Italy/Croatia/Switzerland/France

A few thoughts...

First, start by being honest with yourself about how many full days you have in Europe, not counting your arrival or departure days (I assume you are coming from Australia - a long haul flight which may leave you kind of wiped out on arrival, even if you are young and resilient). Also consider that you always lose a bunch of time each time you change locations. But not all location changes are equal - taking a train for a short hop between city centers may only cost you 5 or 6 hours (it always takes time to uproot yourself, get to the train, wait around, ride, get oriented on arrival, check in etc., always longer than I expect) - it eats up a lot of time. But if you are flying (or in some cases taking a ferry) you will burn even more time - often pretty much the whole day. At best, I figure you lose half a day anytime you move.

So, that said, the one thing that seems out of place is Launterbrunnen. You're gonna fly from Split to Geneva, then train to Launterbrunnen - sounds like a very full day to me. Then depart Launterbrunnen to Paris...again, burning a whole day. If it were me, I'd lose Launterbrunnen and give coastal Croatia another day or two, and maybe add a day in Venice.

I know, lots of good stuff, it's painful to cut anything. It'll still be there next time...

I really like the first plan with Venice.
Yes, a 3rd night in Venicewould be good, perhaps taken from Florence if you are looking forward to down time on Cinque Terre.

You already know that the itinerary is way too rushed and you will spend most of your time travelling, rather than visiting places, so what advice are you seeking? Your itineraries are very similar, so pick which works best for you.

I just returned home last night after 7 nights in Venice. I would say it's a waste of time to go there just for 1 full day, but those comments also hold for Dubrovnik and Split. CT seems more popular with contributers to this forum than with the rest of the world. To most, it's been ruined by the number of tourists etc.

When my brother returns to the UK from Perth, it takes him more than a week for his sleep to catch up and get over his jetlag. You aren't going to get much opportunity for this with your current schedule.

Are you by chance a Couchsurfer?

If so, I can give you a few recommendations for hosts in Italy. My CS profile name is Vagabond_Sue. Send me a message!

Also - www.seat61.com will give you ALL the info you need on train travel in Europe. It's the best travel site I've seen and I use it constantly (I live in Ireland, now).

Susan

I don't think your itinerary is too rushed, but clearly has uneven spots. I would give more time to Venice, whether a day needs to come from Rome, or Florence, or skipping Lake Como. You already have plenty of walking and relaxation in the Cinque Terre and Venice provides a much greater change of scene than Lake Como, as well as art and history. Dubrovnik is somewhat inconvenient to reach, so I'd consider that you may not return there any time soon. Yes, it will take much of the day to reach Lauterbrunnen, but then you have four nights there, which is fine.

Thanks for all the above advice.

I've had a rejig, and whilst I thought I'd have time for Paris, I've taken it out and it has given me more time to add across everywhere else, and like Rick says, plan like you will be coming back. With this new plan, I'm jumping countries, but it makes sense for dates to work. Ideally I would put Lake Como in between CT and Switzerland to break it up, but it doesn't work with dates, and I can fly out of Milan, so I've left that to the end. I think it will be about a 9 hour train trip with a few changes, but I'm happy with a full day of travel as I think the train will be scenic and I'm staying long enough to warrant it (or would I be best to fly possibly Genoa to Geneva, or Pisa to Geneva then train but I think that would prob talk just as long if not longer). I would be interested in your thoughts on the new plan. Also leaving Sydney in mid June this year.

Fly Syd to Rome -- 5 nights
bus tour of Amalfi Coast - 3 nights
train to Florence - 5 nights
train to Manarola - 4 nights
trains to Launterbrunnen - 4 nights
train to Geneva - 2 nights (full day organised tour of Geneva and Annecy (my French fix) on full day here, then fly out very early )
fly (very cheap, budget flight with Easy Jet) to Split - 2 nights (I want visit Plitvice Lakes on my full day and this is where my cruise goes from)
Sail Croatia Explorer Cruise Split return - 7 nights
bus to Dubrovnik - 3 nights
fly (very cheap, budget flight with Volotea) to Venice - 3 nights
train then ferry to Mennagio - 3 nights
train to Milan and Fly home from Milan

Thanks in advance

Are you leaving for the airport on your last day from Menaggio or spending your last night in Milan?

What time is your flight home?

You seem to always add an extra "n" in Lauterbrunnen (might help to spell correctly when looking at schedules on-line).

It isn't a simple train connection from wherever you will be to Florence. It is easy(ish) when you know the layout and what you are doing. Do you, or do you need help there?

Thanks Nigel. I'm yet to purchase my flights over and back, as up until now I was flying back from Paris. But this looks like close to my final plan so I'll be looking at flight times. If I need to I'll stay in Milan the night before if not I'll travel from Como.

Thanks for the heads up with Lauterbrunnen. Most sights self correct or are predictive, the world we live in today!

I'm not worried about the train connection from Amalfi to Florence as the Amalfi Coast tour I've booked picks up and drops off in Rome, so it should be an easy high speed train Rome>Florence. The trip from CT to Lauterbrunnen looks really complicated though. Best times I could find was just over 7 hours, with 5 changes, one being 2 mins in between. To me that seems like a lot of ways to go wrong, and may opt for a slightly longer journey with less changes.

Monterosso is your best CT location for ease of access. You have a number of direct trains from here to Milan for connection to Spiez and further connection to Interlaken for Lauterbrunnen. All up just 3 train changes, and as little as 7.5 hours.

You may like to have a bad weather plan for Switzerland. You could possibly delay your arrival in Lauterbrunnen a day, and overnight in Bern. Or if the weather turns, you may decide to depart Lauterbrunnen a day early and overnight in Lausanne. The Alps can be fickle.

Brooke -

URGENT!
In case you're considering a visit to the Cinque Terre while at the coast, the Italian government just announced a ticket system to go there! Check it out asap if those lovely villages are on the list - something Rick Steves always talks highly of!

Susan

Thanks so much, I'll keep looking into the ticket system!! I opted for Porto Venere as I found what looks like a great hostel for really cheap for 4 nights. Hopeully I odn't regret not staying in CT.