9/13/02 : Reach Paris<BR>9/13 - 9/16 : Paris<BR>9/16 : Paris -&gt; Luzern. 1/2 day in Luzern<BR>9/17 : Panaroma Express (Golden Pass line)from Luzern to Montreux. <BR>9/17 - 9/18 : Stay in Geneva. Day trips to broc, gruyere, montreux, lake geneva.<BR>9/19 : Geneva to Murren<BR>9/19 - 9/21 : In Murren. Do the jungfraujoch + schilthorn + hiking.<BR>9/21 : Murren to Zermatt. Gornegrat in Zermatt<BR>9/22 : Glacier express to St Moritz<BR>9/23 : Bernina Express to Tirano. Train from Tirano to Milan<BR>9/24 : Day trip to Venice from Milan<BR>9/25 : Milan to Zurich<BR>9/26 : Return to US from Zurich<BR><BR>Any comments, suggestions, alterations. I am open to modifying my itenary. This is my first trip to Europe!<BR><BR>I wanted to do Paris and switzerland. I threw in Venice/Milan because I was going so close to it. Is it a bad idea?

You're going way too fast, in my opinion. I can't imagine what you would see in Lucerne for a half day! You're really zipping thru Switzerland and will only see what the land looks like. A day trip to Venice is nothing! Long way between Milan and Venice and, again, you'll really see so little. I think you should either stick to Paris and Switzerland or Paris and northern Italy. If it was my choice, I'd spend some time in Paris, fly to Milan, rent a car and mosey thru northern Italy with stops at the lakes. Could you fly back out of Milan? I did love Switzerland but Italy is more unique.

Thanks for your response Nancy,<BR><BR>Please look at the thread : "Paris + Switzerland : Please comment". By mistake I started another thread.<BR><BR>I want to focus on switzerland in this trip : how should I change my plans to really enjoy switzerland.<BR><BR>

Gullu,<BR><BR>I got to go with Nancy on this one. You may be able to do all the things you have on this list, but you will be moving so fast that if you enjoy any of it I would be amazed. I could try to explain further, but I wouldn't know where to start. When you return from this trip you probably won't even be able to recognize any of the places in your pictures. All I can say is slow down. Good luck.<BR><BR>Greg<BR>

At the risk of sounding like a smart aleck... and stating the obvious...<BR><BR>&lt;&lt;how should I change my plans to really enjoy switzerland&gt;&gt;<BR><BR>Fly inTO Switzerland, and fly back home FROM Switzerland.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Gullu..<BR><BR>Actually I quite like your itinerary, mainly because I enjoy sightseeing through train windows, and I have done most of the trips you are planning.<BR>A few suggestions.<BR>Following the Golden Pass train trip to Montreux, I would stay there, and skip Geneva, which is really too far up the lake, and not worthwhile as a holiday destination. There are lake steamers from Montreux to Lausanne or across the lake to Evian les Bains. Prior to that I would try for an extra day in Lucerne, possibly at the expense of Zermatt or Venice.<BR>On the Glacier Express, it would be easier to stopover at Chur rather than St.Moritz - also a good deal cheaper. The main Bernina Express to Tirano actually starts from Chur next morning.<BR>From Tirano on the Milan train, consider alighting at Varrenna and catching the frequent ferry across to Bellagio for a night. Next day there are ferries down Lake Como (magical) to Como itself, from where you can catch the train direct to Zurich, over the Gothard Pass (also magical).<BR>So in conclusion, drop Milan and Venice, for an extra day or so in Lucerne, from where there are lots of lake steamers that connect with funicular railways up the mountains - well worth doing.

Gulli, My wife and I spent 2 days in Venice in 2000, and felt it wasn't enough. So, we are going back for 3-4 days next May. Drop them and enjoy your trip to Paris for an extra day or so, then plan to return to Venice, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Sienna, Nalpes, Pompeii, and a hundred other great places in Italy when you have a couple of weeks/months to enjoy them.

gullu, you are trying to do way too much in your 10 days and skipping around way too much. I'm with Ray; save Venice for another day. Try to arrange your stays so that you have the least amount of travel time between each and proceed in a circular pattern (Luzern, Berner Oberland, Zermat, Zurich). <BR><BR>Look at some of the posts under Switzerland and you will get lots of ideas. <BR><BR>Do you know how long it is by train from Milan to Zurich? (at least 5 hours)<BR> <BR><BR>

Thank you all. We have decided to skip Milan and Venice. Milan was added because there was no other way to go from Tirano/Lugano to Venice but via Milan. Anyhow we were planning o reach Milan by early afternoon and spend 1/2 day there seeing the Gallerria and the duomo. The train from Milan to Venice is 2 hours. So we would have reached Venice by 9am and returned aby 6:00pm. In that time we thought we would have gotten a feel for Venice.<BR><BR>Anyhow I agree with you all : we will skip Milan and Venice and do 2 more days in Luzern.<BR><BR>In the new itenerary you will not that I spend 1/2 day in Luzern and then come back to spend 2 more days. This is because I have already purchased the tockets from Paris -&gt; Luzern, Luzer-&gt;Montreux. Moreover we fly out of zurich so we had to return to luzern.<BR><BR>So The new itenerary :<BR>9/13 - 9/15 : Paris<BR><BR>9/16 : Paris -&gt; Luzern (1/2 day in luzern). No Mountain rides, just see the bridges and walk around the city. Maybe a cruise on the lake if we have time<BR><BR>9/17 : Golden pass train (panaroma car) from Luzern to Montreux. We reach Montreux at 12:45pm. Visit the castle and then take a steamer on Lake Geneva to Geneva (about 5 hours). This will give us a good feel of Lake Geneva and the country side from Interlaken to Montreux. We do not want to spend more than one evening in Geneva. So this should be fine.<BR><BR>9/18/02 : Geneva to Murren. Do you recommend that I visit gruyere, broc on the way to Interlaken? Any other place you recommend that I visit on the way to Interlaken from Geneva.<BR><BR>9/18/02 -&gt; 9/21/02 : Murren and sourrounding. Stay in Murren.<BR><BR>9/21/02 : Murren -&gt; Zermatt. All we intend to do in Zermatt is the gornegrat to experience the matterhorn. Do a couple of short hikes if we have time.<BR><BR>9/22/02 : Glacier Express. This is a good place to rest after a hectic 3-4 days in Murren and Zermatt. Plus we got reservations in the panaroma car and we get to see the countryside from zermatt all the way to St Moritz.<BR><BR>9/23/02 : Bernina express from St Moritz to Lugano. We reach Lugano around 5:00pm. We do not intend to spend more time here than one evening because we will return when we do Italy some day. Intention is to checkout some good Italian restaurant.<BR><BR>9/24/02 : Train from Lugano to Lucerne, via the Gotthard tunnel. I heard it is a very beautiful train ride.<BR><BR>9/24/02 -&gt; 9/25/02 : Lucerne.<BR><BR>9/26/02 : zurich -&gt; san francisco (home)<BR><BR>Have I slowed down now? Do you guys still not like it? Does it need more work.<BR><BR>I think I have balanced it out by staying longer in some places and driving by (in a train) some. Will it give me a good feel of switzerland? Is one evening in St Moritz, Geneva, Lugano a bad idea? I have used them more like a stopover after a day's travel.

ttt<BR>