We are wanting to stay for 12 days and are torn on countries as this is first trip for everyone but me. We definitely want to see/hike the Swiss Alps and want to experience the countryside of Switzerland but also want to get some touring in as we have a few history buffs in the family. One child wants to see Paris, husband wants to see London and think we can all agree on Italy but not sure where in Italy...I've been to Florence (LOVED!), Tuscany region and Rome. I would love to see Cinque Terre and some of the Italian coast but we definitely want to see a big city on our trip (London, Paris, Rome?) Not sure the best itinerary and am hoping that those on this forum who have traveled Europe a lot can help. Don't want to cram too much in but want to see both mountains, country and big city. Would appreciate any info you can provide. Also, would appreciate airport suggestions for flying in and out of....We don't plan to rent a car but rather can take the train (or fly) to locations. I do realize we can't see Switzerland, Italy, Paris and London so am hoping that you can help narrow a trip down to 2-3 countries and what to do. I know Switzerland is pricey so we don't want to spend a tremendous amount of time there but def want to see it's beauty.
Posted by
Chicago
8016 posts
Fly into London and out of Geneva or Zurich; I would skip Italy this trip; that is too much time on public transportation. You lose time and energy on travel days getting from point A to B checking in and out of hotels.
3 days in London
Take the Eurostar from London to Paris
3 days in Paris
Take the train or fly to Basel or Zurich
4 days in Switzerland (stay in Luzern or Lauterbrunnen where you can access all the little Alpine towns like Murren or Gimmelwald and surrounding mountains).
Posted by
Charleston & Birmingham
4442 posts
You could cut down on time wasted in travel even more by just doing London and Switzerland. Plenty of flight options from Heathrow. 3 days is too small amount of time in London for history buffs and with 6 days in London, you could do a day trip to Bath or Dover or Salisbury/Stonehenge. London has plenty of things to interest children-if they are Harry Potter fans, go to Warner Brothers studio at Leavesden.
Posted by
Florida
1443 posts
Yes, start in London. It is the least scary place culturally for first-timers. For the Swiss alps/countryside thing, consider Wengen, Murren, Lauterbrunnen, or Gimmelwald. They are all pretty close together and in the alps. Fly home from Zurich. Skip Italy this time.
Posted by
1224 posts
With just 12 days my recommendation would be to do just London and surrounds. You can get lots of walking, scenery in along the cliffs, and tons of history.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16744 posts
I read your post as saying the Swiss Alps are first on the list and the focus of the trip, but you want to include a large city and some history, and everyone would like to see Italy. I think it is possible to do a sort of "sampler" trip of three areas to fit those in (but not Paris). Something like this:
Fly into London and spend 3-4 nights there. Plenty of history to explore, and lots more, although in three days you will not see it all. (We spend three weeks there last year and did not see it all).
Then fly to Zurich (budget one-way flight) and take the train straight to the Berner Oberland. We like Mürren as our home base in this area but Wengen is nice too. GImmelwald if you want the quintessential "Rick Steves experience", but youncan walk there from Mürren in 20 minutes if you just want to see it.
Day 8 take the train to Luzern, a lovely city on a lake, and spend one night.
The next day catch the direct Intercity train to Milan, transfer to a regional train for the one-hour ride to Varenna on Lake Como. Or you could take a slightly longer ride and end up in Verona or Venice, if you want more city instead of more nature.
If Varenna, you would spend your last night in Milan and fly home from there. If Verona or Venice, fly home from Venice.
Posted by
Germany
1117 posts
For only twelve days, I'd really limit myself to one country, or add mayby one nearby destination in a neighboring country (like Italy or France, depending on where in Switzerland you are).
Also, it might be important to know if these twelve days really are full vacationing days, or are you counting arrival and departure days?
Posted by
228 posts
Setting aside the problem of time and cost for the moment, I would highly recommend anybody interested in history should visit Rome. Few places on Earth have preserved so much real antiquity. In fact, even though I love history myself, I suffered 'history overload' on my visit, though we had by that time done Milan, Florence and Pisa over the preceding two weeks.
One question though: is there a particular period that you're interested in? If there is, then of course you need to factor that into your plans. Obviously Roma is perfect if you're interested in the Roman Empire, but if your primary interest was earlier or later, somewhere else might be better. The UK would be great for folks interested in the industrial revolution for instance. If you were interested in the Norse peoples and/or the Viking era, then the UK is again a good place to go, especially the north and Scotland.
One of the real stopped-me-in-my-tracks moments was when I first saw Milan's Duomo 'in the flesh'. My own interest in history made the visit worthwhile, but I was unprepared for the gob-smacking revelation that the Duomo is when you look at it from the perspective of an engineering feat - as are all the big cathedrals. Quite how those people managed to construct such huge, complicated yet beautiful structures using only the basic technologies at their disposal beggars belief.