mention.
Your kids might prefer other places, I suppose, like
Bouveret Vapeur and Acqua Park with Chillon castle and Lake Geneva steamboats,
Monte Tamaro adventure park above Lake Lugano,
Gardaland on Lake Garda, close to Verona...........

I would recommend cutting back on a few locations so you can cut some of the travel time and have more time to enjoy sightseeing and relaxing. Which of the locations you've chosen are your top priorities?

All I see is urban.

No non-urban
why not include somewhere like an agriturismo with a pool for the kids?
Milano has less shade than Bologna