Please comment on my itinerary
 

Hi there

Our family of four (ages 50s and 20s) will be travelling to Europe for the first time this year from Australia. This is our itinerary so far:

London: 4 nights (15-19 May)

Paris: 5 nights (19-24 May)

Amalfi Coast: 7 nights (24-31 May)

Rome: 4 nights (31 May - 4 June)

Florence: 5 nights (4-9 June)

Wengen: 13 nights (9-22 June)

Lucerne: 2 nights (22-24 June)

?????? 4-6 nights

We have booked accommodation for parts of our trip, however these are all still flexible, so feel free to make any comments or suggestions.

My main issue is that we still have 4-6 spare nights after Lucerne (although we can still fit them anywhere), and we are having much trouble deciding where we should spend them (possibly in 2 places?).

Ideas include: Black Forest in Germany, Hallstatt in Austria, French Riviera, Zermatt in Switzerland, Vienna any others? We are afraid that anywhere after Switzerland will simply pale in comparison to the sheer beauty of Switzerland!

Feel free to make any comments about our itinerary.

Thanks!!!

Your itinerary looks pretty good! Maybe add Bavaria at the end and make it perfekt? French Riviera would also do it, being the beach season and all that.
Make sure you stop in Interlaken and Grindelwald while in Wengen.
Switzerland is very beautiful but we found Austria to be almost as beautiful, while being cheaper and offering a bit better food and beer.

I'm intrigued by the 13 days in Wengen - not a bad thing at all, just intrigued.

As for where to spend your remaining 4-6 nights, perhaps you can look at:

1. Venice (with some day trip(s) to Burano and Torcello, Trieste, Vincenza, Padua) either between Rome and Florence or after Florence and before Switzerland.
2. Munich - with some day trips (castles - Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau, Linderhof, or day trip to Herrenchiemsee, train to Salzburg or Innsbruck for day) fly from Florence to Munich, check Lufthansa and Air Berlin to see if they have any specials.
3. Vienna - again with some day trips (Melk, Krems)then fly to Zurich with say Air Berlin.
4. Cinque Terre - stunning part of Italy, good for relaxing, hiking or just staring at the sunset. After Florence would be fine, might make for a long trip to Switzerland however.
5. Lake Como - another stunning part of Italy, look at places like Tremezzo, Menaggio (both on western side) or Varenna (eastern side).
6. As you're flying from Australia, you may want to add a day to London as your first stop (jet lag isn't too bad flying in from Australia, so if you stay up all day then go to bed around 8 or 9pm you should wake up fine the next day. But the extra day will allow for a less hectic pace to start. And an extra day to Paris will allow for a day trip somewhere (Versailles - technically a half day, but still; Giverny, Reims). Then you have only a few nights to spare, which might narrow your choices a little.

Not sure how you're travelling between each destination, but have considered suggestions based on train access (to day trips) rather than a car. Depending on where you choose to spend these extra days, you can always fly to/from the additional place.

I think 13 nights in Wengen is too long. Granted, the Bernese Oberland offers enough to keep you busy for two weeks, but Wengen is not very convenient to get anywhere outside the immediate Jungfrau region.

Where to spend your last days depends a bit on where you are flying home from. Do you know yet where that will be?

I agree with Ingo. 13 days in Wengen is far too long. Yes, Switzerland is gorgeous, but you can only enjoy so much gorgeousness. ;)

I like the Northern Italy addition, adding in Venice and the Como area.

In Austria, Hallstat and Salzburg are lovely.

Do you like big cities or more nature? I am guessing nature due to your itinerary planning.

Are you renting a car? Or training it? Where are you flying out of?

If it were my trip, I would flipflop Switzerland and Italy and do London, Paris, Switzerland (cutting down the time in Wengen), wind my way down into Northern Italy (Venice, Como, Milan) then Florence, Rome and finish with the Amalfi Coast. You can catch a cheap flight back to London from Rome if that is where you are flying out of.
It sounds like you are going to have a grand time, whatever you choose to do though!

I think 13 days in Wengen is great. The area has to be experienced and not seen passing by like so many tourists. It is hard to describe the feeling you experience hiking in the area. I assume that you will do a few day trips also (going to Bern, lake Brienz etc...).
I probably would add Zermatt too if you can squeeze that.

The best description I have seen of the Swiss alps is the one by Tony Judt in his fabulous book "The memory chalet" that he dictated a couple of months before his tragic death.