Switzerland, Genoa, Turin, Monoco, Marseille
 

Instead of China tours planned this May, we have an option to change & reroute from JFK to ZRH. We have about 3 weeks, both in the 60's, good health. We need your recommendation for the top 3,4 or 5 places to visit. What is the better option? Renting a car, Swiss Pass or Eurail Pass? We probably have to fly out of ZRH to South East after the 3 weeks vacation. The only places we have been are London, Berlin, Heidelberg, Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice. We'd love to visit Paris again if time permit and also Vienna.

Thank you all.

For a first time in that area I would not consider Monaco and Marseille a priority. Rent a car, skip Italy and visit the Swiss Alps and the French Alps on the way to the Provence and back.

If you like mountain scenery and do not mind the driving, take the <i>route des Grandes Alpes</i> from Chamonix to Nice and come back via Avignon and Annecy. A guidebook or two might be useful to establish your own itinerary according to your tastes.

Renting a car, Swiss Pass or Eurail Pass? We probably have to fly out of ZRH to South East after>

if going mainly to big cities trains are you best bet - many cities are putting severe restrictions on private vehicles driving around so you have to pay, often a lot, to park them in at times remote parking lots. Trains go city center to city center - now if wanting to drive around the proverbial hill towns of Tuscany or Umbria then a car is best, though actually buses and trains can also get you to them.

In Switzerland if spending four days or more a Swiss Pass can be a great deal, covering not only trains but lake boats, postal buses, city trams and buses and also giving free entry to 400+ Swiss museums - a Eurailpass is not nearly as useful in Switzerland, not covering many mountain trains like the Swiss Pass does - but if doing a wide-ranging trip then a Eurailpass, often a Select Pass, could be a good deal as wel.

But before anyone can give you any advice on railpasses you have to know more about what you are actually contemplating doing. For lots of great planning tips on European trains check out these IMO superb sites - www.ricksteves.com; www.swisstravelsystem.com (great info on Swiss trains including the country's legendary scenic trains such as the Bernina Express - a wonderful way to go between Switzerland and Italy over what to me is Europe's most dramatically scenic rail line - up and over the Bernina Pass rail line from St Moritz to Tirano, Italy where you have connections to the Italian rail system to head to Milan via Lake Como (get off at Varenna-Esino to get to fabled Bellagio. Other sites to check www.seat61.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - download the latter's free and superb IMO European Planning & Rail Guide for lots of great tips on suggested rail itineraries in various countries.

The only places we have been are London, Berlin, Heidelberg, Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice. We'd love to visit Paris again>

Paris in May is so so sweet - everything so fresh and tourists numbers not up to summer peaks - perfect time for Paris IME.

You have not been to Switzerland and that too would be a nice place in late May - just before the summer hiking crowd rush - how about more of Germany - like the fabled Rhine Gorge or Munich area - Bavaria has so much to offer - from Mad Ludwig's fantasy Neuschwanstein castle to neat old towns and Dachau and Rothenburg - one of the finest medieval looking walled cities in Europe - Salzburg, Austria is close to Munich

So perhaps start in Paris - go via Switzerland to Munich and then to Salzburg and Vienna and Prague - fly home from say Prague or Vienna or Budapest?

Flying into one airport and heading out and flying back from another airport - the so-called Open Jaw ticket saves backtracking and often air fares are not much different than a round-trip ticket to one airport.

Amsterdam and Belgium (wondrous Bruges) and Holland are also easy to do with Switzerland and Germany - end up in Amsterdam, to me one of the most beautiful cities in the world to fly home from.

Thank you all for your time and information. Renting a car driving to the Swiss Alps and the French Alps to the Provence and back sounds great. We love hiking and visit the scenic sites.

We'll do the others as suggested by PalenQ in the next trip. So many places, so much to see.

sounds like a great plan to me - that area is really compact at least by American standards - Switzerland itself is smaller than most states so leisurely too.