We're trying to decide on vacation plans for next spring or fall 2004 so we have something to look forward to. I'd like fly into Zurich (from Washington DC), spend one night there to rest from the trip. Then off to Lucerne for 2 nights, then the Lauterbrunnen Valley for 4 nights (to see Murren, Wengen, Grimelwald, etc), then do Lake Como for 3 nights and maybe fly out of Milan back to DC.

My wife thinks we could also do Florence, Venice and Rome. She's crazy, right? She's not into hiking AT ALL (arghhhhhh!). She thinks she'll be somewhat bored in Switzerland and really wants to see more of Italy than just 3 nights in Lake Como. Any ideas of how to incorporate more of the stuff she wants to do in this trip, or does this not give us enough time?

Thanks,
Steve
Silver Spring MD USA
(only 5 weeks till our 2 weeks in France - yeah!)

With the greatest of resepct I think I'll avoid getting in the middle of the "She's crazy and doesn't like hiking...no, HE's crazy because all he wants to do is walk around in the weeds," issue and say that you can easily do all of this and more depending on how much time you wish to spend. Depending on WHERE on Lake Como you decide to stay I think you can easily do it in three days...yes, you can spend two weeks there, too, if you want. Interestingly you don't say how much time would be alloted for the places your wife wants to visit so it is hard to advise you more specifically..or was that by design? Sorry, but that's the way it looks when I read it.

Thanks Intrepid... I thought 2 nights in Florence, 2 in Venice and 3 in Rome. Then we'd have to fly out of Rome. Let's see, that's... 15 nights total. Is that kind of whirlwind crazy? She doesn't usually like to pack and unpack a whole lot. Hmmmm. I have a feeling she's not going to want to go for this after all. Aargh.

Darn - I'm going to have to do some pretty slick talkin'. I think the deal would be to get her to go to Switzerland and Lake Como next year, fly back out of Milan. Then, as a separate trip, do the Venice, Florence, Rome, and possibly some southern Italy stuff like Capri the NEXT year. Better, right?

Steve R
Silver Spring MD USA

Hi Steve.

Sounds like your schedule is a little full for all Rome, Florence and Venice. But in the interests of marital bliss, and because your wife actually has a valid point, I might throw in at least one of her destinations.

Venice would be a great choice. You can get there in a reasonable amount of time by train from the Berner Oberland -and it should be a pretty scenic ride - and then catch another train for a relatively short jaunt to Milano and the Lakes. (By the way, one night in Milan for a pass through the Duomo and some shopping on Via Della Spiga might not hurt either).

I'm a big fan of Switzerland - I live there, actually - and Como is lovely, but you've got a pretty big chunk of time dedicated to very rural settings. To my mind, you could easily lose a day in Lauterbrunnen or even Como without serious damage, and add it on to Venice. Venice is a really remarkable city, very romantic (score for Steve), great art, but very manageable. You can do it pretty fully in a couple of days, unlike Rome or Florence. (Both of which are also amazing, but a little less convenient for your trip). Personally, even independent of the wife factor, I'd throw Venice in there. It would be a nice break from all the mountain scenery. See some great stuff, score some points, and still have plenty of excellent hiking time. Enjoy!

Actually, I think combining Italy with Switzerland provides really good contrast. Have you considered reversing the order and dropping Rome?

Land in Milan and train right away to Florence before you realize you're tired. Go from there to Venice and then (I have not researched this) maybe a night train from Venice up into Switzerland? If staying in the Lauterbrunnen valley numbs your wife, maybe you could compromise on Interlaken -- then you could jog (metaphorically speaking) up into the hills to hike and she could ride the rails to Berne and Lucerne. Finally a couple of nights in Zurich to enjoy that city, and back to DC from there.

I seem to have left out Como. Well, maybe you could land in Milan, spend a couple nights resting at the lake, and then on to Florence, etc. etc. Just tossing in some divergent thoughts -- synectics, you know. Have fun planning, J.

You said your wife isn't into hiking, so what IS she into? I wouldn't have called myself a hiker either. I'm more of a shopper, walker, architecture&history-lover. In my first trip to Switzerland last summer, I loved Zurich's many shopping streets and easily walkable sites. I spent the whole time in Luzern walking too, and loving every minute of it, Bern, Lugano, Lausanne... walking the whole time. By the time we got to the Lauterbrunnen Valley, and I saw the mountains and waterfalls, I WAS a hiker! While there are some great opportunities for difficult hiking there, I often walked the esaier trails or took a gondola up a mountain pass and met my husband at the top ( he hikes ). Even though I wanted to see more and more, and go into Italy too, I was so pleased that we really were able to "do" Switzerland well. It became our favorite country-- so clean and beautiful! Now, I can look forward to "doing" Italy the same way on a future trip. I agree with you and think Italy could wait.

Good morning, Steve go into WW.RAILEUROPE.COM. and get a good idea
of your travel times from point to point.
Rome to Florence is about 1hr30min.
Florence to Venice about 3hr.
Venice to Milan about 3 hr.
Venice to Zurich about 5 hrs, etc.
you will be spending a lot of time traveling just for two nights here and
there...
Where in Como is very important, personally would look at Locarno and
Lugano would shorten traveling by about
3 hours....Richad of LaGrange Park,mIL.

I read your post and immediately got an anxiety attack. I'm only 40 and I'm exhausted. Why do people like to cram so much into so little time? What kind of treat is two nights anywhere? I'm with your wife on the packing issue. Pick a place and settle in and explore. Less is more.

I decided to give in to my wife's wishes and compromise. We'll do HER trip next year - Rome, Florence, Venice (been there done that, just not with her, some of Tuscany that I missed when I was there 5 years ago (I only did the Cinqueterra and Sienna).

THEN, the next year, I get to pick the trip. She ok'd flying into Zurich for a day from Wash DC, then off to Lucerne for 3 nights (do we need that much time there), then 4 nights in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, then Zermatt for 3 nights (you gotta see the Matterhorn, right? yes, no?) finishing with Lake Como for the last 3 nights, then flying out of ... Milan? Sound good? Revisions? Should we put more city in there somewhere? We only have 16 days off in a row. We're workaholics from the USA

Steve

As a direct answer to your last post, let's count the days:
Day 1:Zurich, arrival
Day 2 and 3: Lucerne (more than enough!)
Day 4,5,6,7: Lauterbrunnen area
Day 8,9,10: Como lake.....
This leaves you some days, no?

Personally I would add Venice to the Switzerland trip:
- it is very close to Switzerland, as it is in Northern Italy,
- it has avery good train connection through Milan from lake Como.
So you could have the return flight from Milan.

This means you could concentrate on Tuscany and Rome for your next holidays. I would start on a Rome 6days / Tuscany 10 days basis.

Thanks Baldrick for the trip ideas! You left out Zermatt from your itinerary for Switzerland. Shouldn't we see the Matterhorn and that area for a couple of days, or no?

Fantastic idea to do Venice in our Switzerland adventure if we have enough days (16). I just talked to her and her MAIN thing is to do Florence and Rome as Florence is her mom's favorite place and she now HAS to see it too. No problem. I only found 2 days worth of stuff to do there before I trotted off to Rome 5 years ago when I did Florence.

Your idea of spending ALOT of time in Tuscany is interesting to me. I'll have to consider that, instead of heading down to Southernmost Italy and the ultra expensive Capri.

Steve
USA