Switzerland/Italy in late March
 

My husband and I are landing in Zurich, would like to take a train to Zermatt (or the like) and then head into Italy. We have 10 days to travel and we leave from Pisa. Any suggestions (route/train or car etc), and "should not miss" would be greatly appreciated.

Some more info on you would be helpful.

Are you looking for winter sports? Cities? Small towns? Museums/history/ art/churches? Hiking and outdoor stuff? (not very realistic if you don;t want snow).

From your reading of guidebooks what are you most important must dos - so we can add other suggestions.

Thanks for your reply. We are interested in snow. We are even thinking of sending our ski stuff ahead and trying our hand at some Alpine skiing, then sending our stuff back before we head into Italy. (Too
ambitious?) We are more interested in seeing the countryside, and how people really live and eat than in touristy stuff. Not interested in many churches (although we love architectural detail)or hiking,or spending an inordinate amount of time in museums. We don't drink, so wineries are out, but we love tasy food incl. cheeses. We live in SoCal so beaches might be redundant, although even though we live on a lake,we still would love to spend time in those regions of Italy too. We've read that Assisi is fabulous. Don't know whether trying to visit Venice this trip is over-ambitiou; but are intested. We have DK's Italy and 100 Places to See, but would love first hand from more seasoned travelers!

I have read some posts here and think perhaps Pontresina instead of Zermatt might be an easier trip. Where should we head, and which train, after that in order to travel Italy a bit?

Hi welink,

I think you've made a good choice in Pontresina, which is a lovely town on a hill surrounded by green forrests. You can easily see St. Moritz from there, and it's a great starting point for the Bernina Express ride over the Bernina Pass to Tirano and Italy.

A good site to research train schedules is www.rail.ch.

BTW, you don't have to haul your own ski equipment -- just rent in Pontresina. You can get great quaility, cutting-edge equipment in the rental stores. If you have any boot inserts, just bring those.

Good luck!

s

Wow, I am having a tough time finding a hotel in Pontresina the weekend of the 17th of March. Any other suggestions. We want to leave from The Alps and head into Italy for the rest of the trip.

Hi welink,

Well of course many people reserve their ski vacations six or more months ahead of time --

Also, I think mid-March is the time of the big ski-marathan event in the area.

Nevertheless, I did find some hotels at www.engadin.ch (click on "English" on the left-hand "St Moritz" side of the page, then click on "accommodation" then on "online booking"). Using the dates 17-21 March, I found three or so three-stars in St. Moritz, and there was one five-star in Pontresina itself. There were also a few others in towns around the area.

Good luck!

s

Thanks so much for all the help! I did reserve a room in St. Moritz for two nights and then I think I made a mistake by maing reservations on the Glacier Express to Zermatt on the 3rd day. I think I should have made them for the Bernina Express, to then take us into Lugano. Can I remedy this? Or just make reservations on the BE for the next leg. I haven't found a pass that includes the Swiss/Italian combo.
We will want to drive (I think)when we head to Venice and down to Tuscany.Arrgh! More advise please!

Hi welink,

I'm a bit confused by your last post.

You say you made hotel reservations (good for you!), then made reservations on the GE by mistake. But on which website did you make those GE reservations? Did you give your cc number & info? In any case, the first step would be to e-mail the people who run the website to see if you can cancel the reservations, and if that doesn't work, call them.

Then you say maybe you should " . . . just make reservations on the BE for the next leg." The next leg of what? The BE is not a leg of the GE. If you took the GE from St. Moritz to Zermatt (a seven-hour trip), you'll have to return to St. Mortiz (a seven-hour return!) to catch the BE to Tirano. If you decide to take the GE, you should just go to Italy via Brig & Milan and forget the BE.

While I've never taken the GE, I've heard it reviewed here as not so hot. In fact, posters usually prefer the BE. So, if I were you, I would cancel the GE reservations and get on the BE. Here's the website for the BE:
http://www.rhb.ch/berninaexpress/berninaexpress.e.php

Good luck!

s

Oh my goodness,S., thank you... I'll get on that.

If you want to do Italian lakes area, Bellagio on Lake Como is magnificent!

In March, if you're leaving from Pisa, I'd go to Florence for sure since you'll be so close. Are you aware of all the archetecture, paintings, frescos, sculptures from the Reneassaince that are in the churches of Italy?

If you like art and archetecture, you like to go into churches in Italy. They are unreal!

When you exit the BE at Tirano, just walk over and catch the Italy train to Milan---make sure it stops at Varenna which is your gateway to Lago Como. You will love it !

Not sure if it's too late to give you a rec on hotels in Pontresina, but my husband and I stayed at a wonderful place called La Collina (www.lacollina.ch) in January 1998. Although it's part of the Best Western chain, you'd never associate it with a typical BW in the US (in fact, we've found the BWs in Europe to be excellent). The breakfast room at the hotel was stunningly beautiful and there was a plentiful buffet. We skied at St. Moritz, which was, I think, accessible by bus; we didn't have a rental car then.

Thank you all so much for the input. This is a great site! I don't understand the rail deals. If I take the Bernina Express, is it included in another train package that includes perhaps the treck to Milan and then to Venice?