My husband and I are looking to take a trip to northern Italy, Austria, Switzerland, or, maybe Germany, as I’ve been reading, this summer! We plan to leave the end of June to the beginning of July, and we will have about eight days. We’ve used many of rRcks books over the years as we used to live in Germany, but we have never been to the dolomites, Innsbruck, etc. I’m looking for guidance on where to fly in and how to structure our time. We don’t have to visit all three of those countries, but that’s the general area that we are looking at! Any feedback on where to find, places to base out of, and itineraries of days would be greatly appreciated!
Posted by
Los Angeles, CA
527 posts
You can probably do a whirlwind tour. (Some people spend a week in the Dolomites alone.) I would suggest a loop. Not sure where you are arriving but assuming Munich, it's an hour to Salzburg, 2 hours to Innsbruck, another 1-2 hours to Bolzano. Spend the night there, and do a day trip to Ortisei for a day at the most famous of the Dolomites. There is a 1 hour bus from Bolzano to Ortisei. From there we greatly enjoyed a day in Merano an hour away. There are several ways to go back up to Switzerland - maybe from Merano, or go down to Verona, over toward Milan, and then up through Como toward Bern, or from Milan through Stresa to Visp then Interlaken for a nice day or two in Lauterbrunen valley. Then up to Bern or Zurich. then maybe St Gallen / Schauffhausen, then back to Munich. You could also divert over to Vienna and go down to Graz then over. There are a lot of options but any way you cut it, you'lll be hitting the train almost every day.
Recently we spent a full two weeks from Vienna to Salzburg to Zell Am See to Innsbruck to Bolzano to Venice to Triest to Ljubljana to Lake Bled to Klagenfurt to Graz back to Vienna.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16385 posts
It looks like the Dolomites and Innsbruck are the focus of your travel goals. It is time-consuming to travel between Switzerland and the Dolomites, so with your limited time I suggest you skip Switzerland entirely. The best airports for access to the Dolomites are Venice and Munich, and possibly Innsbruck (but there are few flights there). Milan can also work if flights there are significantly cheaper. Look at flights to these airports from your home base and also at the train connections to Bolzano, gateway to the Dolomites (where you catch the bus into the mountain villages). Then you can make an informed choice that works for you.
Posted by
7688 posts
ONLY 8 days, CUT some travel and enjoy where you visit.
Posted by
4452 posts
Flights are expensive this year, and with 8 days, flight schedule is a big deal! Start by searching all of your options to see what works for your budget and travel dreams. I would definitely scale back. Any of those would make a great week-long trip, or perhaps two contiguous countries, for example into Zurich and out of Milan would work, but it is still very tight.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16385 posts
There is no reason to fly into Zurich unless you are spending time seeing Switzerland, in which case you will not have time to see the Dolomites. It takes a long time to move from the most popular part of Switzerland ( the Berner Oberland) to the Dolomites— like 7.5 to 9 hours just to reach Bolzano, where you transfer to a bus for another hour or more to reach the mountain villages.
For comparison, Munich to Bolzano is a journey of less than 4 hours, by direct train (no changes). Or you can stop in Innsbruck as it is right on the way.
Milan to Bolzano can be as little as 3 hours if you choose the right route.
Posted by
358 posts
I have found that flying into Zurich from RDU is usually cheaper than flying into Rome or Milan.
Since a train from Zurich to Milan is around 3 hours and scenic, I consider that a great deal.
Possible even less if flying from Boston or Newark.