Euro trip itinerary advice

What is "Frieberg"?

You say you are an art teacher -- will you be visiting museums ? I loved the Chagall museum in Nice, plus many Monets in Paris.
Any reason for basing in Interlaken instead of Lauterbrennen ?? As you noted, it's a short train ride and many people prefer being in the mountains rather than on the lakes.
You have indicated the length of train trips -- make sure you also look at number of changes/connections on each trip.

What is "Frieberg"?

probably a typo for "Freiberg"

Verdon Gorge wouldn't get a mention in USA-- Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and a trivial ditch in PA whose name I can't recall because who cares? But the depressing PA depression looks just like Verdon Gorge. Skip it. Extend your visit to Roman Provence (Nimes) to take in Arles, Orange, maybe Les Baux.

The #1 night in France is the Alsace plain, just across the river from Freiburg i. B. if that's your Freiberg. Given that, drop Switzerland. Take the high speed train Paris to Strasbourg, rent a car. Visit Strasbourg, Colmar & the route de Vin Alsace. Maybe some Black Forest from Freiburg

Sorry, I forgot to fix it to Freiburg im Breisgau.

Sounds like we will be skipping Verdon Gorge.

Also, we will probably skip along to Lauterbrunnen after a day in Interlaken to stay.

I love museums, being an art teacher, but my husband gets bored looking at art....I have my list of must see artwork for each place and have kept it minimal for his sake.

Thank you so much for all your responses so far!

Skip Interlaken since it's just a transportation nexus. The real attraction is the Bernese alps to the south in the Lauterbrunnen valley. Stay in Lauterbrunnen on the valley floor or up in one of the car-free villages such as Wengen, Murren, or Gimmelwald.

I'd skip Zurich as well. Luzern is much more interesting and scenic. It also has a direct rail connection to the Zurich airport. Train leaves every 30 minutes and takes 70 minutes to get there.

And I would not arrive-and-drive on your first day in Nice. You'll be jet-lagged. It's dangerous to drive in that condition.

FastEddie is right. Skip Interlaken and stay in Lauterbrunnen (or Murren or Wengen or Grindelwald).
Since you enjoy hiking, click on my name to find a link to our dozen favorite hikes in the Lauterbrunnen area.

I missed that you are an art teacher in my first post, so, as for art. One of the best museums in the EU is the Unterlingen (sp?) in Colmar (Alsace, the #1 sight in France) because it is small and has an eclectic collection of outstanding pieces. If you want to see French impressionism, no museum in France comes close to Washington DC's National Gallery of Art & Phillip's Gallery, the Met, the Chicago Art Institute, or Philadelphia's Barnes Collection. The reason is that by the early 20th C (the heyday of impressionism), rich Americans had most of the money in the world. In 1920, the rich American Duncan Philips bought a Renoir in Paris for the then ungodly sum of $125,000 which he hung on the wall under the stairs beside the fireplace in his parlor. Many "experts" in such matters maintain that should that Renoir and the Mona Lisa come on the market, the Renoir would sell for way more.

In Paris, the Jeux de Palm has a large collection of second and third rate impressionist art. The Monet Museum has a large collection of late Monet's, a style bearing little resemblance to what Monet is famous for.

Rather arbitrarily defining the Alps as a mountain arch from Nice to Vienna, its 1,200 km (~ 750 miles). We have driven it, and I cannot recommend what you want to do. Because of the iffy weather in the Alps, as others have also noted, what are you going to do with your tight schedule if it rains or clouds cut off the view of a 9,000 ft high mountain at 500 ft? We always plan dual, parallel itineraries fro Alpine trips, one in the mountains and one for bad weather. Pulling this off requires a lot of flexibility and no tight schedules and you don't have it.

Somebody wisely pointed out the problem of jet lag. As this is your first trip over many time zones, you have no idea how miserable jet lag will make you feel for several days. Some tips: on arriving in EU, do not take a nap. Stay out of bed until at least 9:00pm local time. Take No-Doze to stay awake (I find that 200 mg of caffeine (No-Doze) lasts for 4 hours. My wife, a coffee drinker says 200mgof caffeine has no effect. ).

So, start in Paris. You need some recovery time before driving.

Your posts have a bit of a mixed message-- "love France") or see Europe. Here's an all France trip (+Freiburg): Paris--Alsace/Freiburg-- Annecy to Grenoble at the edge of the french Alps. If good weather, drive into the Alps (MT Blank or Megeve) , bad weather, visit the cites (Annecy, Aix les Bains, Chambray, Grenoble)-- Nimes-- Paris. The French Alps are every bit as spectacular as the Swiss Alps and the food is way better.

Here's a trip to Europe: Paris-- car to Trier/Mosel Valley (Germany)-- Rhine Valley to Alsace/Freiburg-- Nimes-- Paris.

rt Paris should save you a few hundred $$ on air fare compared to an open jaw route.

Skipping the analysis of the globalization of the market for named French wines, the bottom line is this: The best wine you will find on this trip is in Germany (Mosel/Rhine); the best beer in France unless you are fond of dunkle bier. I've got to tell you our favorite wine story. In 1978, we bought 21 cases of our favorite wine, a 1976 Grand Cru Burgundy of superb reputation for $20-30 a bottle, inflation adjusted to today's prices. Last time I looked-- last year-- the cheapest price I could find for the current vintage-- 2015-- was $3,800 per bottle. Wish we had kept a couple cases of the '76, and that's why you should drink German (or Italian or Spanish) wine in Europe..

Do not let anybody talk you into spending more time in Paris, the most overrated tourist sight in the world. We long ago realized that (regrettably having wasted 21 days is Paris), and some Paris lover took issue with my pointing out the truth about Paris a in another post a few days ago, pointing out that Paris was the most visited place in the world. So what? Do you praise the lemmings for running off the cliff? And just yesterday I came across the counter popular vote. An airline surveyed passengers returning from the EU and asked them if they did anything on their trip that they regretted. Paris is the World's #1 most regretted tourist destination, and the Mona Lisa is the most regretted sight in Paris. Yes, lots of people fall for the lemmings path and go to Paris and then-- too late and at great expense-- they learn it was a bad idea. BTW Eiffel Tower was the #2 dumbest sight in Paris.

Notes on driving in EU. Its the best way to go outside the big cities. We have driven more than 30,000 miles in France. That took over 200 days. Figure 150-200 miles a day + lunch + sight seeing along the way. 150 miles per day to see most Michelin recommended sights, 200 for only the top sights.

Michelin Guides and maps are essential for motor sight seeing in EU. Michelin makes tiers. About100 years ago, Michelin realized that the way to sell more tires was to get people to drive more, and the way Michelin that was by inventing motor car sight seeing. The Red Guide tells tourists where to stay and where to eat. The Green Guides tell motorists where to go and what to see, and both are essential for a successful EU road trip.
Michelin rates recommend sights from 0-3 **. Lauterbrunnen rates **. So does the Oratory at Chazelet in the French Alps. Never heard of that did you? But it rates as highly as the best of the Swiss Alps. I have a 430 page EU Michelin Road Atlas, and it doesn't show the Oratory, but the Green Guide, Alps, and my 1:200,000 Michelin map does. Can you get there by public transport? Yes. There is one bus a day on two days of the week. That's why you must see EU by car, and to do that, you must use Michelin.
Driving is the best way to see Europe and driving Europe requires Michelin.

For EU driving, everybody in your car must master intentional road signs and help with navigation. The French directional road sign system is remarkably rational once you figure it out. So is the different German system, the best road sign system in the world because it is so consistent.

Save your breath to cool your porridge, kb1942, No one will be convinced by your many posts condemning Paris and why should they be.