Italy and Switzerland for two weeks?
 

I am flying into Rome in mid-November and plan to visit Rome for about three days, then on to Venice for the same, then on to Lake Como possibly. From there I would like to go to possibly Luzerne for three days and tour and possibly ski once in the Alps. I would like to keep the trip fairly reasonable as I don't have the expenses to go posh, but don't want run down. Any assistance on routes, rails, skiing, don't miss spots, and hotels would be greatly appreciated.

I forgot to mention I am flying back out of Zurich at the end of the two weeks.

Good afternoon, Jeff <BR>Relative to your note, the Rome, Venice <BR>part sounds good, however I would think <BR>but I may be wrong that the Como area <BR>may close up this late in the year. <BR>Check under www.venere.it and www.hotelguide.ch as to Como hotels <BR>and make that determination. I might <BR>suggest that you consider Lugano as it <BR>is a larger city, however resort typeplaces are closed and then continue <BR>on to Luzern. <BR>Richard of Hickory Hills, IL....

Jeff, Are you driving? That can make a difference. From Como, I would get <BR>over to Lugano--drop the car if you <BR>have one----and train to the Bernese <BR>Oberland from there, perhaps staying <BR>in Grindelwald. I would then train to <BR>Luzern from there and you can spend your last nite there as well since it is <BR>only an hour from the Zurich airport. <BR>If you want to ski, and the weather is <BR>favorable to ski, you can do it from <BR>Grindelwald or Wengen. This will give <BR>you the best of the Alps. Sorry, but it is not easy to keep a budget in Switzerland---an expensive place. <BR>

Jeff: The Rome and Venice part sounds good. I would, however, skip the Italian lakes at mid- to end November, as they can be very depressing at that season. If you want to ski in the Swiss alps, I'd recommend the Bernese Oberland (you'd have to go far up to have natural snow). You cold take a train from Venice, change at Milan for Spiez or Thun in the Bernese Oberland and connect there to a ski resort. There are direct trains from Interlaken via Spiez, Thun, Berne to Zurich airport, the trip will take 2.45 hours from Interlaken. Enjoy.