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14 days in Sept. - Switzerland plus how to connect either France vs Italy vs all 3?

We’re doing a one year anniversary trip in September this year. We for sure want to see Switzerland for sightseeing and light hiking plus ideally a more coastal region. I’ve also never been to France and would love to see part of it. At least explore the cuisine and some scenic areas. Also we’ve both never been to Lake Como. I’ve already been to cinque terre area and would prefer something new.

My ideal trip that would get everything I’d like to see would involve something like Lyon/Annecy to Switzerland to lake Como, down to Nice, but that might be a bit much.

Must haves:
- At least 5 nights Switzerland
- At least 3 nights in some coastal town or at least on the water somewhere. We don’t need beaches since we have a lot near us, but more for the atmosphere and scenery (mountains/hills by a shoreline in some capacity)

Strongly prefer:
- Seeing France in some capacity
- Everywhere by train/bus
- Some way to do a round trip flight in and out as one ways are almost double the price

In Switzerland we would probably spend 3-6 nights in interlaken and around 2 nights in Lucerne.

Outside of that, does it make sense to see Como? To connect with France before or after, it be better to start with Lyon/Annecy and pass through Geneva to start, or go down to Nice by a long train from Lake Como?

It seems a Switzerland and lake como trip would be fairly easy but trying to figure out how to connect France if feasible!

Also, if unable to do early-mid September, is late September or late August a better time to start the trip?

Thanks!

Posted by
10382 posts

You don't need to buy two one-way tickets to fly into one city and out of another. Most people buy what are called “open-jaw” tickets, which you can find on any booking engine or airline site by choosing “multi-city.”

The multi-city / open jaw ticket may be a bit more expensive than a round trip in and out of one city, but if you buy a round-trip ticket in and out of the same city, you also have to spend time and money getting back to your origin city. So you also have to account for those when considering total price.

Posted by
914 posts

Lyon (3 nights) to Mt Blanc tunnel to Aosta in Italy to Lake Como (1 travel day 3 nights) to Lucerne over the old Gotthard Pass rail line (3 nights - enjoy the Lake steamer) to Geneva (3 nights) to Lyon. Or begin in Geneva or Zurich on that circle and head either direction. Enjoy the Lake of Lucerne (mountains) or Lake Geneva (wineries) for your watery days in a lakeside abode. Or, begin in Lyon/Geneva and end in Zurich. Interlaken is more a transportation nexus than a great scenic opportunity for me (but perhaps not for others). Have fun. Skip Nice.

Posted by
155 posts

As a very rough cut, you could fly into Nice for 3 nights on the water there, train 5 hrs to Lyon for 2 nights, train 6 hrs. to Murren (or Lauterbrunnen) for 5 nights, train 7 hrs. to Varenna on Lake Como for 3 nights, train 1 hr. to Milan to be there the night before you fly home. Others will refine this, as will your own research. Notes: check prices and feasibility of flying into Marseille or even Paris since you won't get a direct flight to Nice anyway. Another: the train trip from Lyon to Murren would have stops and likely changes in Geneva and Bern, so if you wanted to stop off in one of those instead of taking such a long train trip, you could. If you want smaller towns, you could work to find somewhere close to these destinations. Hopefully this will get you started thinking in a good direction.

Posted by
488 posts

We just had a three week trip to Switzerland and France in September 2024. Our goal was to spend time in the Jungfrau region and also explore the Alsace region of France. We chose to travel by train, bus, and ferry…and it worked well.

We looked into open jaw flights into Zurich and out of Paris, and ultimately decided that flying round trip through Iceland and to Zurich was the best bet for us. We didn’t stay over in Iceland, although we could have…we were traveling carry on only, and we decided to plan a later trip to Iceland (w/rain gear+warmer layers) and really spend our time there in a future dedicated trip.

Surprisingly, this plan saved us a ton of money, nearly the value of a whole RT ticket from DTW-Zurich. Our Icelandair experience was good.

In brief, here is our itinerary, that might meet your wishes:
Zurich-> Iseltwald 2 nights on gorgeous Lake Brienz, with a day at Giessbach Falls via ferry…loved the picturesque quiet setting to get over jet lag.
Iseltwald -> Interlaken via ferry, then train to Lauterbrunnen and up to Mürren (car free, 5,000 ft. up in mountains)
Mürren for a week+, exploring so much of the spectacular region with cable cars, trains, gondolas, funiculars…LOVED it!
Mürren->Basel ->Colmar, France traveling by train
Colmar for a week, exploring the Route du Vin and many charming villages via Kutzig bus and a guided tour
Day trip via train to Strasbourg, different day saw Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg
Colmar->Basel->Bern for 2 nights
Bern->Zurich Train station at airport the day of flight
Zurich->Iceland->home

Lake Como is really beautiful, too, and we went there a year ago. I just wanted to highlight Lake Brienz as an alternative if you choose to stay in Switzerland. It was beautiful in the rain, and extraordinary in the sunshine. :-)

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

Laurie