Christmas/New years in Milan - Switzerland - Germany

Posted by vicky_z on 10/09/23 05:10 AM

Hi! Im planning a holiday for my parents (just turned 60)
They will be flying into milan on christmas day, and flying out of frankfurt germany on the 7th Jan which gives them 12 full days of sightseeing/travelling. They are hoping to visit milan, switzerland and germany - possibly austria for a day if there is time.
So far ive booked them
26 dec - milan day tour,
27 dec - lake como and bellagio day tour, and thats about it! They would have preferred to go with a tour group but none operate during the christmas break, i would love to hear of some suggestions on where they should visit/do. Nothing too adventurous, more scenic, relaxed and sightseeing - my dad loves history so any historical places would be great too.This is their first international holiday since the lockdowns so i want it to be amazing for them :)

Thanks so much!

Posted by travel4fun

Bend, Oregon

10/09/23 08:02 AM

2570 posts

Are they comfortable using the train? Hauling their own luggage? Have they been to Europe before? How long do they like to stay in each spot? Are they comfortable researching a city and finding things that interest them, or do they want someone to show them around?

My first thought is to swap Switzerland for Austria so they could take advantage of the Christmas markets that run through the end of the year, and some into January. Not sure if that would interest them. Salzburg would be a great place for that.

Posted by vicky_z OP

10/09/23 08:16 AM

2 posts

Yes they’ve been to Europe - but not northern Italy, Switzerland and Germany. Is Austria easy to get to, i thought they would stop at Switzerland.
Yes my dad loves trains lol so I’m wanting to book either the bernina or glacier express trains as I’ve heard they’re beautiful scenery.

They prefer to go with a tour so I’m thinking of booking day tours, staying maybe 2-3 nights in each city - I just don’t know which cities for them to stay in 😅

Posted by Sandancisco

Bay Area SF & Uppsala Sweden

10/09/23 09:11 AM

1038 posts

Hi there,

Where do your parents live & are they prepared for winter weather? This trip requires some clothing!! Rain proof walking shoes, rain coat, puffer coat, blah blah. Christmas week & the first week after NY will be busy everywhere, school holidays.
Make a plan for dinner December 31 & January 1, many places are closed from 24th noon or early afternoon onward until Dec 26th, and some won't reopen until Dec 27. Same with NYE & NY day.
Lake Como could easily be rained out with clouds over alps at that time of year - Why not a food tour to Bologna or GO to Bologna & stay a few days? Lots of history basically everywhere, but Milan is a big city so it wouldn't be my first choice.
Why go all the way to Frankfurt just out of curiosity? If it's a US carrier, you can rebook without change fee out of Munich, (MUC) smaller airport with decent connections back & hopefully a similar price, rather than spending a day traveling to FRA to stay near airport before departure. OR rebook to Dec 15th when there will be fewer crowds??
You mentioned they'd like to go on a tour, what about a Christmas market tour? Lots here about possibilities - https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/christmas-markets-3f017177-9157-430e-9f41-2fced79dd1c5
Geez, I forgot to add there are SO many lovely, historical towns within a few hours by train of Milan - Volterra is my absolute favorite, but Lucca comes up a lot as an under-appreciated beautiful historical town, Ferrara... Personally, I'm not going to try to "see" the Alps in late December, weather is too unpredictable.

How fun and isn't it great you're doing their trip planning!!