Europe: Italy & Switzerland Feb 2018

Day
1..Arrive Zurich. Train to Lucerne (4)
2..Day to Bern
3..Luzern, or Pilatus if it’s a clear day
4..Day to Zurich
5..Train to St Moritz (1)
6..Bernina Express via Tirano to Varenna - Lake Como (1)
7..Train via Milan to Turin (2)
8..Turin
9..Train to Florence (3)
10,11..Florence
12..Train to Venice (3)
13,14..Venice
15..Depart Venice

With a baby you won't want to be moving all the time and will need breaks! Switzerland is expensive but offers some unique opportunities for Winter Wandern, i.e., winter walking. They actually groom the trails for hiking. And it is more walking than hiking. Many locals take their babies in sleds on the trails. You can even rent them.

The best place I've seen for this is the Berner Oberland. The cute village of Mürren could be a good base for 4 or 5 nights. You can explore the area from Grindlewald to Wengen and Lauterbrunnen as well. Rick Steves' Switzerland book is an excellent starting place. We had 3 great days (4 nights) of Winter Wandern one year and could have stayed longer. You can fly into Zurich and immediately take a train to Lauterbrunnen and on to Mürren . One word of caution: it is a lot of transportation to get there including a narrow gauge railway for 20 minutes and a gondola-type lift. Staying in Lauterbrunnen might be better just because you do not have to transport all the baby gear along with luggage on those two final legs. (We always stay in Lauterbrunnen ourselves.) You can day trip to Bern if you get bored with the mountains. We like this area so much more than Luzern! If you do decide on Luzern, check what access and walking you would have to the mountains in the winter. We just found the hiking/walking much less inspiring than in the BO.

Zermatt is beautiful but even more expensive, especially in winter. I would skip it. Chamonix is hard to get to given the rest of your itinerary ideas. So from the Berner Oberland I would take the Golden Pass from Interlaken to Montreux. You would probably want to spend a night or two there as it is a longish train ride. You can go to Turin/Torino (great city and underappreciated!) from Montreux easily enough (4.5 hours), or stop in Milan and head toward Venice/Venezia or Florence/Firenze.

So maybe something like this:
- Arrive Zurich, train to Lauterbrunnen and stay there or Mürren for 4 nights
- Golden Pass to Montreux, 2 nights
- Train to Torino, 3 nights
- Train to Venezia or Firenze, 5 nights
- Fly out of Venezia or Firenze

That is 14 nights.

Hello Lauren. I think being at Italy in the winter is not enjoyable. The air is cold and wet, with gray clouds. Being at Switzerland would be fine in February.

Ah, but Carnevale will be going on from Jan 27 to February 13 in Venice. Good time to be there (if just a bit on the expensive side.)

Hello Lauren. I think being at Italy in the winter is not enjoyable. The air is cold and wet, with gray clouds. Being at Switzerland would be fine in February.

Ron - We lived in Italy for almost 5 years. Winters are great! Venezia can be cold and bleak, but also can have bright, sunny days. I've had two trips to Torino in winter and found it sunny and not-too-cold. Milano can be miserable, though, and the cute hill towns do not have much to offer in winter. My experience in Firenze is cold and wet, but perfect for museums because there are few tourists.