I am in the very early planning stages of our annual fall trip to Europe. I've been to France 5x, Belgium 2x, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Estonia... It's now time to venture south a bit, and Switzerland comes highly recommended, and is easy to fly in and out of from Toronto.

We (my sister and I) are 39 and 41, like to walk around and soak up the city we are in, take pictures of the sights, shop a bit and eat good local foods. We aren't huge museum fans, but enjoyed the ABBA museum greatly!

Initially, I am looking at flying into Zurich and out of either Geneva or Milan. We'll be there for 15 nights or so and will be traveling by trains only, not driving. I'd like to stay in smaller towns, like Zermatt, Lucerne.... Also, we'd like to make a side trip to Liechenstein, just to add another country to our list. I understand most say there is not much to see...

Here is initial idea:

Day 1: Land in Zurich
Day 2: Zurich
Day 3: Zurich, with day trip to Liechenstein
Day 4: Travel to ???
Day 5: somewhere in Switzerland
Day 6: somewhere in Switzerland
Day 7: somewhere in Switzerland
Day 8: somewhere in Switzerland
Day 9: somewhere in Switzerland
Day 10: somewhere in Switzerland
Day 11: somewhere in Switzerland
Day 12: somewhere in Switzerland
Day 13: travel to Milan
Day 14: Milan
Day 15: Milan
Day 16: fly to Toronto from Milan

Towns we'd like to stay in are Lucerne, Zermatt, St Moritz and Lugano, but we are also very flexible. We'd also like to do either the Glacier Express or the Bernina Express.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. My last trip was amazing thanks to the suggestions I got here on the forums.

Can't help with Switzerland but I think you have too much time in Milan. It was our least favourite place in Italy. The cathedral is nice and the last supper is there but I would give it a day, no more.

You could stop at one of the Italian Lakes en eoute to Milan from Switzerland. St-Moritz was disappointing. Luckily we had taken a Swiss friend's advice and stayed nearby in charming Pontresina instead.

Thanks, jamikins. We will definitely be back in the near future to do Rome, Florence and Venice (for starters), but thought a few days in Milan would give us a different experience after Switzerland.

Thanks for the feedback! Might just spend 2 nights which will give us more time for fondue!

Since you are traveling by rail you might consider taking the Bernina Express route from Switzerland into Italy and to Milan. Requires a change in Tirano which is easily done but this is somewhat dependent on the time of year. The scenery is spectacular. And how are you planning to get to Vaduz since there aren't any rail connections I am aware of.

Dukey1, I hadn't done my research well enough, I wasn't aware the Bernina Express let me get into Italy. I'll see what the schedule is during late September.

I know there isn't a way to get into Liechtenstein by rail, but I believe one can go to the border via train, then take a bus into the city center. That's why I prefer to do this as a day trip from Zurich as we won't have to take our luggage with us.

Go here for the Rhaetian Railway site for more info on the Bernina: http://www.rhb.ch/index.php?L=4

Liechtenstein is linked by frequent buses (about every 30 min) to the railway stations of Feldkirch, Buchs SG and Sargans.

But there is absolutely nothing to do or to see: landscape, food, dialect, currency, price level, etc. are exactly the same as in the agrcultural neighbour areas of Switzerland.

Differencies between Eastern Switzerland and Western Switzerland or Ticino are at least 10 times bigger than between Eastern Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

There are different manners to lilnk the places you mention, may be:

Zurich airport - train - Lucerne - historic Lake Lucerne steamboat - Fluelen - Gotthard train - Goeschenen - Schoellenen Gorge train - Andermatt - Glacier Express - St. Moritz - Bernina Express - Tirano - bus - Lugano - train - Locarno - Panoramic Centovallil train - Domodossola - bus - Simplon Pass - Brig - train - Zermatt - train - Montreux/Chillon - historic Lake Geneva steamboat - Geneva.
Milan can easily be visited in a dayx trip from Lugano (1 hrs journey OW).

You may have a look at
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/home.html
http://www.swisstravelsystem.ch/en/
http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en

BTW: where did you find direct flights from MXP to YYZ?

No need to stay in Zurich. There are hourly trains direct from Zurich airport to Lucerne. Takes about an hour. While I found Zurich nicer than expected, it's not as "Swiss" as Lucerne and other locations.

And Lugano is only an hour from Milan by train, so an easy stop along the way. You could put some of your Milan days there. Or take the bus from Lugano to Lake Como, which is also close to Milan.

Sounds like you're more interested in cities than hiking or walking? Is that correct? You might like Interlaken as a base. Lots of scenery to be seen on daytrips out of there. By train: Jungfraujoch, Lauterbrennen, Murren, Wengen. By boat, the 2 lakes, Thun and Brienz. And Bern is a scenic and interesting city.

Have you looked into Swiss passes for your transportation? Switzerland is an expensive place. Even though the passes are not cheap, they can save you monny.

I found The Rough Guide and the Michelin Green Guide especially useful when planning my time in Switzerland.

neckervd, thanks a lot for your info... I found a return flight with Air Canada flying directly from Milan to Toronto (flight #843). Are you recommending flying out of Geneva and doing a day trip to Milan? This is something to consider (I'll be checking flights returning from Geneva).

Thanks!

And where would you consider staying overnight? Ideally, we'd like to stay 2-3 nights/town to limit packing/unpacking.

As for Liechtenstein, it's more about wanting to see what it's like and to say we've been there

I confirm Liechtenstein is not worth a day trip. If you happen to be travelling to Chur or Feldkirch you may stop there, say, fifteen minutes just to say you were there. But it is not worth your time if you are not already en route. The ancient library at St. Gallen with its Middle Age books, just to say the first place coming to my mind, would be much more interesting that the whole Liechtenstein.

Mimar, you are right about the town/city experiences rather than the hiking. I can walk a whole day in a city, but am not adventurous enough to hike in the mountains.

Will definitely look into a rail pass. I know Switzerland is expensive... but the last trip was in Scandinavia so it's probably comparable

kja, next plan is to get a guide book, but I find so much of my information on the internet...

Don't bother trying to get to Vaduz, Liechtenstein. I agree with the others. There are much more charming places in Switzerland. I've made 3 trips there in recent years and haven't begun to cover all of it. For a small country, it's very diverse. I loved the Engadin region (but not St. Moritz). I stayed in the perfectly preserved village of Guarda, which I highly recommend. From there I took a day-trip by train & bus to Scuol, and Tarasp Castle. I also visited beautiful Soglio in the Italian region. The Bernese Oberland (or Jungfrau region) is popular with American tourists, but shouldn't be overlooked. I stayed in Murren. Spectacular scenery. You sound like a city person, but honestly, Switzerland's claim to fame is its breathtaking alps.

I would not do any day trips from Geneva to Milan and before you blow off "not as Swiss as the country has been portrayed" Zurich you need to ask yourself what sorts of things you like doing. Zurich has some excellent museums and interesting church interiors.

Luzern is easy to reach from Zurich by rail and offers an entirely different "look" admittedly. And if you DO go to Luzern then you need to consider the easy half-day train trip to Engleberg and the ascent of Mt. Titlis for more spectacular countryside "it doesn't GET anymore Swiss than this" scenery including the cows, the bells, the rushing streams, etc., etc.,etc.

As to Geneva..get ready for people to tell you to stay ELSEWHERE along the north shore of Lac Leman (all the Montreux afficionados will show up shortly as well as the "Vevey people." Consider doing the Chillon Castle near Montreux which you can reach by lake steamer depending on the time of year (frequency issues) and Swiss Passes can be used on those boats. And then there's the "Toonerville Trolley" ascent up to Rochers de Naye out of Montreux (discounts with a pass).

The possibilities are endless and we haven't even tried to get you to do what I think is THE most spectaculr trip of all: the trip up to the Jungfrau in the Berner Oberland.

Enjoy, but make careful decisions and believe me, Switzerland is NOT as expensive as Oslo!!!

Dukey1: The OP said she wasn't really interested in museums. As mentioned above, I agree that Berner Oberland is probably the most spectacular scenery. Not to be missed if one is in the region.

susan, I am going to go read your trip reports!

Dukey, I do love castles... so will definitely consider seeing le Chillon near Montreux.

Why do I feel more overwhelmed now than ever?? For such a small country, there sure are a lot of beautiful places

How would you all break up the 15 nights, if it was YOUR trip?

to me the absolute highlight of Switzerland is the Berner Oberland - the Jungfrau Region around Interlaken - Grindelwald- Lauterbrunnen - Wengen and an area with so so many varied things to see and do besides Alpine hikes or excursions. Book rides on the two lakes bookending Interlaken - a day out on either lake takes you to so many neat places.

Anyway consider the Jungfrau Region as well. As for the Glacier Express I would not go out of my way to take what I consider Europe's most overhyped scenic train and not nearly the most scenic in Switzerland - Zermatt to St Moritz is an all-day marathon that has most folks quickly more mesmerized by the tilting wine glasses than the yeh nice but for Switzerland so so scenery - the best of which is Visp to Zermatt which you will already have seen and Richenau to St Moritz via the Albula Pass which you have to go over to get to St Moritz.

Anway you seem to be taking enough trains to merit looking at a Swiss Pass which would cover all your mentioned trains (though the Glacier Express extorts an obscenely high supplement to use the pass on it - the Bernina Express just charges a nominal seat reservation fee/supplement. Great sources to learn about Swiss trains, passes and things like the Half-Fare Card, Swiss Card (which offers everything the half-Fare Cared does but more and which can be a better deal for some than the Half-Fare Card depending on itineraries and the Swiss Transfer ticket - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgteteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com.

PalenQ, thanks for the great info! I'm already looking into a Swiss Pass, which does look like a better deal for the train traveling we'll be doing......

Ruby99: For some reason my Switzerland reports do not appear under "trip reports" on my profile page, but I did find them.

Here's my TR from 2007, when I went to Stein am Rhein, Luzern, Berner Oberland, and Speiz on Lake Thun: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nd-july-07.cfm

Here is my TR from 2008, that covers the Engadin (most notably Guarda and Soglio). http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rip-report.cfm