maryhks

Just discovered this site too. I am taking my 5 young adult children (ages 19 to 24) to Italy & Switzerland late May/early June of 2014. I have traveled to both countries before. The first part of my itinerary is planned, but am having trouble deciding how to do the Switzerland part. There are reasons that I picked the particular places in Italy even though it was hard to decide. Our basic plan is to fly into Rome and then out of Zurich. We will travel by train. So far here is what I was thinking.
Rome - 3 Days
Amalfi Coast - 4 Days - we will do day trips out of the little town of Atrani (5 min. from town of Amalfi)
Venice - 2-3 Days
(possible stops in Switzerland)
Zermatt
Grindelwald
Lucerne
Zurich
I'm open to other suggestions in Switzerland and may keep it to 3 stops total. Zermatt is probably a for sure stop as all the kids really want to go there. We are an active family and will want to have a combination of hiking, possible 1 day of skiing just so they can say they did in Switzerland, and cute towns.

I would love your thoughts. Thank you.

PalenQ

Seems like you are hitting the best of the Swiss Alps - Grindelwald is a good choice for folks your kids' ages - lots of young active hikers and alpinists coming thru the town - there is an apres-hiking scene - and Grindelwald to me have the finest views of any place - well as fine as anyway and again lots to do.

I would spend more time in the Jungfrau Region than Zermatt as there is IME a much more varied offerings of things to do there whereas Zermatt is basically hiking.

From Grindelwald you can also do lovely steamer rides on Lake Thun or Lake Brienz - each lake being lined by really sweet places to visit - a day out on either will be memorable.

And you have the Jungfraujoch train to the sea of ice and glaciers - some thrilling things there to do - walk to a glacier and various activities and also the the Schilthorn/Piz Gloria where large parts of the James Bond movie On Her Majesty's Service was filmed - in the now famous Piz Gloria revolving restaurant.

everything Zermatt has the Grindelwald area has and more - Zermatt is great don't get me wrong but I'd put more days in the Grindelwald area.

Anyway with such train travel look strongly at the Swiss Pass -covers not only most trains but lake boats and gives hefty discounts on many aerial cable ways to mountain tops. For loads of great info on Swiss trains, passes and the Jungfrau Region in particular check out these IMO fantastic sites - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

If flying into Rome I'd add a day or two there as there is so so much to see and do - the Vatican takes one day - the Colosseum and Forum another... that's the tip of the iceberg really.

maryhks

Thank you so much. Wonderful advice!

bobthenavigator

Nice trip !
I would fly into Naples if you can. A transfer from Rome is tough with that group.

I would skip Venice unless you can give it 3 nites.

You seem to be skipping Rome---any reason?

Zermatt is too hard to access and is not as good a destination as either Grindelwald or Luzern. How much time do you have for CH? If only 3 or 4 days I would pick one--with last nite in Zurich.

maryhks

We are starting in Rome for at least 3 days. I will look into flying into Naples first as an option. We will have 8-9 nights in Switzerland. We could do Grindelwald, Lucerne & then fly out of Zurich. My kids have always been fascinated by the thought of going to Zermatt. I think it is because I told them I went skiing there in July when I was 21 years old. We love to ski and I think the thought of skiing in the summer in Switzerland sounds fun.

neckervd

Skiing in June will be possible at Zermatt only. There are gondolas from Zermatt to Kleinmatterhorn (Matterhorn Paradise), the highest peak that one can reach by public transport in Switzerland.
http://www.zermatt.ch/en/page.cfm/ex.../summer_skiing
But your ski andventure may not be cheap as you will probably have to rent the whole equipment.

There are tons of glaciers and about 29 more than 4000 metres high peaks around Zermatt. The area around Grindelwald is less dramatic (only 4 more than 4000 m high peaks).

Railway journey times (best trains):
Venice - Zermatt: 6 hrs 55 min
Venice - Grindelwald: 7 hrs 15 min
Venice - Lucerne: 6 hrs 20 min
Grindelwald - Zurich airport: 3 hrs
Zermatt - Zurich airport: 3 1/2 hrs

Jenn_Mitch

Sounds like a great trip! I would agree with the above posters...Grindelwald and perhaps the Wengen area offer the equivalent and more as Zermatt. In Zermatt we felt a bit stuck as it is hard to access. Zermatt was lovely, but after a few hikes and a couple hours around the town, we felt we had seen enough, were very content to leave after three days.We didn't do any skiing there though, so if it is high on your "must do" list, then do it and enjoy your time there!

Highly recommend the Swiss Pass - we loved the flexibility, but there are tons of posts on here on the pros and cons of the various types of Swiss Passes - I would check them out and do the math to see what works best for your budget and your family.

Lucerne is great, and we wished we had more than just 1 night/2 days there.

PalenQ

I would skip Venice unless you can give it 3 nites.>

IMO this is very poor advice - 2 days is more than enough IME for the average traveler who soon gets tired of the tourist mobs which even in late May will be there - yes 3 days is great, 4 even better and 5 super if you want to go to the islands, poke around the nooks and crannies but for most not into that Venice is small and its sights for the average tourist, are in a compact dense area.

Young folk your kids age may especially tire of it and find many more things to do in other spots.

Even if you can only go to Venice for 2 hours just seeing this totally unique looking city in all the world would be IMO worth it.

Put Venice at the top of your list IMO and IMO two days is fine for most.

maryhks

Thank you all for the great input. We will keep Venice in the itinerary because I think everyone needs to see it at least once. If it were just me and my husband, I'd probably skip since we have had the pleasure of being there, but I want my adult kids to see it if only for a couple of days which I think is enough.

bobthenavigator

Exactly the problem.
Those who have only given Venice a day or two have not seen Venice. They only relate to the typical tourist path and get turned off by that. I did too my first visit.

Since then, we have been back 4 more times, including 2 seperate weeks in an apartment, and have learned to savor this unique treasure. I would skip Venice until you the time.

nytraveler

Yes, but the Jungfrau also has a ski school year round - or just skiing if you want - and more other things to see/do in the area.

PalenQ

Those who have only given Venice a day or two have not seen Venice.>

disagree - Venice if you have to do in two days do it rather than as Bob says if you can't devote 3 nights - yes 3 nights better to ferret out some things not on the beaten tourist track but really saying not to even spend two days here as you will not see Venice to me IME is not accurate.

If you can only spend two days here fine and younger folks 19-24 I bet will find two days enough.