Stu,

Hello and thank you, thank you, thank you.

Last year we went to Italy and used your advice posted on Fodor’s. We went to Val’dOrchia area, stayed in Pienza, and had a car for a week. We followed all your travel roads, it was magical. On the road I had print outs of your directions, every time we will see some new amazing scenery, we will smile and thanks you for sharing. I loved Tuscany on my first visit to Italy, but Tuscany you showed me will be in my hearth forever, and I will always want to go back. You should know that.

As far as car use goes - it’s personal preference. Last year we planned to drop off car at Chiusi, take a train to Naples, and a than train to Sorrento. But we got so used to have a car in Tuscany and it was so easy, that in a morning, over breakfast, we decided to drive to Naples. Called autoeurope, they said no problem, no charge. It was an easy 3 hour drive, we where so happy we did not have to deal with the train and luggage. We dropped car at Naples airport, hired a taxi, and where so happy with our decision. All trip from Pienza to our hotel in Sorrento was easy, no more than 4-5 hours, we where not tired and had a whole afternoon to explore new place.

This year we are going in few weeks to explore Switzerland for the first time, and my husband wishes to drive again, I ‘m very nerves about it, because roads in Switzerland probably not that easy. We took swandav’s advice to use 15 days Swiss Pass in Lucerne, Lautenbrunnen and Montreux, and will have a car only for the last 5-6 days, when we will go to Lugano, and then go Zurich, to return home. I booked hotel Moosmann in Gandria, and we would like to drive to and around lakes Como and Maggiore. I think this car/Pass combination will work well for us.

MRS

Glad my Tuscany stuff helped - that's a beautiful area.

Stu Dudley

Susanne2007,

You can put together a wonderful trip through Switzerland entirely without a car, visting charming towns and car-free villages by train, Postbus, lake boat, and cable car.

You can also put together a wonderful driving trip through Switzerland, visiting some villages that are not served by train, boat, or cablecar.

But many of us who love visiting Switzerland would miss the pleasure of arriving in a village hung on the side of a mountain by cablecar . . . or at one perched on the lakeshore by boat. Plan your trip around these places, and you'll have a great Swiss experience, without worrying about driving on the "wrong" side of the road, or trying to find a place to park.

I have found driving in Switzerland can be very fatiguing - roads up to places like Zermatt are two-lane mountain roads and if you get behind a truck, etc. it's slow going

and then a few miles before Zermatt you must ditch your car and take the shuttle train into town itself.

And if you take the freeways between main cities you also have to buy a fairly expensive freeway decal i believe

and if you don't take freeways then you are mainly IME on two-lane twisting roads going thru valleys and again can be very fatiguing

Switzerland is one country to do by train IMO - and they say something like there is no village or city in Switzerland more than six miles or something from a train station - and postal buses pick up from stations to go to any group of huts not served by trains

>>And if you take the freeways between main cities you also have to buy a fairly expensive freeway decal i believe<<


If you rent a car in Switzerland, there will already be a decal on the car - at least the 2 we rented had decals. They also charged us a 4F per day highway fee - which they don't do in France. I assume the fee is to pay for the highway decal.

Stu Dudley

thanks Stu

after i posted that i thought about car rentals and how if they were rented in Switzerland then would probably have the decal

but those from other countries may not and i guess you need to buy one at the frontier if going by autoroute

There are places where you must drive to get the full experience -- like Tuscany and Provence. Switzerland is just the opposite. The trains connect to the buses and the boats. There are beautiful small towns not reachable by car. And when you use public transportation, everybody gets to admire the view.

Do plan at least one boat ride, maybe in Lucerne. And the postal buses are very comfortable, penetrate deep into the mountains, and have this cute horn, that sounds like somebody is blowing it.

And I want to second (third?) the advice to fly into Paris, out of Vienna. You can save considerable time on this trip not backtracking.

The buses in Switzerland are lovely. They will even help you send your luggage on to the next hotel, etc. There have been many mountainous places I've been to in Switzerland where the buses felt so safe. They are made by Rolls Royce!!!

Thank you to everyone for you information, opinions - all interesting, and willingness to help. This was my first post on Fodors and I have been impressed with the responses and the generosity of fellow travellers. Will spend some time now doing some further planning. No doubt other questions will arise as I go along.

Many folks post things and get great info and never say thanks

Thanks for saying thanks, on behalf of all i'm sure