Would really love some help from all of you experienced travelers out there. I will be traveling with my husband to Northern Italy and Switzerland for our honeymoon. We have booked most of our rooms at b & bs and our plane trip. We've had a few suggestions but would like your input. Here's my rough draft of what I've put together. We are up to moving things around. We have reservations for our stays but would be open to using these as our jumping points and going to different places then we currently have in mind.

Day 1 - Monday June 6th - Morning arrival in Milan. Travel to Brienz by train using our Swiss pass. We should reach here by 2pm. Out other option is to stay in Milan this night and then go on to Switzerland Tuesday. This will push the rest of our trip forward a day and add a full day to Switzerland. Tour Brienz. Any suggestions of what to see here will be helpful.

Day 2 - Tuesday June 7th - Catch the Jungfraujoch to the highest train station in Europe. Tour Interlaken.

Day 3 - Wednesday June 8th - Same Area -

Day 4 - Thursday June 9th - Travel to Lucerne - Tour Lucerne Area -

Day 5 - Friday June 10th- Take the William Tell Express to Lugano - Overnight in Milan.

Day 6- Saturday June 11th - Milan. See Duomo, Last Supper, ?? Travel to the Villa we have reservations at near Brescia late night.

Day 7 - Sunday June 12th - Verona, Lake Como.

Day 8 - Monday June 13th - Venice

Day 9 - Tuesday June 14th - ?

Day 10 - Wednedday June 15th - ?

Day 11 - Thursday June 12th - Leave Milan - not time for anything this day


Thank you so much for taking time to help us if you can!

Day 9 - Venice
Day 10 - Venice

MILAN. Milan to Brienz is about a 4 hour ride (maybe more, RailEurope is acting up so I'm not sure at the moment). That may be a bit much to endure on the first day given jet lag. Are you flying in from the USA? I suggest spending the first night in Milan. It's an interesting enough place to spend a day and get over your jet lag. The next day you'll be in great shape to advance to Switzerland. Another option if you want to avoid a big city is to go to the Lake Como area right after landing. It's only a 1 hour train ride.

BRIENZ. Is there a particular reason for staying in Brienz? You mentioned doing the Jungfraujoch. If mountains are the main reason for coming to this reason, then stay in Lauterbrunnen, Murren, or Wengen. They are much more cental to the mountains of the Berner Oberland and the scenery will floor you. Brienz has a nice open air museum and it's an easy train connection from Lauterbrunnen. Plus, the Jungfraujoch is only going to be worth the trouble and expense if the weather is perfect. You'll probably find more fun outdoor stuff to do near Lauterbrunnen in the event the weather is not perfect (waterfalls, lower elevation mountain hikes, dwarf tossing, etc.).

Okay, so with my evil plan you would spend the first night in Milan and the next 2 in the Berner Oberland. But since you've already done a day in Milan with my plan, you can stay an extra day (for a total of 3) in the Oberland. Then you can go on to Luzern, Lugano, and Venice without backtracking to Milan until you have to leave. Any chance of flying out of Venice instead of Milan? That would be the better plan.

You also have a couple of ? days. I would use one day for Luzern and one for Venice. Or both extra days for Venice and use one day for day trips out into the Veneto.

Let's review my scheme for global domination:

night 1: Milan
night 2: Lauterbrunnen
night 3: Lauterbrunnen
night 4: Lauterbrunnen
night 5: Luzern
night 6: Lugano
night 7: Lugano
night 8: Venice
night 9: Venice
night 10: Venice (or Milan if you have to fly from Milan).

Have you already purchased the Swiss Pass? If not, I would not recommend it given the relatively short time in Switzerland. It will likely be cheaper to buy point-to-point tickets as you go. Or maybe the Half Fare Card would be the better choice.

I agree with Edward, if you are coming for the mountains in the Berner Oberland then best to stay there. Lauterbrunnen is an excellent base. You can also stay up in Wengen or Murren but a little more to get to or you could stay in Grindelwald, a bit pricy and touristy though. For the lakes, Brienz is ok, though certainly better than Interlaken, I wouldn't waste my time touring Interlaken...if you like a lot of hotels, overpriced restaurants and crowds then it would be the place to go...its only redeeming quality is its position and view of the mountains. Also on the lakes and by far the most interesting is the quaint town of Thun with its fairy tale castle. I'd skip Lucerne for this trip. On the end do more time in Venice.

Thank you for all of your advise! It is so helpful. I have changed my itinerary to the following:

Day 1: Milan
Day 2: Wengen (We found what looks like a great place to stay for a decent price here and could not find anything in Lauterbrunnen)
Day 3: Wengen
Day4:Wengen
Day5ucerne
Day6ugano
Day7akes Region Italy
Day8:Venice
Day9:Venice
Day10akes/Verona

This is just a suggestion, but after the BO, you have a lot of one-nighters, several of which are after long train trips. Also, I wonder if Lugano is enough different from the italian lake area for a one night stay to make sense. Finally, on our honeymoon (over 30 years ago--so you judge if it applies), we found Luzern to be the most beautiful, enjoyable place in our cross-Europe jaunt. So, for your consideration:
Day 1: Milan
Day 2: Wengen
Day 3: Wengen
Day4: Wengen
Day5: Lucerne
Day6: Lucerne
Day7: Venice
Day8: Venice
Day9: Lakes/Verona
Day10: Lakes/Verona

Enjoy your trip!

I agree with JN's recommended itinerary. Lucerne is a lovely, historic city that is extremely charming and very easy to navigate. If the weather is accomodating you can take some easy day trips to Mt Pilatus. The tourist office sponsors a guided walking tour to help get you oriented.

We also stayed in Wengen and loved it. If the weather is good and you decide to go to the Jungfraujoch you can get the early (discounted) train in the morning quite easily. There are several easy hikes in the area.

We stayed at Albergo Olivedo in Varenna on Lake Como and felt like we were in Heaven!! Our room (#21) was on the 3rd floor on the end of the building and we had amazing views over the lake and mountains. The ferry docks right in front of the hotel so it is very easy to travel on the lake. We especially loved Villa Balbianello which you can only get to via water taxi from Lenno.