Switzerland, Germany, Spain from april 13th to may 7th
 

Hello my friends, me and my wife are planing na eurotrip in those dates and i was wondering if you could help me with the itinerary. We wanted to see a little bit of different cultures and landscapes in europeu. Also, we wanted to do some hikking (probably matterhorn in zermatt - swiss).
Also, i want to meet some friends in Sevilla, stuttgard and muchen.
bellow is the skatch of my itinerary, i was thinking about adding one day or two in switzerland and removing one day from stuttgard and one day from Sevilla.

Could you tell me if matterhorn will be open at that time of the year? Also, where ele would you recommend me going?

Thank you very much

ps. i already have the flight, so i can't change it

13-abr Monday

14-abr Tuesday 12:35 Milan
15-abr Wednesday milan
16-abr Thursday milan - zermatt
17-abr Friday zermatt
18-abr Saturday zermatt
19-abr Sunday zermatt - zurich
20-abr Monday zurich - fussen
21-abr Tuesday fussen - muchen
22-abr Wednesday muchen
23-abr Thursday stuttgard
24-abr Friday stuttgard - strasbourgo - stuttgard
25-abr Saturday stuttgard - Heidelberg - stuttgard
26-abr Sunday plane - barcelona
27-abr Monday barcelona
28-abr Tuesday barcelona
29-abr Wednesday barcelona - madrid
30-abr Thursday madrid
1-mai Friday madrid
2-mai Saturday madrid - sevilla
3-mai Sunday sevilla
4-mai Monday sevilla
5-mai Tuesday sevilla - lisbon
6-mai Wednesday lisbon
7-mai Thursday 09:35

Drop Milan on 15 April, add to Fussen unless you visit the Last Supper in Milan. Go directly to Zermatt instead.

Frankly, unless there is something OTHER than viewing the Matterhorn peak I would NOT spend three days in Zermatt. Why? It is in many ways the so-called "typical" ski village. Plenty of high end stuff for sale such as watches, gear, etc. You can EASILY walk the length of the town in an hour or less.

Be aware that the peak itself can be shrouded in clouds although the view over the Monte Rosa Massif is spectacular.

I would CONSIDER traveling up to the Berner Oberland instead where there are many more spectacular views.

How are you planning on getting around? The train is nice, but to make the best use of your time driving will be much quicker when traveling between Milan and Täsch (or in the area) and then on up to Füssen. The same is true from Füssen to Munich. After that, I would drop the car and take the train to Stuttgard and your other destinations.

Once in Spain you can travel by train (purchase your tickets ahead of time) and fly from Sevilla to Lisbon.

I don't think access to the Matterhorn ever closes but the weather will be changing and conditions will be unpredictable during early spring ( www.zermatt.ch/en/matterhorn ).

If it were me I would do the trip in reverse - starting in the south and moving north - as it is you are doing the coldest places earlier and the hottest last - when the reverse would seem to make more sense.

We have do Andalusia twice in late April and it;s already hot/beach weather (highs well into the 80s) so why not take advantage of it - and get to Swtiz when there will be less snow and possibility of the beginnings of spring.

thanks everyone
So you would recommend me skipping matterhorn and going to berner oberland. i will check it out.
How many days should i spent in that region? I was looking for some day hikes and stuff

Zermatt is close to the highest mountains of Switzerland (Punta Dufour, Punta Dunant, Punta Gnifetti, Signalkuppe, Dom, Matterhrn, Lyskamm, etc.) and gives easy access to famous glaciers;
but other mountain areas like Bernese Oberland, Mont Blanc, Gran Paradiso, Bernina, Ortles-Cevedale, Oetztaler Alpen are spectacular too.
Fortunately, not everybody likes the same places.

The Matterhorn never closes: well, the two viewing areas or at least access to them do. I'm not sure what Neckervd means by saying that Zermatt offers "access" to glaciers other than from the viewing areas.

To the OP: I did not say you should not GO to Zermatt and please re-read my post. What I DID say was I wouldn't spend THREE DAYS there but to each their own.

i thought about staying 3 days there because i wanted to do some walking, and if i stay only one day and the weather is pretty bad them it would not be possible

To me the Berner Oberland (a k a Jungfrau Region) is better for the first-time visitor who wants to see the dreamy Alps. Many more varied things to do besides hiking in this multi-faceted area - lovely lake boat rides on the two lakes bookending Interlaken, chief base for the region (though I encourage folks to stay right up in the hills, eyeball to eyeball practically with the glacier-girdled Jungfrau Massif that rises sheer thousands of feet not far from your hotel balcony.

Grindelwald, Wengen and Lauterbrunnen are three well-equipped mountain towns that folks rave about.

and if the weather turns funky you can day trip to nearby Lucerne or Bern - Zermatt is far more isolated - well over an hour each way by train or car there from the Rhone Valley so day trips in funky weather - not at ALL unusual in this rather wet climate - day trips are harder to do.

And only in the Jungfrau Region can one ascend by mountain train to Europe's highest train station at Jungfraujoch - and a Top of the World atmosphere as they advertise up there - ice grottos - walk to a glacier, etc.

For lots on trains in general which make the most sense if just going to large cities where cars are more and more useless and in the fantastic Jungfrau Region I always spotlight these IMO superb sources: www.swisstravelsystem.com (It don't take many train rides to merit taking a good look at a Swiss Pass - even just a few days stay); www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

The Switzerland of your dreams - either in Zermatt or IMO even better in the Jungfrau Region - a much wider area:

https://www.google.com/search?q=jung...=1600&bih=1075

Thank you palenQ, i will do as you say. I will stay somewhere in the bernese oberdan área and i will get to know the region better.

Thank you everyone!

The Matterhorn is the Matterhorn. Nothing else compares.

I suppose you know that the following cableways etc. will NOT run in the Interlaken area of Bernese Oberland in the second half of April (mega low season):
Wengen - Maennlichen
Grindelwald - Männlichen
Grindelwald - First
Grindelwald - Bussalp
Grindelwald - Grosse Scheidegg
Wilderswil - Schynige Platte
Interlaken - Harder
Muerren - Schilthorn
Brienz - Brienzer Rothorn

Make shure that you will not have to spend the few hundred USD you may have economized by flying to Milan Malpensa for expensive rail tickets in Switzerland.
Indeed, you seem to have chosen a particularly expensive land itinerary:

MXP ar 12.35. Dp by train 13.50 - Gallarate 14.12/14.26 - Domodossola 16.02/16.48 - Brig 17.16/17.20 - Spiez 17.53/18.05 - Interlaken Ost 18.18/18.35 - Lauterbrunnen 18.55/19.07 - Wengen ar 19.21. Standard ticket fare: 80 CHF/85 USD
Excursion from Wengen to Jungfraujoch and back: 135 CHF
Wengen - Fuessen (8 train changes): 153 CHF
Fuessen - Munich: 25 EUR/32 USD
Munich - Stuttgart: 57 EUR

As an alternative, you could perfectly travel by bus from Milan city bus terminal to Munich for 25 EUR and stop over in the Alps too, not in the Bernese Oberland, but in the alpine area crossed by the bus.

To the casual tourist Zermatt is the Matterhorn and nothing else (though there is a lot of nice hikes, mountain cable ways and trains, etc - but for most they just want to glimpse the Matterhorn, as I did on my first foray there.

The Berner Oberland is much more varied and offers lots of things besides mountains. and if funky weather sets in day trip to Bern or Lucerne - funky weather often sets in in both areas and some folks may wait days just to glimpse their Matterhorn at Zermatt - often IME behind clouds, etc.

Zermatt is fantastic but a much smaller area with basically just one base city - a heavily touristed Zermatt - in the Berner Oberland you have several mountain towns all different in character. Many here love Wengen - absolutely no cars and gorgeous views, etc. I like Grindelwald for its livelier - busier if you have it - aspect and inexpensive accommodation options.

I will stay at wengen.
And i was thinking about renting a car. Do you think i would be better off with the bus?

Renting a car - not in Wengen as no cars are allowed in town but must be parked at Lauterbrunnen and you have to take the train (no bus) to Wengen from there - Zermatt don't allow cars either and they must be parked outside of town.

Buses really won't work on your overall trip plan - relatively few long-distance buses and they are often much slower than trains in Switzerland at least. You may want to take the bus from Milan's airport to Brig, Switzerland however but from there if traveling much at all get a Swiss Pass which would cover travel in full to Wengen and is very useful for discounts on cables and trains to mountain tops and 100% covered trains to Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Murren, Grindelwald and all over Switzerland.

Sorry palen, i will be staying in grindewald, not in wengen. I was thinking about renting a car in milan and returning it in stuttgard 11 days later. You think i should travel all with bus and trains instead? cheers

If you rent a car at Milan Malpensa and give it back at Stuttgart Echterdingen, you will of course have to pay a huge fee for droppping off the car in another country.

As to the other expenses, you may check viamichelin:
Milan Malpensa airport - Lauterbrunnen:
Road tolls 60 USD, fuel 50 USD
Parking fees at Lauterbrunnen for 3 days 55 USD
Lauterbrunnen - Wengen roundtrip 14 USD
Excursion from Wengen to Jungfraujoch and back: 142 USD