Thinking Venice, train to Interlaken to Zurich and fly home. Would like outdoor activities, museums, picturesque towns, etc. Suggestions? thx

"outdoor activities, museums, picturesque towns, etc. Suggestions?"
Where? there are tons of interesting places and possibilities along this itinerary.
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
http://oldweb.enit.it/comuni.asp?lang=UK

We took two boys to Italy for three weeks in 2009. One a young teen and one a tween. We were certain to ask them if there were specific things they wanted to see. Got the usual, leaning tower, Colosseum, etc We were certain to climb bell towers (Campanile in Venice)and the anything with stairs (Duomo in Florence). They like the views from on high and the climbing calmed them down.

We also found they enjoyed, and remember, the places where we took tours. Book in advance the "Secret Itineraries" tour at the Doge's palace. I do not recall who we booked through but you can search online.

In Florence (just as an idea) I found a way to make the Uffizi a scavenger hunt. Find "Venus on a Half Shell", Michelangelo's "Round" painting, etc. And when the rest of us were ready to leave, my son said, "But we haven't found Medusa's Shield yet!" So we found it and went on our way, knowing our "evil" plan worked!

Everyone knows their own children best. I figured mine would be more happy if we didn't change hotels every two days. So in three weeks we had three hotels and one apt. It's good to note that of their two favorite places, one had a pool and one (by accident) gave them a separate room from us. They had a blast learning new pool games from kids around the world. And sometimes that is the best cultural experience of all.

Have a great time!

We stayed with our boys to Grindelwald last summer. Loved it! So much to do around the Interlaken area.

Top of Europe train.
Trotti bikes
Trummelbach Falls

This was helpful for me.....
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...m#last-comment

Thank you all for your suggestions and links! I have much homework.
Any insight on trains from VEnice to either Interlaken or Wengen? Would love to do it in a day leaving Venice in AM and getting to Switzerland destination in late afternoon/evening but may not be possible....

Why shouldn't it not be possible? Open the links I gave you above!

Thank you. YOu're right it is doable. We are thinking on flying into Zurich and going to Wengen or Grindelwald (deciding b/w two chalet rentals) and staying 5/6 nights then heading to ITaly and flying home from Venice.
Thoughts on Wengen vs. Grindelwald? Thank you!

Both places are nice if the weather is fine.
Both are crowded in high season and ghost towns in early spring and late automn.
Wengen is car free. Grindelwald is somewhat bigger.

Hi sinoll,

If you are going in summer, I would avoid Grindelwald. Since that's as high as cars can go, that's where all the tour busses go. The streets are lined with tour busses, and the off-loaded day-trippers crowd around the sidewalks and at the entrances to the stores. I found it to be really unappealing when I was staying there with my mom.

We went to Wengen one day for lunch, and it was relatively peaceful and quiet. Since then, I've always opted to stay in Wengen.

Have fun as you plan!

s

Thank you for your advice--Wegen it is! We have to travel in August due to other conflicts and hate that it will be so crowded so nice to know I can avoid a little madness by choosing Wegen.

The super high season in this area lasts until mid August.

We really liked using Grindelwald as a base, because it's bigger we had a lot of restaurant choices for dinner. In the smaller towns things were more limited, which made them great for day trips. We stayed further away from the train in a Grindelwald and didn't get the tour bus crowd at our hotel.

Iif your schedule permits try to be there for Swiss National Day -august 1st. Big street party, fireworks, parades, yodeling, lots of fun! We just happened upon it, it was great!!

Thanks MBM for tip but we'll still be in Italy.
Anyone have suggestions regarding good overnight stop on our train trip from Venice to Wegen? Thinking Lake Como area....

The Venice - Brig (Switzerland) train stops at Peschiera del Garda, a nice place at Lake Garda (beach, boats plying the Lake up to it's Northern end, Gardaland Fun park and Verona amphitheatre (open air opera performances in July-August) not far away.....)
as well as
at Gallarate, from where you can reach Stresa by connecting local train. Stresa is the pearl of Lake Maggiore, just in front of the 3 Borromean Islands (with castle and botanical gardens). Boats plying the Lake up to Ascona and Locarno (Switzerland) on it's Northern end, many cableways to viewpoints (Lakes, Mont Blanc, Gran Paradiso, Matterhorn, etc.).
Direct trains from Stresa to Spiez (Bernese Oberland).

Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore are as beautiful as Lake Como, There is really no need to make the detour via Lake Como.

Have a look at:

http://www.visitgarda.com/en/garda_lake/
http://www.lago-di-garda.org/malcesine-lake-garda.asp
http://www.lago-di-garda.org/sirmione-lake-garda.asp

http://www.maggiore.ch/?lang=en
http://www.illagomaggiore.com/?set_language=en&cl=en
http://www.lagomaggioreturismo.it/ing_home.html
http://www.lagomaggiore.net/uk/
http://www.lagomaggioreonline.com/?newlingua=UK&
http://www.ascona-locarno.com/
http://distrettolaghi.eu/en/
http://www.vareselandoftourism.it/
http://www.borromeoturismo.it/scripts/home.php?lang=en
http://www.cannero.it/uk/index.asp?a=0&b=0
http://www.museo-ogliari.it/
http://www.provincia.va.it/santacaterina/
http://www.villataranto.it/
http://www.gignese.it/museo/
http://www.giardinoalpinia.it/
http://www.mottarone.it/
http://www.comune.ortasangiulio.no.it/