Northern Italy/Southern France/Switzerland Itinerary
 

Hi everyone!

In late June/early July, I'm planning a two week trip to Northern Italy/Southern France/Switzerland. I'm flying in and out of Milan, and I plan to rent a car. We have been to Milan, except we went to Venice, Tuscany etc. during that trip, so this time, we want to explore the lakes more.

I was thinking of first driving down to Genoa, then driving down the coastline to Provence. From there, I wanted to drive up to Annecy/Geneva and into Switzerland. I know that Switzerland is really expensive, so I'm only looking to spend 3-4 days there. In Switzerland, I want to drive to Lucerne and then finally back down through the lakes to Milan.

Any suggestions on routes, specific places to visit, days to spend in each place, itinerary etc. will be greatly appreciated! :) Thanks.

You could easily spend all your 2 weeks in France (Provence - Cote d'Azur and Rhone-Alpes)and wouldn't have enough time for a decent visit of all gems in this area.
Why do you want to go to Lucerne, a place which is really off side when you drive from Geneva to MXP?
In the case you should be interested in high mountains, drive via Chamonix - Aosta Valley or Swiss Canton of Valais.
Avignon - Briancon - Turin - Breuil/Matterhorn - Aosta Valley cstles - Aosta - Courmayeur Mont Blanc - Chamonix - Geneva - Montreux/Chillon castle - Gruyeres - Col du Pillon/Glacier 3000 - Aigle - Martigny - Sion - Crns/montana - Sierre - Loetschental - Brig - Ried - cableway Riederalp/Moosfluh - Ried - Brig - Simplon Pass - Stresa/Isola Bella - MXP could be an iteresting itinerary
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/home.html

So little time, so much to see and do.
From Milan airport. Drive to Nice: 200miles, 3hours. Skip Genoa. Rest stop along the Italian Riviera. Stay 1-3 nights in Nice or St- Paul-de-Vence (if you like a hill top village).
Morning start.Drive to St-Remy : 150 mi, 3hours.Rest stop Aix-en-Provence. Stay 3 nights in St-Remy.
Day trips:(1) Arles and Le Baux; (2) Avignon and Pont du Gard.
Drive to the Luberon . 50miles, 1h40. possible route via Orange and Sault (Lavender fields); or just Sault (lavender fields) increases drive miles ; Stay 2 nights in St- Saturnin- les- Apt or Gordes or Roussillon. My favorite place in the world- http://masperreal.com/index.html Day trip Gordes, Roussillon and other hill towns.
Drive St Saturnin to Annecy: 196 mi, 5h. Route via Sisterin and Grenoble. Stay 1-2 nights in Annecy. If 2 nights Day trip to Chamonix or just hang at Annecy.
Drive(along Lake Geneva)Annecy to Chateau Chillon Switzerland via Geneva, Lausanne, Montreux: 100 miles, 2h. Tour castle-A MUST SEE Drive Chillon to Interlaken : 98 miles, 1h52. Stay 1 night in Interlaken (or on Lake Thun before Interlaken).
Morning in Interlaken or Lake Thun or Lake Brienz, boat ride? Afternoon drive to Grindlewald .
Stay 2-3 nights. train to Jungfraujock$$$. There are numerous lifts, cogwheels, cable cars, mountain walks, glaciers,water falls, trains, etc. in the vicinity of this glacier village. You could also stay in the mountain villages of Wengen or Murren. This option is much better than Lucern.
Drive to Italian/Swiss Lakes: 125 miles, 3h26 to Lugano. Stay 2-3 nights in Italy.
Drive to Milan for 0 to 1 night: 50 miles, 1 h30. Or drive to the airport from the Lakes if flight is late enough.

If I count right, this is a 12-18 night trip. You make the cuts/changes. Anyway my first pass!

If you have not purchased your airline tickets, you could fly into Nice to pick up a day. Also you could save on car rental by 1st getting a France car, then switch to a Switzerland car in Geneva.Train to Milan from the Lakes. Italy rental cars are very expensive.

So little time, so much to see and do.

From Milan airport. Drive to Nice: 200miles, 3hours. Skip Genoa. Rest stop along the Italian Riviera. Stay 1-3 nights in Nice or St- Paul-de-Vence (if you like a hill top village).

Morning start.Drive to St-Remy : 150 mi, 3hours.Rest stop Aix-en-Provence. Stay 3 nights in St-Remy.
Day trips:(1) Arles and Le Baux; (2) Avignon and Pont du Gard.

Drive to the Luberon . 50miles, 1h40. possible route via Orange and Sault (Lavender fields); or just Sault (lavender fields) increases drive miles ; Stay 2 nights in St- Saturnin- les- Apt or Gordes or Roussillon. My favorite place in the world- http://masperreal.com/index.html Day trip Gordes, Roussillon and other hill towns.

Drive St Saturnin to Annecy: 196 mi, 5h. Route via Sisterin and Grenoble. Stay 1-2 nights in Annecy. If 2 nights Day trip to Chamonix or just hang at Annecy.

Drive(along Lake Geneva)Annecy to Chateau Chillon Switzerland via Geneva, Lausanne, Montreux: 100 miles, 2h. Tour castle-A MUST SEE Drive Chillon to Interlaken : 98 miles, 1h52. Stay 1 night in Interlaken (or on Lake Thun before Interlaken).

Morning in Interlaken or Lake Thun or Lake Brienz, boat ride? Afternoon drive to Grindlewald .
Stay 2-3 nights. train to Jungfraujock$$$. There are numerous lifts, cogwheels, cable cars, mountain walks, glaciers,water falls, trains, etc. in the vicinity of this glacier village. You could also stay in the mountain villages of Wengen or Murren. This option is much better than Lucern.

Drive to Italian/Swiss Lakes: 125 miles, 3h26 to Lugano. Stay 2-3 nights in Italy.

Drive to Milan for 0 to 1 night: 50 miles, 1 h30. Or drive to the airport from the Lakes if flight is late enough.

If I count right, this is a 12-18 night trip. You make the cuts/changes. Anyway my first pass!

If you have not purchased your airline tickets, you could fly into Nice to pick up a day. Also you could save on car rental by 1st getting a France car, then switch to a Switzerland car in Geneva.Train to Milan from the Lakes. Italy rental cars are very expensive.

Thank you both so much! From what both of you said, I guess I shouldn't spend that much time in Lucerne. Originally, I wanted to hike up Mount Rigi, near Lucerne. Is it worth it?

@neckervd That's a really mountain heavy itinerary - do you think it's worth it to see all of it? I planned on going up to Aiguille du Midi near Chamonix to see Mont Blanc, and apart from Jungfrau, is that too LITTLE mountain seeing? I originally thought of going up to Bern -> Interlaken -> Lucerne then back down to Milan.

@dugi_otok The itinerary you provided was extremely detailed and super helpful. I had no idea where to start in Provence, thanks to the million little towns I wanted to see, but this is a great guide. Would you recommend spending some time in Lyon before heading to Annecy/Switzerland?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7624529919999/

Lyon is Frances 2nd largest city whose claim to fame is Gastrronomy followed by the Textile Museum.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...h-visiting.cfm

>>Drive St Saturnin to Annecy: 196 mi, 5h. Route via Sisterin and Grenoble. Stay 1-2 nights in Annecy. If 2 nights Day trip to Chamonix or just hang at Annecy.<<

You could take this route
Drive St Saturnin to Annecy:255 miles, 4h40. Route via Lyon.

Aiguille du Midi is spectacular and popular. However the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland is one of the great tourist attractions of the world.If I was spending 3-4 days in Switzerland it would be in the B.O. Hiking is great, Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg and Kleine Scheidegg to Wengen. For big bucks you can take a train from Kleine Scheidegg , up ( and back)to the towering Jungfraujoch.All of this is can be reached from Grindelwald.

If you want to stop in Bern, the Swiss capital, you can drive there from Chillon, on your way to Interlaken on my itinerary.Or spend the night in Bern.Before Bern you could stop in Gruyeres or at the Toblerone factory if the timing is right. I would not spend more than 1 night in Interlaken, as its glory days are long gone.Spend your time in an Alpine village.

Aiguille di Midi is one of the highest places with the best views of the Alps you can imagine. After that, Jungfraujoch will bring you nothing more, except the 200 USD expense for the raiway ticket.
But it's really up to you!

You originally said 'two weeks'. Dugi's 18 night itinerary is good but to try the shorter version of it would really be rushing things I think. And now people are suggesting additional places. Can you take three weeks? If you really have to do the trip in two I think it would make for a much better trip if you eliminated some things, rather than trying to do it all and having almost an entire trip of 1 and 2 night stays. In which case you spend all your time driving and trying to find the next hotel and checking in, etc. and very little time doing the things people go to Europe to do - which is to see stuff.

I am also going to the same areas this June July - but I have FIVE weeks. And I'm not even planning on going as far into Switzerland (sticking to Lake Geneva area mostly) and I still don't think I have enough time.

So how much time do you really have? Have you already purchased the plane tickets?