Itenerary Help For Summer Trip to Switzerland/Italy/France
 

We would like to post our tentative 3 week trip to Switzer/Italy/France and get some ideas from you more seasoned travelers. My wife and I and two teenage daughters are trying to hit the highlights of these three countries in 3 weeks. Please Help!!! I know we can't see it all, but we just have to do our best. We have already purchased our tickets round trip into Zurich. Ok, here goes:

28th June Arrive in Zurich early morning Train to Lucerne
29 June Stay in Lucerne and day trip somewhere?
30 June Stay in Lucerne day trip to Jungfrau
1 July Train to Venice - Stay in Venice
2 July Stay in Venice and explore
3 July Train to Rome - stay in Rome
4 July Stay in Rome - Explore the city
5 July Stay in Rome - Explore City
6 July Train to Lucca Italy (rent a car for the 5 days in Tuscany)

6 July - 10 July Stay in Lucca and day trips around Tuscany (is it feasible to take a day trip to Cinque Terre from here??)

11 July Train to Paris (debating whether to take the overnight train or go during the day and stay the night in Paris?)

12 July - 14 July Stay in Paris (Things we must see here are Versailles/Louvre)

15 July Train back to Zurich
16 July Fly back to the States

We also need suggestions of where to stay in these places. There are four of us, (two 17 year old girs and me and my wife) We would like to keep the cost to about $200 US or less per night if at all possible. The only time we will have a car is while in Tuscany, otherwise we will rely on trains and public transportation.

Lucerne 3 nights
Venice 2 nights
Rome 3 nights
Lucca 5 nights
Paris 3 nights

Other questions: Is Lucca the place to stay for 5 nights with day trips around Tuscany? My wife saw the place on TV and thinks it is so beautiful!!

For us, this may be a trip of a life time, so we would appreciate any tips you can offer. Thanks in advance!!

Just to be clear, this is not a 3-week trip. It is 17 full days plus 2 partial days (perhaps only 1 partial day if your departing flight is in the morning).

Your itinerary as it stands gives you one full day in Lucerne and Venice, 2 full days in Rome, 4 full days in Tuscany, and 3 full days in Paris.

IMO, one day in Venice isn't worth the time and effort to get there. Two days in Rome will barely scratch the surface, and you'll barely get oriented in either place before you leave.

I think you're trying to cover too much geography and spending too much time in transit. (If you train to Paris, your total time on trains will be something like 35-40 hours.) Pick fewer places, closer together, and spend more time seeing the sights rather than the interiors of trains and train stations.

Some people here love Lucca. It didn't "click" for me (which doesn't mean it wouldn't for you). Whether it's the place to stay to see Tuscany depends on what you want to see/do in Tuscany. You have to figure that out first.

You say your hotel budget is $200 or less a night. Is that per room or total? If total, that will be very challenging in most of the cities on your list. If you spent more nights in a city, you could look into apartments.

Hi Bob2010,

About the Swiss portion of your trip --

The trip from Luzern to the Jungfrau is about five hours of travel in each direction, or 10 hours inside a closed box in one day. With only two full days in the country, it really seems a shame to spend one of them this way! There is so much to see in and around Luzern that you don't really need to "waste" a day like that. You can ascend the peaks of Rigi, Pilatus, or Titlis, for example -- you don't have to travel for five hours to find an Alp! You can see these peaks at these sites

www.rigi.ch
www.pilatus.ch
www.titlis.ch

If you feel that you must see the Jungfrau area, then I would suggest that you stay there -- maybe spend more time in Switzerland.

About the rest of your trip --
I think you are trying to do far too much with too little time. Three days in Paris is just not enough time, and most folks would also say that one day in Venice is a crime.

I would suggest that you make some tough decisions now and start eliminating some places. With three weeks, a good rule would be one week in Switzerland, one week in Paris, and one week in Italy (with about two desinations for Switzerland and Italy each).

Good luck!

s

It is very different to make up trip plans on paper vs. actually trying to do it. Packing/unpacking, trying to make it to a train on time, getting taxis,etc. If you want to take a trip where you move so much, do yourself a favor and sign up for a tour; it will be much less hassle.
Otherwise, you've got to cut something. You cannot see everything in Europe in 1 trip. The Paris trip is way too much time on the train. It's a huge city. Neither Rome nor Paris can be seen in 2 days. Traveling in Europe is nothing like zipping from city to city in the US by car.
Switzerland is beautiful. I would leave it to Switzerland and italy. you've got to allow time for jet lag as well..

I traveled with my 16,12,9 years old boys this past summmer with only a backpack each. We got to go with ease to Venice for 3 days, Lucca for 5 visiting Pisa, on the way around the Riviera by train we stopped in Cinque Terre. WE needed up staying one night and we still did not enjoy it how we wanted. Staying in one town for a few days is best. We asked as we walked where to find a hostel. We named our price for a double bed and a bunk bed in an apartment. I wish we would have stayed longer. I wished we had seen Florence and Sienna but time better spent by staying longer in Lucca and Venice.

One thing that is a major complication to your plans - you bought tix in/out of Zurich. It would have been much easier to book open jaw into Zurich and out of Paris to save a whole day lost getting back to Zurich. But unless you booked changeable tickets (probably not) that is water under the bridge.

A train to Paris makes little sense - unless you take an expensive sleeper. Otherwise it would be faster, and definitely cheaper, to fly.

You know you can't see/do it all -- but much of what you will see will be from train windows.

Because you are stuck w/ Zurich at the start/finish, you probably need to drop Paris -- or Italy. One or the other just doesn't fit.

One other thing - lots of travel between places is expensive. Plus some of those cities are expensive, you are going in very high season and you will need quads and sometimes two rooms.
If you stopped in fewer places you have a bit more money to raise your accommodations budget a little or as Jean says, you could rent apartments.

You do have some long journeys with this plan. I would suggest that you travel from Venice to Lucca to Rome and fly to Paris if you really want to see Paris. Alternatively there is an airport at Pisa. Check www.whichbudget.com for flights from Pisa. Paris is in entirely the opposite direction so I would be sure you really want to go there.

To see whether you think Cinque Terre is a viable day trip, check the trenitalia site. If you walk the coastal path it is possible to just do one or two sections.

With a car in July, I wouldn't stay in Lucca. It will be very humid there. I suggest you look into staying in the coastal town of Lerici, and visiting Lucca from there. From Lerici, you can take a boat to le Cinque Terre, but you can also use the car for daytrips.

If you don't mind moving about, you could limit your stay in Lerici to a few days, so you could visit Lucca, but then use your car to get you somewhere south of Siena in Tuscany, spend a few nights there (in a farmhouse with a pool and a restaurant on site), and then drop off the car in Orvieto before heading to Rome, then to Venice, then an overnight train to Paris.

I might rethink the itinerary this way:

Train from Swizerland into Italy, heading for Liguria (perhaps with a break on the way).

Pick up a car in Rapallo (just north of le Cinque Terre), base in Lerici. (visit Lucca)

Head from Lerici to somewhere south of Siena for a few days.

Drop of car in Orvieto, train to Rome.

See Rome, train to Venice.

See Venice, train to Paris.

All that said, what you "see" will depend on how much energy you have after moving around so much. Sometimes people really overestimate their stamina, and they find themselves in a place like Venice, full of wonders, irritable and too tired to even walk to the nearest famous site. In Italy, less is always more, especially when it's really hot and humid.

Hello Bob, Love that name !
The comments above are all valid. You can fix most of your problems by dropping Paris--it just does not fit in this plan.
My other comment is you chocie of base locations in Tuscany. Lucca is a lovely city and is OK for a day trip to the CT, but you will be happier by spending 2 nites in the CT and picking another base in Tuscany--closer to Siena. Forget the Jungfrau from Luzern--just too far. Good luck !

PS: You got a good tip from dreamon about the Pisa airport, especially since it services several budget airlines.

What you might consider, if you are determined to keep all your destinations, is to travel from Switzerland to Venice, then train to Rome, after seeing Rome take a train into Tuscany and pick up a car. Work out an itinerary that includes Lucca and the coast -- and return the car to Pisa. Fly from Pisa to Paris.

Ummm - with just 17 full days, and tickets to and from Zürich, why don't you make this a Switzerland-only holiday? This would definitely make sense, and would provide you with the possibility to SEE one country, instead of just rushing by three countries.

If you're staying only in Switzerland, consider Berner Oberland, Engadin and Tessin (Ascona is my favorite).

My first two trips to Europe in the early 70s when I was 19 and 21, I did almost as much as you are planning so that I got to see all of the places I had always dreamed about. I can understand the temptation. I would either do part of France and Switzeland or Switzerland and Italy, but you are doing a lot of backtracking going to Italy. Save something for another time. I was just in Zurich in April and met my wife in Burgundy. The Berner Oberland is my favorite destination, but I love the mountains. I personally would rent a chalet for at least a week (I have done this 3 times and gite in a couple of regions of France. I have done this in Burgundy and the Perigord. So much to see in France save Italy for another trip. Just my opinion.

If doing all that by train, and i am a great train proponent - see the lay of the land as well as cities, etc. then by all means investigate the Eurail Select Saverpass - a 3 country pass good in France, Italy and Switzerland - if over 25 it's a first class only pass and IME of 40 years of annual rail trips first class is well worth it - esp for a family of four wishing to find seats together - even in Italy and France where you must have seat reservations on many trains - easier to book four as a block in first class than in 2nd class. Anyway for loads of great info on trains in Europe and these countries i always recommend these superb info-laden sites: www.ricksteves.com; www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com - on the latter you can download their free European Rail and Planning Guide which has lots of rail maps, sample itineraries, etc. for each country. This pass will take you in full to Interlaken and then give 25% off on trains above that - like to Wengen, Grindelwald and the Jungfraujoch - and with discounts you need not use a day of travel on a flexipass to get them.

Hi Bob,
So you are coming for an amazing time here in Tuscany? Welcome! Lucca is a very charming city and the best part is that you close enough for some time at the sea side of Tuscany. Did you know you may find some dolphins at this time of year? Take a look at this site: http://ow.ly/12tKz

July is the month of the sun flower: when driving around Tuscany you'll have the pleasure to admire the countryside with all those beautiful live colors.

Of course when at Lucca you are going to stop at Pisa to visit the famous tower, right?

There are so much to explore, you could also take a look at the official site of Tuscany:
http://www.turismo.intoscana.it/into...t/TurismoRTen/

Or at my blog:
http://www.turismo.intoscana.it/allt.../aroundtuscany

If you have any doubts, just ask me at the blog. :)

Ciao ciao,

Barbara

bb-voglio... -i have read about Colodi, Pinnochio's town just above Lucca - have you been there -is it a nice village - and why would Pinnochio buffs want to go there? Curious. Ciao chio

@chio
Pinnochio buffs want to go to Collodi because the author of "The Adventures of Pinocchio" lived there in his childhood and the town is all about Pinocchio. Read more here:


http://www.turismo.intoscana.it/into...370079346.html

It worths a visit.

so many great comments Bob2010 are you out there?

bb_voglio- thanks for that link - next time in the area i'm heading up to Collodi and Pinnochio's Park and wonderful ancient small town.

29 June Stay in Lucerne and day trip somewhere>

Lots of great day trips from Lucerne - i'd go for a boat ride on the steamers that depart frequently from opposite the main train station - the classic cruise goes to the end of the fjord-like Lake Lucerne - to Fluelen, from where you can quickly return to Lucerne by train. This is about a 2.5 hour cruise and boats have restaurants, etc. You can get off at cute lakeside towns and board a later boat, etc. If you have a Swiss Railpass they are valid 100% on these boats.