My husband and I are planning a trip to Northern Italy and Switzerland in late May/early June - probably 10-12 nights. We definitely want to spend time in Venice, and Lucerne, and at one of the Italian lakes (probably Como or Garda). We generally prefer to rent a car and drive. So several questions for anyone who can help:
1) I assume we should start in Italy and end in Switzerland because it's early in the season. How early is too early for parts of Switzerland?
2) I see many messages about traveling by train, but not so many about driving - is driving a problem? We generally enjoy the freedom having a car gives us.
3) For a trip this length, I would probably not want to stay in more than four locations. So the lakes and Venice in Italy - where else besides Lucerne in Switzerland?
4) Flying - Milan is a hub, is that right? Zurich looks like a hub as well. Would we be best off flying into Milan and out of Zurich?

Thanks so much for any help you can give, people on these boards are so helpful!

Alice

You can't drive in Venice, so do not rent your car until you are ready to leave Venice. Starting in one country and anding in another can incur hefty drop-off fees. So you might want to arrive in Venice and return from Milan. Perhaps loop in such a way that Lake Como would come toward the end of your trip on the way to Milan. Driving is not a problem, but you may have to check road conditions if you intend to go over high mountain passes.

1. Depends more on altitude than latitude. That time of year should be comfortably warm in both Switzerland and Italy, but as you go up the mountains, it will of course get colder.

2. If you are very comfortable driving in fast, sometimes aggressive traffic on narrow, twisty roads, driving will give you more freedom.

3. I would recommend Lake Como over Lake Garda - I find Como the most spectacular of the three major lakes, with sheer mountainsides plunging fjord-like into the water. But I'm prejudiced - I live in Lecco. You might find useful some of the info and links on my site, start at http://beginningwithi.com/italy/travel/lake_como.htm

4. Milan is a major hub with three airports to choose from, and an hour by train from Lake Como.



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Hi Alice, sounds like a lovely trip! About the car - aside from a large fee for picking up a car in one country and dropping it off in another, I think I was reading on a different thread here that you cannot rent a car in Switzerland and drive it into Italy. I don't know if the reverse is true but that is something to check out. You also might want to consider flying into Milan and out of Zurich (or vice versa), so you don't have to backtrack.

Have fun!

Alice,

My husband and I are in Switzerland twice a year, every year, and at least once a year in Italy. We always have a car. We fly into and out of Zurich all the time. Renting a car in Zurich is easy and we think the airport is one that is convenient for both picking up and dropping off a car. We use Avis, but have tried AutoEurope (not sure of name) as well.

You should be just fine driving at that time of year. Yes, there are aggressive drivers (but we have those in the US as well, in some parts). We had an interesting time this past mid- April in Switzerland, as one of the passes we thought we would take was not yet open. We didn't find out until we were practically THERE. We ended up taking a car train through a very long mountain tunnel in order to reach our destination for the night! It was quite an adventure, actually.

We always manage at least a couple of days in Lucerne. It's a really lovely city!!

For another Swiss vacation spot besides Lucerne, I would suggest that you try someplace like Lago Maggiore in Ticino (we like La Palma Au Lac Hotel in LOCARNO) or maybe the Interlaken area. You will find both of them to be very easy to drive.

If you opt to drive around Zurich, be mindful of the one-way streets as well as parking restrictions. It can be quite tricky there!!!

As far as northern Italy, I've not been to Venice but have read rave reviews about it all the time. I like the area south of Florence around ORVIETO. I also like the beach area around Viarreggio.

We've spent a small amount of time in Verona. It is interesting, but it helped that we had friends who lived there who showed us around.

Enjoy your trip.

I think you would be best flying into Venice and out of Zurich. This would save you the least amount of backtracking. You won't need a car in Venice, and IMO a car is a not necessary in Como as ferries are faster than the roads and a lot more scenic. Take a look at a map to see the very long thin layout of the lakes. With a car you have to drive down and around those lakes, on the ferry, you just cut across. You also can't have to take a boat to some places like the beautiful gardens at Villa Balbianello or the wonderful Locanda dell'Isola restaurant on Isola Comacina. I would take the train from Venice to Como (about 4 hours). Go to rail.ch for schedules.

If you want to go Florence, you could train there from Venice (also about 4 hours by train). You could rent a car for a day or so here to explore the countryside. I would drop the car in Florence or drive to Como, in either case saving drop charges for taking the car into Switzerland. The train from Florence to Como is 4 hours.

From Como, Zurich is a very easy and pretty 3.5 hour train ride. You can explore the old town area of Zurich and then head to Lucerne and the mountain areas. It is up to you whether to rent a car in Switzerland, see more on this below. You do not need one in Zurich and it is in fact a liability as parking is hard to find and expensive. If you rent one, wait until you are ready to leave Zurich.

I am not a fan of Lucerne, but it is certainly popular on this board. On the same lake but much more charming with better views and much less touristy, you might consider Weggis; you can do day trips by ferry, train or car into Lucerne (which only needs a few hours anyway IMO.)

The options for beautiful mountain areas in Switzerland is sort of limitless, so some reading and make some choices. There is of course the Bernese Oberland the favourite on this board, but there is also the Engadine and the Zermatt/Saas Fee area. Also consider the truly lovely eastern end of Lake Geneva around Vevey/Lausanne. Get some old guidebooks from a library and do some reading. If outdoor beauty does not interest you, then towns like St Gallen, Basel, Bern may be more of interest, Lausssane has an interesting old town area.. The little town of Stein am Rhein is a gem as well.

June is not too early in the season for Switzerland, neither is late May. June is a bit better than late May for Switzerland as more flowers will be out and the chances of fog in the mountain areas are almost nil at that time. Also, the majority of the great Alpine mountain passes will be open (barring very late snowfall) as most open officially on June 1 and close on November 1 (Simpson510, you should bear this in mind for future trips, I am kind of surprised you would expect to find anything but a low mountain pass open in April, for info go to http://www.alpineroads.com/passes.php, Swiss passes are listed under "CH&quot

When considering whether to rent a car or not, remember that parking is hard to find in most towns and villages in Italy and Switzerland, and many hotels will not provide it, and if they have it will charge up to US$25 a day for it. Gas is US$6 a gallon. The collision damage waive is mandatory in Italy. I would also recommend you get it in Switzerland, as parking spaces are narrower than you are used to, and there are many one-way and pedestrian-only roads, so in general you may not be paying as much attention to fenders, etc as you will be paying attention to the road signs in German/French.

Thanks to everyone for such prompt, detailed responses. I will look into flying into Venice, and not renting a car until we leave Venice. I will also definitely look into rental car drop off fees between Italy and Switzerland.

And I will start looking right away at some of the alternate locations in Switzerland.

I'm sure I will have more questions as I continue with my research, thanks again for being such good resourcs.

Alice

It sounds like we are planning similar trips.

Next June, we will fly into Zurich and train to Wengen for 3 nights in the Berner Oberland. Train travel seems very easy and no cars are allowed in Wengen anyway so we will not have a car.

We will then train to Milan for a night - again, a car would be a liability in the city. Then, we will rent a car for 5 days for some time in Lake Garda (many like Como better, but we are travelling with teens so Garda seemed more family friendly). The car should give us some freedom and flexibility there.

We will return the car and end our time in Venice with no car (obviously). Because we will only have a car in Italy, we will not have to worry about the 2 country thing. So, maybe having a car for part of the trip would be a thought. We fly out of Venice.

Good luck and happy travels!

We are also considering a similar itinerary, so thanks to everyone for the useful information!

Hi. Maybe I can add my usual warm weather comment about June in Switzerland and ask if others can contradict my experience and expectations. Alice9, I'd surely try to schedule your visit for the end of May and the beginning of June. My last two visits to Switzerland (admittedly not last year or even the one before) were very, very warm in the second week of June.

I'd be thrilled to read that others think my experiences were only an aberration and that June can be cool like I remember from the old days.
J.