A group of 8-10 of us are beginning to plan a trip to Italy and Switzerland (possibly Germany) from mid July to early August 2010. Two of the travelers are very expereinced in European travel however I hope to get and even greater perspective and suggestions from several of the Fodorites out there! (PLEASE SUGGEST AN ITINERARY) The trip will be very flexible with some couples choosing some things to do and see while other may go their own way...so in short we are looking for any and ALL suggestions. We are looking at 15 to 21 days for the trip.
We know that we want to focus on the northern half of Italy and we also know that our home base for much of the time in Swirtzerland will be in Wengen.
Please share your great ideas on things to do and see while we are in this area (also add things to avoid!) Just for some added info the entire group LOVES good food (both eating and cooking) and good vino and beer! Thanks in advance for suggestions as we begin to build our itinerary.
P.S. Flying most likely out of Cincinnati, OH (we are thinking we would be best served to fly into Itlay to begin our trip as the first part will be more "active" (moving around to various areas)

Right now Alitalia has a sale from Chicago to Rome for 389 round trip. If you plan on flying to Italy check Alitalia for fares to Rome or Milan. For April and March the fares will be very cheap. A little more expensive for June and July. I dont know the fares from Cincinnati but the sales for spring and summer travel start in March, so if you can wait until then to book your flight I would highly suggest doing that, otherwise you will pay out of the nose!! If you fly into Rome...stay in Rome and see Rome, it is an amazing city! I dont know what your interests are but St. Peter is wonderful. If you fly into Milan, go to Lake Como...that area is beautiful! Rick Steves did a show on Lake Como and my husbands aunt lives there and we have been there many times...it is a very beautiful place especially in the summer. I would suggest you start thinking about what you want to see, and what areas you want to visit then narrow it down to what you will be able to see! Enjoy your travels!

Take the Delta flight into Venice to begin. Then, here is what I would do from there:
Venice-4
Val Gardena[dolomites]--2
Lago Como--4[ drop cars in Como--train in CH]
Luzern--3
Berner Oberland[Wengen]--4
Last nite near Zurich airport

A variation for the hikers would be to sub the Cinque Terre coast in lieu of Como. That is a start--good luck !

Obviously our trip is still 15 months away but we want to plan....."the perfect" trip...if that is possible. All of us will be doing much research and planning various activites/excursions to which to choose from. Thank you travelinfool4u and bobthenavigator for your suggestions.

I am curious why you chose Wengen? Knowing what appeals to you will help people make other suggestions appropriate to you.

do you have a place in mind to stay there?

How much hiking do you care to do?

As I have stated...we are in the very beginning stages of planning the trip and I will add additional posts/replies to give more detail and hopefully that will guide people that have experienced the areas we are considering visiting. To specifically answer your question as to "Why Wengen?" One of the travelers in our group has been to this area and he states that it is a great place and location to do hiking at many different levels. In fact he is traveling there this summer by himself to hike several of different paths/trails with plans to take notes regarding each of his hikes so that he can share with our group about the differences. At this point I am thinking that the first 7-10 days in Italy we will moving around quite a bit to be able to see many areas say from Rome northward. Our group most likely will enjoy some of the typical things that most tourists (first timers to Italy and Switzerland) would enjoy but I would also suspect that we would like to experience some of the out of the way "best kept secrets" if that is possible. Hope this gives a little more of an idea to help some of the great travelers out there to offer suggestions. I think the place that we are considering staying in Wengen is called the Chalet Luna.

I live in southern piedmont so I'm a little biased if I say that's one place you have to go.

Why, you'll say.
Well: first of all we're the home of slow food, and that says it all. Truffles, hazelnuts, fabulous wines, ...
There are a lot of farmers where you can buy food and then prepare it yourself (if you stay in a house of apartment).
In the enoteca's you can go for a degustation of wines and cheeses (the robiola is worldfamous)

If you like walking / cycling / horse riding, there are a lot of opportunities.
Those who want to visit cities can go to tipically Italian places like Acqui Terme, Alba, Asti...
And for a swim there are lakes, and of course, the sea is only 45 minutes away !

This region isn't overwelmed with tourists yet, but we see it grow every year ...

Our trip is beginning to take some shape now. The first 7-8 days is going to be in Italy. Each couple is taking an area that we want to visit while we are there. One couple is in charge of Rome and surrounding area, another couple are researching Sienna. Any suggestions on "definite tings to do there" would be helpful. The entire group enjoys hiking, museums/art, and great meals and wine!
My charge is to plan some options for the area of Cinque Terra. Any thoughts/suggestions on activites, places to stay, eat, etc. would be appreciated. I will check back later.

In 7-8 days you can realistically only visit 2 areas in Italy. I took a group of 7 people to Italy in Sept 2007 and I underestimated how long everything took - from getting up and ready in the morning to travelling. You will likely be jetlagged so the first day isnt really a whole day plus you are dealing with flights landing and airport transit etc.

Estimate more than 1/2 a day to change locations. Will you be driving once you leave Rome?

We did 1 week Rome, 1 week Positano and 1 week Tuscany.

Hope this helps.

i resist formulas for Italian travel, but since I live near le Cinque Terre, I find it hard to envision this group of 8-10 people who love wine and beer getting much out of brief visit here. Liguria is infamous for having perhaps the worst wine production in Italy, and beer is not Italy's strong suit. Do you all like pesto and anchovies and other fish? That's basically what we eat here.

How were you thinking of traveling here? It is not easy to manuever a vehicle big enough for 10 people and their luggage on these mountainous switchback roads, nor is it easy to find parking for 3 or 4 cars.

To me it sounds like your group could have a marvelous Italian visit if you flew into Rome and stayed a couple of days, and then got yourselves into the Maremma part of Tuscany at a nice agriturismo and did a lot of hiking. You should do some web research about the Maremma and see if it appeals to you.

I'm with zeppole!

Personally, if you could work in a trip out of Italy from Tirano into Switzerland on the Bernina Express I think you'd be forever thanking yourselves..and you can easily do it by rail from LAKE Como (Varenna has the rail station). It is a spectacular trip and a very nice introduction to Switzerland. Rail connections from the usual endpoint at Chur are easy to do also.

Why are you considering Rome and Tuscany--you need to stay in north Italy. See above--that is a full trip for your time. Moving that crowd will not be easy--keep it simple.

I appreciate all the ideas/suggestions. I need to be a bit more definitive. All 8 of us will not be together all of the time during the trip portions in both Italy and Switzerland. We plan to meet as a group at a couple of places for dinner, hiking, etc. We will most likely do all of our travel by rail. When we need to travel by auto we plan to hire a driver/guide. Is that unrealistic?
So do most of you feel that trying to do Rome, Sienna, and Cinque Terra over a 8-9 day period is too much? I did not realize that the region where CT is not known for wine....foolish of me to assume that all of Italy was great for wine. Like I have said.....I am a novice at travel overseas....that is why I am asking for helpful suggestions.

Tell us arrival point, departure point, how many days, how many people. You are much too open now. Should we assume Rome and Zurich for flights. Tell us more !

Most likely will be flying into Rome (at least one of the other couples will be with us while in Rome and surrounding area) and out of Zurich. Trip right now is going to be 14 days but if I can I may try to add an additional 3-4 days. We want to spend a minimum of 2 nights at each point in Italy we stay (since the feeling is we will lose 1/2 day with each time we check out/in. Would like to do most of our travel by rail but are open to getting a car (drive ourselves) if need to. We just want to, as I am sure that everyone else wants to, make this the trip of a lifetime. I want to see some of the "famous" sights in Italy but would really prefer strolling through a market in a smaller village, eating great Italian cooking, as well as visiting wineries and tasting the most popular wines.
Thanks for being helpful bobthenavigator.