NE

Having recently returned from a lovely trip to London and Paris, I am thinking about the next European vacation. My husband and I would like to go to Italy and Switzerland. We have been to Switzerland before, but simply love the country and would like to see a different area than last time when we visited Chur, Zermatt and Murren. Would Switzerland be doable with Italy or should we just stick to Italy?

I will post my trip report from this year’s trip…….just a note though…..the Cotstwolds were absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. My daughter went riding in Stanton ……what a lovely area! More later.

Thanks.

nancy

My first trip to Europe in 1990 led me from Switzerland to Italy (we had 2 weeks with a stay in the French Alps inbetween). Crossing into Italy and back was so beautiful.

I think you could easily combine Swizerland and northern Italy. In Italy we spent our time in the Lake District, Venice and Sirmione on Lake Garda.

We had to be back in Geneva (where we flew into) to fly home but with a flight into Switzerland and a flight out of Venice you would have so much more time. Northern Italy is my favorite part of Italy.

I agree with you on the Cotswolds, one of my favorite areas in England.

NE

Nancy, thanks for your reply. Did you use the rail system or did you drive? I am just starting my research to see what combination would work for us and allow us to have varied experiences.

arewethereyet

We traveled from Switzerland to Italy also. Very easy by train. Actually, we did a circle from London, to Paris, then Gruyeres, Zermatt, Stresa and Florence; then back to Paris via overnight train and chunnel to London. We loved just about every minute on the trains (except the train station at Milan where we transferred). From Florence we even took a day trip to Rome since the fast train is only 1 1/2 hours. I believe we purchased the 5 days of travel on our 3 country railpasses.

ira

HI N,

>Would Switzerland be doable with Italy or should we just stick to Italy?

How many days?

suze

As Ira says, depends how long this vacation is.

Twice I paired Switzerland (Geneva area) with Venice, traveling by train between the two. It was lovely. I had 2+ weeks.

NE

Ira, it would definitely be for at least two weeks.

I was one of those people contemplating a tour with a group for our last trip to London and Paris…….thanks to all the helpful suggestions on this board, I decided to plan it on my own and I must say things worked out really well. The trip was at our own pace and of our own choosing. More work but I think we got much more out of it.

Arewethereyet, your trip sounds fun! Did you get enough time in each destination? It is exciting and confusing to go through the planning process, but the feedback here and the ideas that people give are really constructive and a great source.

quokka

You cannot "do" the whole of Italy in less than two weeks anyway, so you'll have to choose and focus on a part of the country. If you want to include a piece of Switzerland, I'd suggest the North: Venice - Verona - the lakes - Ticino. That route would make a nice +/- 10 day trip.

arewethereyet

Hi NE,

We spent 19 days, and although it seems like a lot of cities, we never really felt rushed, and had a wonderful time. Of course an open-jaw on that trip would have made much sense, but the flights didn't work out with our one FF ticket; thus the circle.

But we all loved the trains so much that I think that it was all fine in the end. It was very important that we only traveled with one carry-on each. We lugged them EVERYWHERE, but it was no problem. Sent laundry out only once in Florence, and did some of our own laundry in the room when there was time for it do dry.

We all especially loved Switzerland. Stresa also was gorgeous with the Alps in the background - a fun little city to explore and shop in (and not too expensive, unlike Switzerland).

KTtravel

I think the combination of Northern Italy and Switzerland makes a lovely trip. We did this by car and had a great time.

nancy

NE: We had a car. We arrived in Geneva, picked up the car, spent the night and headed to the French Alps. Spent a few days (in & out of the Alps with 2 nights in Leon which we loved) and then drove into Italy and across northern Italy with stays in Venice, Sermione and Stresa. It was a perfect trip. I would not try to go south in Italy as you'd spend too much driving time.

We drove back from the Italian lake district to Switzerland staying a night along Lake Geneva and then a final night in Geneva. We were not rushed and having a car allowed us so much freedom to stop/stay where we wanted to.

Aduchamp1

Italy is one of the most enticing countries we have visited. The culture, the food and the history vary from north to south and demands your attention. We have been there three times and hope to spend extended periods of time in the future.

We have been to Switzerland and there is really no comparison.

ira

Hi NE,

You can do Northern Italy and CH, but with only 2 weeks, I would visit Italy.

If this is your first visit, Venice, Florence and Rome would fill the time quite well.