gpm

Dear all,
I am in doubt of what to do before/after a meeting I will have in Bern. The meeting takes place on a Friday and a Saturday. I am travelling from South America.
The options I have are:
1. To take a plane to Europe on Saturday and arrive in Zurich on Sunday. Then I would have Sunday-Thursday before the meeting to travel in Switzerland, getting in Bern on Thursday. I could then travel after the meeting, from Sunday to next Saturday (plane back home on Sunday evening).
2. I could also leave home on Wednesday, getting in Zurich the day before the meeting. I would then take a train to Bern, attend the meeting, and would then have Sunday-next Monday (plane back home Monday or Tuesday evening).

The first doubt is: what option do you recommend?
Second: for the trip after the meeting, my options (we are a couple) are Tuscany or Bavaria. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much for your help. Sorry for having so many doubts.
Gpm

bobthenavigator

From Bern, I would see the Berner Oberland and then Lago Como. Where do you depart Europe.

zeppole

For me, deciding between Tuscany and Bavaria would be about weather -- Tuscany is too hot and humid for me in summer, I'd want pleasant weather for hiking in Bavaria. But if weather was favorable in both places, I would decide on the basis of what I felt like eating and drinking, and whether or not I felt like hiking or driving. Tuscany -- if you mean "under the Tuscan sun" as opposed to Florence, Lucca, Siena, etc -- is mainly a driving vacation.

gpm

Thank you. I might go to Tuscany. Do you have any suggestions of itineraries?

Echnaton

Tuscany is roughly a square - with Pisa, Florence, Siena and Cecina marking the four corners. Any place within this square would be fine as a base. Now, it is up to you

- would you prefer to stay on the coast (the beach is average - wide, sandy, not spectacular), then any coastal town would be okay?

- would you prefer to stay in a town, then Siena, Lucca, Volterra would be my first choices (Florence is large and noisy, Pisa is VERY touristy)?

- would you prefer to stay on the countryside - then you may select one of many fattorias (converted farms)?

Whereever you base yourself, you can make daytrips to the other destinations within this square. The main destinations are:

- Florence - the largest city with its historical core, the great duomo and its splendid museums

- Siena - a very compact medieval town with a gorgeous city hall

- Pisa - with its incredibly beautiful ensemble made of white marble

- Volterra - the ancient Etruscan capital with lots of archeology

- Lucca - historic spa

- San Gimignano - picturesque medieval town, however somewhat spoilt by mass tourism

Driving is a pleasure in Tuscany. You have fast-moving autostradas and scenic country roads. And you will enjoy your car's air condition. From June to October, it will be very hot in Tuscany.

gpm

Thank you. I prefer to stay in a town. Do you think 7 nights in Tuscany are OK? How many days should I have in Florence, for example?
I might stay in Switzerland until Sunday and then I can either rent my car in Bern and deliver it in Florence or take a train to Florence and pick up the car there. What do you recommend?

zeppole

I have to say I am completely taken aback by the description of Tuscany as a square bounded by Pisa, Florence, Siena and Cecina. Not only does this leave out fully 70 percent of the area of Tuscany most people would describe as scenic -- it leaves out 90 percent of Tuscany, period!

And if someone is going to Lucca for the waters, they are going to be sadly misinformed.

gpm,

You need to get a map of Tuscany and you should post what made you choose Tuscany as your destination. If it was because you heard about rolling hills and vinyards, you might very well want to base yourself somewhere in the 70 percent of Tuscany that wasn't mentioned above.

Since you are renting a car, you want to be careful not to base yourself or be driving into in a city -- like Florence. If you want to see Florence and other art cities, you need to pick a base that gives you a good public transportation connection into Florence. Or else stay in Florence a few days before renting your car.

And since you want to rent a car, you might consider the advantages of staying on a farm where you eat the food and wine of the farm as opposed to staying in a town and eating restaurant food. Although many people go to Tuscany to mostly take pictures, many other people go because it one of the few places on the planet where you can stay on a farm and partake of the food of the historic landscape, from ground straight to your table -- all for a very cheap price.

You need to read up more on Tuscany or else you may end up missing some of the most attractive parts of it, or getting stressed out having a rental car where you don't want one or need one.