We will have a week in June to explore some regions beyond France. What would be the best cities to visit from Paris to Switzerland and northern Italy by train and perhaps end in Milan for travel returning to London for the end of trip? Key word is only a week, is this doable? The train gives us the scenery that we love but I do not want to be on/off train constantly so is there a town that we could do for a couple of days along the way that would be unforgettable and rewarding. Thank you

Hi jelane,

As I understand it, you are looking for a single place to stop between Paris & Milan, right?

As an aside, first I want to discourage you from looking for "cities," as most folks enjoy the countryside of Switzerland and its smaller towns & villages --

Ok, I think you have two main options -- either Montreux or Brig (Zermatt).

Montreux is a French-flavored town on Lake Geneva that has a lovely flowered promenade, the Castle Chillon, and some nearby vineyards.

Brig is in the German section of the country; it's a small town that's surrounded by mountains with the Aletsch Glacier close by. It has a lovely old town and a castle as well (not nearly as well known).

Zermatt is about 40 minutes farther from Brig, so you could also stay there. Zermatt is a car-free village that sits under the mighty Matterhorn.

You can get rail schedules at www.rail.ch.

Good luck!

s

I would probably train to Lucerne and spend a couple of days there and in the surrounding mountains. Then down to the stunning little village of Soglio in the Engandine. If you are a nature lover, there is plenty of nice hiking in the area. Then down to Lugano or somewhere on Lake Maggiore or Lake Como for a couple of days. That brings you very close to Milan for your departure.

A week is certainly enough time to experience more than one place between Paris and Milan, in my opinion.

Assuming that you have a week starting from when you leave Paris, I would take the early TGV from Paris to Bern which gets in around 12:30. Depending on whether your are looking for city/country scenery, you can either use Bern as a base to explore the region or continue on and set up somewhere in the Berner Oberland. The would suggest the latter. I like the Jungfrau region around Interlaken. Lauterbrunnen, Murren, Wengen and Grindlewald are all nice places to base. Spend 3 nights.

From there, you can catch an overnight train to Bologna from Spiez (20 min train ride from Interlaken). From Bologna it is about a 3 hr. train to Venice. Spend 3 nights in Venice. Alternatively, you can spend 2 nights in Venice and take the early train on your last day to Milan (3 hrs.) Spend the rest of the day and night in Milan. Leave out of Milan for London.

Personally, I would save Milan for another trip and spend more time in Venice, unless for some reason you need to leave out of Milan. You should be able to fly from Venice to London pretty easily.

Thanks I have printed this out. One thing to mention is that we have been to Venice three times now, it is just a part of Italy that I loved going to but probably will not return to. We do not go until June so I have plenty of time to do some research. I wanted to go to the Lake district this past October for my birthday but we ended up at the Amalfi coast, which was beautiful. Perhaps this will be the trip to find George's house. Thank you all for your time.

I am anxiously reading the replies here as we are considering a similar trip. Sounds wonderful!

Hi Jelane,

I didn't realize you had been to Venice already. In that case, rather than overnighting to Bologna you can overnight to Florence instead. From there you can either stay in Florence or elsewhere in Tuscany. Also the Cinque Terre is a fairly short train ride away from Florence if you would rather head there for a few days. Either way you would have easy conections to Milan for departure.

If you want to do the Italian Lakes district, it would be easier to get here from the Lucerne/Zurich area. From here it less than 3 hours by train to Como (direct from Zurich, 1 change in Arth Goldau for Lucerne). You can either stay in Como or take the ferry to Bellagio or Varenna (my preference).

From Interlaken, you would either have to go through Milan (via Spiez), which would require 3 train changes but is actually the fastest route (just under 5 hrs.). You can also get their by going through Zurich with only one change, but is longer (nearly 6 hrs.).