My family of 6 will be travelling to Italy for 3 weeks in June 2003. I have promised my daughter(11) that we would see the mountanins where Hiedi was set. Here is my problem:<BR><BR>We arrive in Rome four days<BR>then to Paestum 5 days<BR>lucca 7 days<BR><BR>We have only five days left! Our plane leaves out of Zurich. Should we go ahead with plans to stay in the Grendelwald/Wegen/interlaken area or should we reschedule the plan out of Milan and stay on the Italy side?<BR><BR>I love the alps, but wonder if I am working it too hard and should save them for another trip. HELP THIS MOMMA!!

Hi<BR><BR>Maybe it is insignificant to you, but ............ everything on the Italian side is much cheaper. And many would argue the food is better.<BR><BR>Peter<BR>http://tlp.netfirms.com<BR><BR>

It is my understanding that Heidi was set in a village outside Chur, which is about a two hour drive from Zurich. The name of the village is Maienfeld. You can take a train there from Zurich in 1 ½ hours. According to the Fodor's book, there is even a &quot;Heididorf&quot; (Heidivillage) where you can hike a path to the imagined cabins of Peter the Goatherd and Uncle Alm. Check the Fodor's book for information on what to see and do with regard to &quot;Heidiland&quot;. You should be able to find other information on the web by typing in the name of the village or looking up the Swiss Tourism Authority. <BR><BR>I believe you can take a day trip by bus to visit Heidiland. You might check by doing a search for Heidi on the web, or check with the Swiss Tourism Authority. If you want to go yourself, you can check the SSB.ch website for information on trains to Maienfeld from Zurich. <BR><BR>As your plane departs out of Zurich anyway and you have 5 days you could easily do Heidiland and Zurich. <BR>

I haven't yet been to that end of Switzerland, but the Bernina Express between Lugano and Chur is reported to be one of the most beautiful train rides. If you can fit that into your routing, I think it would be well worth it.

Nancy is correct. The Heidi story was set in Maienfeld. Easily accessible from Zurich, but obviously not from Grindelwald area.<BR><BR>Why don't you take a train from Lucca to Chur or a village in this region(leave 9:59, arrive 18:44 in Chur) and stay there for a night or longer? Maienfeld is only a few km away, you could spend a week in this region and explore the mountains!<BR><BR>Just an idea.<BR><BR>Ingo

If you want to consider something in Italy, you might want to try Castelrotto in the Dolomites. Hotel Cavallino d'Oro is a wonderful hotel set in the middle of a delightful village. There are many &quot;Heidi&quot; type walks you could make from the village, and also from other points into the Dolomites. It is a beautiful area and fairly accessible to Milan.

I really concur with Karen about Hotel Cavallino d'Oro and that area. Have stayed there twice and intend to do it again.

Here it is. You really have to just do the simple job of &quot;scrolling back&quot; when you cannot find your post. It was last at the top at 5:45 pm yesterday - - just about an hour after you initially posted it.<BR><BR>See your other post for a tip on how to keep track of this (or any other) post.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Topping for Teresa!

The food is only better if you love pasta. If you want more variety Switrzerland is infinitely superior. Although as another poster mentions, you will need deep pockets.

I do not agree that the food is better in Switzerland. John has obviously not been in the Dolomites. The food is a combination of Italian and Austria. It is very diverse and excellent.

I agree with John: the food IS better in Switzerland at least for my tastes - I have been to the Dolomites. Much more variety in Switzerland.<BR><BR>By the way, let me go back to your promise. Well, the book story was set in Maienfeld. But maybe you refer to the latest movie? This one was set in the hamlet Grevasalvas near St. Moritz. Some shots reminded me of Soglio, though. Grevasalvas is picturesque, but not worth a big detour. On the other hand, the region is very scenic and you can see the original hut where Heidi and Alp&ouml;hi lived (in the movie). It was rebuilt above St. Moritz.<BR><BR>Ingo

Ahhh...but Ingo...you are German!!! Of course, you would prefer the food in Switzerland! ;-)<BR><BR>Me? I like the N. Italian food better, though I did think that the Engadine (not Glarnerland) had the best food I have tasted in CH.<BR><BR>I would save the Swiss Alps for another time and concentrate on the Dolomiti. They are absolutely fabulous.<BR><BR>Cheers!<BR>Jan

We are travelling from Lucca and have 5 days until we need to be in Zurich. How can we do the Dolomites the best in this amount of time. We prefer to spen all 5 days in one place--too hard on the kids to move from place to place.<BR><BR>

ttt

MOMMA - Excuse me, but you said you promised your daughter you would see the mountains where Heidi was set. To me that means taking her to Maienfeld, and let her see the Alm on which she lived. I don't care whether you like pasta or fondue, you owe it to your daughter to get as close to the original as possible - otherwise just take her to the Rockies. You might even enjoy Maienfeld and Chur as it is only a short train ride to Zurich.

ttt