Itinerary Suggestion: Alsace vs. Italian Lakes

Both are lovely, but we would suggest Alsace. It is quite lovely and there is a lot to do. It is also very easy to get to from Basel. Where are you flying home from?

If you did some homework, you know that Strasbourg, Colmar, and all the charming villages and wine towns have a lot to offer. You can easily fill four days. Depending on where you stay, you can also easily take a train over to Gengenbach, Germany from Strasbourg or hit up the springs in Baden Baden. You have so many options. Since you will have spent time on the water already, Alsace will offer you a lot of what you are looking for.

If you are flying home from Paris, I would look at Colmar for two nights and Paris for two (wish you could stay longer!)

If you’re flying home from Zurich or elsewhere in Switzerland, I would recommend spending three of those days (last night near the airport) in the Lauterbrunnen area - gorgeous hiking! We like to stay up in Wengen; others also like to stay in Murren.

I would only go to the Italian lakes - Como or Maggiore, if you are flying home from Malpensa (Milan).

Edit: Hmm, check whether the mountain hikes will still be too snowy in April, first.

You are so close to Alsace, I would really recommend the area. Be sure to research the area online. Since you have a car it will be much easier to visit some of the beautiful villages and wineries. If you are flying out of Paris, there are car rental places at the train station (I used Avis) and you can get a fast train to Paris.

I've ridden a bike around 1000k in Alsace in four visits in the past seven years. It's a great area for biking, hiking, wine and food. Bicycles are a great way to visit villages, riding through pretty vineyards from one to the next. And intense history! In the city of Colmar for instance you can look at buildings and know whether the Germans or French were in charge.

We like to rent an apartment in Alsace - the quality of food and wine and even the most ordinary grocery stores is very good. GC level Gerwurztraminer and excellent local Munster cheese at the Monoprix for instance. And the quality of food goes up from there, with lots of ready packaged local specialties and great bakeries.

Of course nothing wrong with the Italian Lakes either, and the drive or train ride there would be spectacular. No bad choice really :)

All excellent suggestions--thanks so much for your input! Currently our return flight options are open-ended, so we could fly home from the closest airport where we end up! If we decided to take the train from Basel to Milan and rent our car there, does anyone have experience with the train?

Hi Beth, yes, we’ve done that train route, although we were also staying at two locations along the way: in Wengen, and Stresa. Stresa is on Lake Maggiore - one of my favorites! So, you could explore it and then head to Milan by train - an hour ride.