europhile

All Knowing Fodorites:
I have been pouring over past posts on this subject, trying to come up with a plan for our summer trip for my family of 5 (3 kids, ages 6, 8 and 10). I am hoping to secure mileage tickets as we did for our trip last summer, so the basic parameters of our plan need to be settled asap. I will have lots of time after that to work out specifics for the daily activities. We love outdoor activities, especially hiking and boating, and I love small, scenic villages (preferably with easy walking access to restaurants and such). For example, we love Positano, Ravello and Bellagio. My husband has requested that we skip the large cities this time and have a true holiday, with time to relax and enjoy the scenery and the kids. He has also requested minimal moving of accommodations (within reason). I am hoping to include the alps, the lakes, and a few days in Liguria. When we do move, I am trying to avoid super long travel days. We will have between 3 and 4 weeks. I am thinking we will spend 10 days in Switzerland, 10 in the Italian lakes, and 4 in Liguria. For Switzerland, I want to include a stay in Zermatt but would like to break up the journey from Zurich with another location in between.

Here is what I'm thinking:
Days 1-10:
Fly into Zurich and transfer to Interlaken, Murren or Lauterbrunnen. Stay for _____ days?
Transfer to Zermatt. Stay for ______ days? In these areas, I'd like to do lots of walks and hikes, visit Mt. Titlis, visit the Forest Fun Park for zip lining, try a summer luge or toboggan, and if we can come across fields of wildflowers and castles my 6 year old would be thrilled. I know there is lots more to fill in here, but mainly for now I need to settle on our base locations and how to split them up time-wise.
Days 10-20:
Travel to Stresa and spend 1 or 2 nights, then settle into a Lake Como base for 8 or 9 nights. We love Bellagio, but I am finding lodging options there to be limited. I'm really looking for an apartment (or hotel with apartments) and access to a pool for the kids. I'd also like to be in a town with walking around options for restaurants. Perhaps Mennagio? Varenna? Any suggestions for base locations here would be appreciated!
Days 21-25:
Travel to Liguria to see some of the towns (Portovenere, Sestri Levante) and do some cinque terre hikes. I am thinking perhaps Santa Margherita for our base here, but again I'm open to suggestions.
Then fly home from Genoa, Pisa or Milan (depending on ticket availability).

Please let me know your thoughts! I would especially love to hear opinions on which towns to choose for lodging and how to split the time. Would Interlaken be redundant (although beautiful) given the time we will be spending in the Italian lakes? Are the other towns too similar to Zermatt to be worth the change in accommodation? Finally, does it make more sense to do the trip in this order or in the reverse? We would begin probably the last week of June. Thanks in advance!!

Jean

The Swiss part sounds OK if a little mountain-centric. There's more to Switzerland than the Alps, but you seem to know what you want to do.

In a nice, long trip, I wouldn't spend only 1-2 nights anywhere. And while I love Bellagio, I wouldn't spend 8-9 nights there. So, I'd add more to Stresa at the expense of Bellagio. Is there enough to interest your kids at both lakes for 10 days? Will you have a car? If so, you might find the western shore of Como preferable to Bellagio for day trips and nearby hiking plus more lodging options.

I wouldn't visit Liguria in summer, but that's me. Too crowded for my idea of relaxation.

PalenQ

Get a free Swiss Family Pass at any train station- no matter what a parent buys kids under 16 then always go free. Look into the Swiss Pass for sure if doing both Interlaken and Zermatt- again kids never pay a cent for anything the pass gives the adults.

For lots of good stuff on Swiss trains, passes, etc check www.swisstravelsytem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

europhile

Thank you! Any opinions about Interlaken v. Murren v. Lauterbrunnen for a home base? How would you divide time between this base and Zermatt?

Loacker

Yes, Liguria is crowded in Summer but that makes it only more fun. What's the use of going to a beach town when it's empty and dead, and the water too cold to swim?

L.

europhile

I know it will be crowded, but it's long been on our wish list and, if we are going to take the kids, summer it is! It's the only time they can go without missing too much school. What about Santa Margherita as a base? I've also considered Sestri Levante or Camogli.

Loacker

Camogli is very a nice town. But if you're planning on hiking the Cinque Terre, I think you should base yourself in one of the five villages.

Regarding your question about Interlaken, most people here tend to recommend Murren and Lauterbrunnen over Interlaken. The consensus is that Interlaken is a generic and charmless resort town.

MKECityMom

Hi -

What a dream trip! And for once, I can actually address two of your proposed locations. We went to Europe in May 2013 with my two sons (ages 11 and 13), my husband, and my 74-year old father. During that trip, we spent 3 nights in Murren and 3 nights in Varenna. The itinerary roughly was arriving in Milan, then taking the train directly to Varenna to relax and get acclimated. Then, down to Florence for 3 nights, then back up to Switzerland to see the mountains. We stayed there for 3 nights, then headed to Cologne for 3 nights to visit family. (Oh, and my husband and I did spend 2 nights in Stresa many years ago sans kids. Gorgeous too!)

Lots of train travel was involved in our May 2013 trip and I wouldn't recommend the Varenna-Florence-Murren route cuz of all the train time involved. But...we still had a wonderful time.

But anyway, my kids LOVED Varenna. We stayed at B&B Il Bolentino (http://www.bbebvarenna.it). It is a small B&B, very relaxed, and super friendly hosts who spoke very little English but we all made it work. Not luxe, but great from the perspective of location and price. What we - and our kids - loved about Varenna was that within 5 minutes of walking about town, you basically knew how to get around, which gave our kids a great sense of freedom. The B&B is located within the town so no need to drive anywhere. We did take the ferry to other towns, including Bellagio, but Varenna was hands down our favorite. Bellagio was too touristy and high-end for our tastes...and very crowded. Our kids can't stop talking about how much they love Lake Como and Varenna. We all truly relaxed. Hubby and I were able to have couple beers at the bar near the hotel while the kids played closer to the water.

For Murren, we stayed at Chalet Fontana (http://www.ferntree.ch/chalet/fontana_summer.htm). We stayed in the apartment, which was great. The host was super friendly. Again, our kids loved Murren for its ease of getting around and the total sense of independence they had navigating the town. The Chalet was great and I highly recommend it. Switzerland is very expensive - but we reduced costs by going to the Coop (just a few steps away from the Fontana) and buying food there. For two of our nights, I made a simple dinner with weisswurst, spaetzle, and salad. Plus wine (strangely very inexpensive at the Coop!). I'm no fan of cooking while on vacation, but there was something magical about making a traditional Swiss meal in your very own Swiss apartment. We all really enjoyed the Chalet, plus the apartment included the breakfast buffet so no need to make your own breakfast.

We did travel down into Lauterbrunnen to make our way to see the Trummelbach Falls and had lunch at the Hotel Oberland (pricey, as is every restaurant in the area...good, but wouldn't do it again cuz of the price). We also did a train transfer in Interlaken. Frankly, with kids, Murren was much better. It was high in the mountains with "in your face" views of the surrounding mountains and - most important with kids in tow - no cars. It was small and easy to run around and our kids felt totally comfortable walking around on their own and heading to the Coop to buy a candy bar. Lauterbrunnen, as I recall, had a busy main street with traffic cutting through. Interlaken was an even bigger town (compared to Murren) and we really didn't hang out there. We had never been to the Swiss Alps, so we loved the experience of living ala Heidi.

When we travelled to Varenna and Murren, we didn't go too far afield. Mostly we relaxed, hiked (in Murren, along the many hiking trails around town plus down to Trummelbach Falls in Lauterbrunnen; in Varenna: to Castello di Vezio), took the cable cars and cogwheel trains (Murren) or ferry-hopped (Varenna).

Good luck! Sounds like a great trip. For what it's worth, we're heading to Europe next June and I had to promise to find an amazing place "on par with Varenna" to get buy in from my kids cuz they loved it so much. We're spending time in the Italian Dolomites and the Bavarian Alps and the kids are looking forward to it. I also arranged the trip so we're landing in Venice and then slowly making our way north to Dusseldorf for the 2017 Tour de France kickoff. And, like you, we're using FF miles...so I can appreciate that you need to make your reservations now! I breathed a sigh of relief when ours were ticketed.

I know some people may say your/my trip are "too mountain heavy" but if you're from a part of the country without serious mountains, these trips are truly magical. Enjoy!

MKECityMom

Also, I second the recommendation to get the Swiss Pass. We got the family pass.

PalenQ

Regarding your question about Interlaken, most people here tend to recommend Murren and Lauterbrunnen over Interlaken. The consensus is that Interlaken is a generic and charmless resort town.>

Wengen is the one most recommended on Fodor's it seems - like Murren car-less and stupendous vistas but a bit better located and less remote than Murren though it depends on what you will be doing.

I like Grindelwald for the views and a more lively place - others like more quiet and sedate but still a regular town like Wengen or Murren.

Interlaken can be a utilitarian base and some parts of it are downright cute - like the Matten and lakeside section on Lake Brienz. Interlaken is my favorite place to stay but only after I had stayed up in the hills a few times which I would recommend any first-time traveler to do. Completely different atmosphere - more like you'd expect in the Swiss Alps.

europhile

Wow thanks! So much great information to consider! I really appreciate all of your thoughts. I will definitely look into Varenna for our Como stay, and look past Interlaken for our first mountain stop. We live in Florida and mountains are totally foreign and exciting for our kids, so I'm ok with dedicating a good bit of time there. My first stop (Interlaken or something else) is intended to break up the journey to Zermatt from Zurich, and also provide a good second mountain location. Would Wengen be a good option or is it too far from Zurich to accomplish this? Is it a contrast to Zermatt or very similar? Or maybe that doesn't matter so much? Finally, if you were going to split the days between the two mountain locations, would you do an even split or do a 3/7 split? Thanks again for giving this so much thought!

PalenQ

I'd spend more days in the Jungfrau Region as there are so so many more varied things to see and do and it is a much wider area and has more transports going off everywhere.

I'd suggest 2/5 - 7 split actually. Zermatt for many is the Matterhorn and it may or may not be visible for days at times.

In the Interlaken area take boat trips on either lake book ending Interlaken- lovely easy walks to glaciers - do the Jungfraujoch and the Schilthorn excursion or for fun for the kids there is a large Jungfrau Theme park in Interlaken. Wengen is 40 minutes about by train from Interlaken-Ost station.

http://www.jungfraupark.ch/en/

Sue81

HI, Remember that Zermatt is pretty touristy, and pretty expensive. Murren is more a mountain village. We booked our room over the Internet for Murren and had waterfalls all around us. Zurich to Zermatt is about 3 and 1/2 hrs.. Sue

PalenQ

Wengen is even less touristed than Murren IME - well both live on tourists but there are less of them in Wengen because I think it is smaller or seems so.

But both are great for folks not liking busier cities like Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald - cities where cars and tour buses can penetrate and are much bigger tourist cities.

dugi_otok

>> My first stop (Bernese Oberland) is intended to break up the journey to Zermatt from Zurich, and also provide a good second mountain location.Would Wengen be a good option or is it too far from Zurich to accomplish this? <<

Wengen or Grindelwald would be the highlight of your trip.

>> Is it a contrast to Zermatt or very similar? Or maybe that doesn't matter so much? <<

They are both Michelin 3*** locations. There is much more to see and do in the Bernese Oberland than in Zermatt.


>> Finally, if you were going to split the days between the two mountain locations, would you do an even split or do a 3/7 split? <<.

I would do 2-3 in Zermatt and 6-7 in the Bernese Oberland.

Here is a post by Indy_Dad "A week in Wengen hiking the Bernese Oberland"

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-oberland.cfm

His Blog(For photos).
http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07...en-hiking.html

Some comments on your Italy portion. If you are going that far I would increase your stay to at least a week.

Perhaps Cinque Terre- 3 nights
Tuscany( near Pienza) agriturismo- 4 nights
This one requires a week stay:
http://www.cretaiole.it/index.php/en/kids-and-teens

europhile

Talking about our trip plans with the kids, my 6 year old has once again voiced her desire to see fields of wildflowers and castles. Is there a reasonable location between Zurich and Zermatt (again hoping to break up the 4+ hour journey from Zurich after our transatlantic flight) where we could see some castle culture? I see from my online search that Bellinzona has several, but I don't know if a stay there has enough to do, and we still definitely want to do the Mt. Titlis visit, which seems too far as a day trip from Zermatt. Any particular regions or peaks that would let us hike through some wildflower meadows? Thanks again!

PalenQ

Bellinzona is way out of the direct route Zurich and Zermatt - taking an extra day.

for a great castle near Interlaken check Spiez- right on the rail line Zermatt to Interlaken or Zurich to Zermatt and v.v.

https://www.google.com/search?q=spie...HT7RC98QsAQIHQ

Sion has great castles of your kid's dreams and is a short detour of the Zermatt-zurich train ride:

https://www.google.com/search?q=sion...HQGcDSIQsAQIHg

Adelaidean

Your trip sounds fabulous. I love family holidays. Our kids also made fun choices that we all enjoyed. As you know, longer stays are a big winner with kids, who generally prefer to stay put a bit and spend less time travelling between destinations.

"my 6 year old has once again voiced her desire to see fields of wildflowers and castles. "... we also added castles to any trip, the boys 'rated' them according to the gloomy, Game of Thrones kind of atmosphere they preferred (they did not enjoy those with interiors that had white painted walls, modern lighting, museum pieces under glass).

We were hesitant about adding Vernazza to our itinerary, given it is so crowded in summer. But that is when it is so gorgeous. Getting off the train and joining the hordes down the single main street is initially a bit disappointing, but seriously, once you go a few metres off that strip, it's quiet and fun, the kids would love exploring those alleys that are a bit maze like. Lots of people buzzing around the harbour, but it's actually a great vibe. And the walk to Monterosso and ferry to Portovenere give another dimension.

Look forward to hearing how your itinerary evolves.

Sue81

Hi, as far as Zermatt, it is quite touristy and expensive. Check out the train/tram on the Gornergrat Bahn from Zermatt. the observatory at the top, sort of looks a little bit like a castle. Maybe? Sue

dugi_otok

>>Talking about our trip plans with the kids, my 6 year old has once again voiced her desire to see fields of wildflowers and castles.<<

If you take a day , while home basing in Wengen (or another Bernese Oberland location ), and spend it on Lake Thun, you can visit up to 5 castles.

http://www.thunerseeschloesser.ch/en/

http://www.interlaken.ch/en/activiti...en-castle.html

http://www.interlaken.ch/en/activiti...ez-castle.html

http://www.interlaken.ch/en/activiti...un-castle.html

http://www.interlaken.ch/en/activiti...gg-castle.html

http://www.interlaken.ch/en/activiti...au-castle.html

My kids loved Switzerland's most visited castle- Chillon Castle. But that would be a long day trip for you.
http://www.chillon.ch/en/index.cfm

>> Any particular regions or peaks that would let us hike through some wildflower meadows? <<

You can see wild flowers in the mountain meadows of the Bernese Oberland. See photos of wildflowers in the blog I previously referenced.

http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07...en-hiking.html

No shortage of flowers in Switzerland.

https://www.google.com/search?q=flow...+++switzerland