Torino, Italy
 

Hi! First time poster here. Wondering if anyone has ANY thoughts or advice on the following situation. Husband and I booked cheap Ryanair flight to Torino, Italia for 5 days in June, in the middle of a 16 day journey. We thought maybe we could take a quick, cheap train to somewhere in Switzerland, but that is looking like a pipe dream. Anyone know where in Switz. would be close and least expensive, but still give us a good Alps experience? Are there other places we could go from Torino in Italy or even France that would be relatively easy to get to? We'll be taking trains and would prefer to avoid museums, churches etc. We like nature. Thanks much!

You can get to Courmayeur or Gran Paradiso National Park in the Italian Alps from Torino. Take the train to Aosta or Pre-St-Didier, and a bus onward to Courmayeur. Or from Aosta take a bus to Cogne. Bus schedules are here:

http://www.savda.it/orari_tariffe.htm

Gran Paradiso:

http://www.parks.it/parco.nazionale....so/Eindex.html

Note that the above SAVDA bus line also shows a bus from Chatillon to Breuil Cervinia. Mount Cervinia is the Italian name for the Matterhorn, so you could go to the southern side of the Matterhorn. Train to Chatillon, then onward by bus.

From Turin to Switzerland by train is tough as the train service to Switzerland goes via Milan. Go up to Val d'Aosta which is like a piece of Switzerland nestled in Italy, train to Aosta (a very nice town) and bus to Courmayeur at foot of Mt Bianco (Mt Blanc) or Breuil for Cervina (Matterhorn). There is a cable car which crosses Mt Blanc over to Chamonix on the French side. Also from Turin you can go by train up the Val di Susa to the Ski resorts of Oulx and Sestriere nestled in the mountains.

Thanks! That's helpful. I think we'll spend a day in Turin and weigh our options when we get there, knowing there are places to go.