Swiss/ Italy
 

We have a little over two weeks in Europe and are planning on working our way up the Italian Riviera to Nice, France. We have then another week to make it back to Milan. We were thinking of making a loop to Mont blanc Chamonix, Zermatt, Lake Como and then ending in Milan but not spending any time there. This seems like a lot of travel time and we are looking for suggestions.

Please help
Thank you

It can be a lot of travel time, depending on:

a) how you're getting around - train, car, other
b) how much time you want to spend in certain places
c) what time of year you're travelling

If you can answer these questions, then I'm sure we'll have some further suggestions.

I'm assuming that you have a car. It does seem like a lot of time spent on the road, though the scenery you'll be passing is wonderful. Still, there are surely some very good alternatives, especially if you're looking to spend more than 1 night in places along the route.

One route that you might consider for the week is heading up to Annecy (France), a particularly pleasant town on a mountain lake. Lots to do both in town or nearby, and a great place to spend a few days in good-weather months. From Annecy, you could head along the southern coast of Lake Geneva (Lac Leman) -- this is much less touristy but every bit as nice at the more well-known northern side. Then, you could end the week by spending a few days in Lugano (Switzerland), an absolute treasure of a city. The city itself is beautiful, surrounded by alpine mountains and on a gorgeous lake, and the culture is an amazing blend of Swiss and Italian. And, Lugano is very convenient to Milan, so you almost surely wouldn't need to spend a final night in Milan if you're flying out.

Finally, if Nice is not an absolute requirement, you might consider passing it up. There are lots of pleasant spots along the Italian and French Rivieras, but Nice is not necessarily at the top of the list.

Don

Hello, In response you to you... Thank you in advance for help!!!

a) how you're getting around - train, car, other: would like to do train
b) how much time you want to spend in certain places: at least 2 nights each place
c) what time of year you're travelling: the week before and after labor day...
Thinking as below but totally up for suggestions:
4-Sep Nice
5-Sep Mont Blanc
6-Sep Mont Blanc
7-Sep Zermatt
8-Sep zermatt
9-Sep Lake Como
10-Sep Lake Como
11-Sep Milan
12-Sep Home

Now we're cooking! Right, so you'd prefer to train it around, which is certainly doable, but 2 nights in each place means 1 full day (plus a bit at arrival, depending on city). Based on what you're planning above:

Nice - Mont Blanc: you'll need to get to Chamonix (assuming you know this) so a train will take at least 9 hours, including a few changes (that's via Lyon and the TGV routes). If you wanted to cut out time in Zermatt, then you could head to Mont Blanc through the Italian side (which would entain a bit of backtracking, so maybe not worth it) from the Aosta valley. If you want to look at flying Nice to say Geneva then training it from there, look at easyJet or Baboo. That will likely be a lot quicker (train from Geneva only 2.5-3hrs depending on connection. Flight will be around 1hr - yes you need to be there 1 hr before flight, but depends how much time you want on train vs in Chamonix).

Chamonix to Zermatt: train 3h45 - 4hr20

Zermatt to Lake Como: depends where on the lake you want to end up, I'm working on Bellagio, but if it's different then that will alter route/time/methods. This will be a long day. The train from Zermatt to Como (the town) takes around 6hrs. From there, you can catch the fast ferry which takes around 40mins (great lake cruise, no commentary but still a pretty ride), the regular service takes about 1hr45. You could also train it to Lugano (5hrs) then take the one hour bus to Mennagio then the 10min ferry across to Bellagio. Either way, it's a full travelling day.

Lake Como to Milan: a breeze compared to the other days! Either bus from whatever point on lake suits best, or ferry back to Como and make your way back to the San Giovanni train station for a 30min journey (EC) to Milan Centrale (not sure which station you want, just used central).

Up to you if you want to travel every 2nd day, but at least the scenery out the window will be worth it!

Train sites that might help you:
French trains: www.voyages-sncf.com
Swiss trains www.sbb.ch
Italian trains: www.trenitalia.com

(PS - Labor Day in USA isn't really known in Europe - glad you noted September!)

Thank you so much for all the information. That does seem like a lot of travel. I really like the idea of Lugano. Any additional suggestions on travel from Nice area to Lugano?