boe767

Please give advice on itinerary: Northern Italy, mid-May. We are family of four, all adults, flying into Frankfurt to take train to Basel, Switzerland. Next morning train to Milan. We have 8 days before departing Milan. Thinking of visiting Torino, Genoa, (fly ? to) Venice, back to Milan. Two of us have been to Venice and want the other half to see it, but maybe that should be a seperate future trip. We're willing to rent a car if that's better than train. Is this too much travel in too short a time? We do like to be on the move, but just not sure. Please advise. Mil grazie!

Mimar

Do you really want to go to Basel? You could take a cheap flight from Frankfurt to Genoa and get a head start on your touring. And maybe leave Milan to the end.

You seem to be interested in cities. If so, a car isn't the best choice.

boe767

The only thing we are committed to so far is the flight into Frankfurt at beginning of trip and out of Milan at the end of trip, so we could consider omitting Switzerland and take your suggestion to fly to Genoa.I think the idea of train from Basel to Milan was to see that scenic route through Switzerland. I've been given the 'land' portion for planning, and could sure use some Fodorite help! One of us is a city/museum traveller, hence, the cities. Personally, I like to see the cities and the countryside when travelling and wander off the beaten paths. Many thanks for your reply! (Have you been to Basel?)

bellacqui

As far as I know, there are no direct (or cheap, for that matter)flights from Frankfurt to Genoa. Lufthansa /AirOne flies through Munich, and the rest fly through Milan.

I don't think your current plan is all that bad. YOu could do a direct flight from FRA to MXP, there are lots of those (or to Bergamo from Frankfurt Hahan on Ryanair). I would probably drop one of those cities, (probably Venice, for geographic reasons. You could easily do Milan, a good part of Piemonte/Torino ( including the wine country), Liguria (the beach) and Genoa, easily getting back to Milan for your flight out. I see it as doable. I would probably consider renting a car upon arriving in Milan, you will have more freedom to visit off-the-beaten-path things, and since you could originate and end up at Milan, there would be no drop off charges.

lovisa

If you are going to keep with your initial train itinerary, why not go from Frankfurt Airport to Lucerne (Luzern) (4 hours 20 min) instead of Basel (3hours), spend 2 nights there to recover a little from jetlag, train to Como (3:30 hours from Luzern; 4:45 from Basel) and rent a car in Como in Italy (usually there is no, or a small drop-off fee within Italy). Stay somewhere on Lake Como for a night.

Yyou could go from there to smaller art cities. How about driving from Como to Bergamo, staying there, and then to Mantua (Matova) and staying there? From there you could go to Parma, and or return directly to Milan.

If you really want to stick to big cities (Milan, Turin, Genoa), then a car is just a hindrance. But if you stick to your plan, you will spend an awful lot of time in trains and waiting in train stations.

Piedmont_Phil

I agree with lovisa Lucern would be a good staging point. IMO Basel is not a great place to visit, I drive through it often and don't get a good impression (happy to be corrected).

Picking up a car in Como is a good idea, you can also visit nearby Lake Maggiore and wind your way to Turin through the rolling wine covered hills of Piedmont then wind south east (again through rolling hills and vineyards and great hilltop towns through the mountains to Genoa and the riviera.

You can see some pictures of the Italian lakes, Genoa and Piedmont here - http://www.stayinpiedmont.com/pages/new/pictures.html

Suja

Phil, Basel's art museums are excellent and old city centre is quite charming. I spent a happy day there and I am planning to go back as I want a more leisurely look at the museums.

As for Italy, I am neither a fan of Milan nor of Genoa..but the Milan's Cathedral is simply fabulous so at least for that, its worth a visit.

One idea would be to get to Luzern and then take the Wilhelm Tell Express to Lugano. Check out this site http://www.wilhelmtellexpress.ch/en/index.html You can rent a car in Lugano and spend a few days exploring the lakes, drive to Bergamo, then to Milan. It's easy to do a day trip from Milan to Turin if you have an extra day.

boe767

Thank you so much, everyone, for the helpful advice; was away visiting w/ the m-i-l and was unable to pursue planning until now. Will post what the outcome ends up being. Thank you!!!

boe767

Just returned; wanted to post what we ended up doing, in case it's of interest to anyone. One day/night in Frankfort where weather was quite cool but enjoyable, flew to Torino and rented a car for three days and saw the sights in and around Torino, train to Cinque Terre for three nights in Monterosso al Mare, train to Milano where we had three nights before heading home; while in Milano, train to Lake Como for a day excursion and ferry to Bellagio. That's the basic itinerary; as for comments, there's so much to tell. I'd be happy to reply if anyone has any questions. Of course, being in Italy was wonderful and, of coursse, the trip was not without some frustration but I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Happy travels and thank you!