Travel advice regarding Switzerland, Austria, Florence, Normandy, Giverny, Paris

Do yourself a favor and fly from Florence to Normandy. Train from Zurich to Salzburg: www.sbb.ch; train from Salzburg to Florence (really long journey, break it up somehow): www.oebb.at.

Do yourself another favor and don't get sucked into the railpass vortex. Point to point is better.

Thanks.
I have looked at several flight combinations from Florence or Pisa to Bayeux or Caen, but the costs seem prohibitive. Amazing how much the cost
of travel goes up from early April to later in April
I'm now looking at either flying from Florence/Pisa to Paris, Train to Bayeux or Overnight train from Milan to Paris and train to Bayeux in order to make timely connections.

The biggest concern I have is getting to the Paris St. Lazare station for rail trip to Caen and/or Bayeux, never having on the rail system in Paris.
Some Filghts go to Orly which seems to poise more of a problem getting to St. Lazare station.

Anyone got any suggestions/advise?

plan to visit Basel/Zurich for 2 full days (may eliminate Basel)

Unless you have been to Basel previously and have had your fill of that lovely well put together city; or if you have a special reason to visit the city of Swiss bankers, Zurich, you might reconsider that decision.

Basel is a really fun town, great transportation, fun moving art, a fabulous sense of humour, beautiful views, the river is great (but ?? in March), tasty market ...

I found Zurich a bit more modern and businesslike.

Some people prefer one, some the other.

Gare St Lazare is not particularly difficult to reach.

Appreciate the commments. Our interests are visiting museums, etc. in (maybe Basel --Basle?) and Zurich and Salzburg. We also like the music these cities are known for.

Having spent the last 2 weekends with 3 hours to kill between trains in Zurich, here's my 1/2 franc's worth.
The Landesmuseum is right across the street from the Hbf. It'll give you a quick overview of Swiss history from the stoneage to present. So if you are curious as to how a country of alpine cowherds morphed into the richest (or at least most expensive) nation in Europe, this place will provide a few hints.
The Kunsthaus has a good mix of the usual Italian, Flemish, impressionist and postimpressionist art, plus a good representation of Swiss artists you probably never heard of. There is a very good collection of Edvard Munch, (but not "The Scream").
Single ride transit tickets are 4.20 chf (almost 5 bucks), all day ticket twice that. Compare that to 1.37 euro for a single ride in Paris (when purchased as a carnet). Nonetheless, the trams and S-bahns are fast and frequent.

Michael:
Your desire to go from Basel to Salzburg to Florence to Normandy to Paris is very difficult to pull off via train. Distances via train are often a little deceiving in Europe, and you don't want to spend your trip in train stations.
I suggest skipping Basel and Zurich as they're not the Switzerland in the travel brochures. They're where they have bankers and high line pharmaceutical companies.
You can fly cheap on EasyJet Switzerland from Basel to Rome FCO and Venice Marco Polo. You could start your southern odyssey from either city, as trains are inexpensive, fast and frequent between all large Italian cities.
You could also fly cheap on EasyJet from Milan and Venice back over to Paris CDG to get into your Normandy part of your trip.

I recommend that you use the DB Bahn search (http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en) to get an idea of the train routes for the places you want to go and the time it will take to get there. You can't buy train tickets except for Germany on it, but you can certainly see a map of the routes, the number of train changes and everything else relevant to making decisions on this.

If music is your primary reason for going to Switzerland and Austria, you also need to be sure that you are going to be there at a time when you can take advantage of that. It would be a serious bummer to get there and find that concerts were sold out or not happening or not something you want to attend.

If museums are important, be sure to visit the Bayeux Tapestry (http://www.tapestry-bayeux.com/index.php?id=322) when you are there. Most people concentrate on WWII and Normandy, but 1066 is just as important to history as WWII, and seeing the tapestry with an English language headset is a great way to learn about it.

Giverny is a little difficult to get to, but well worth the effort. It usually opens around the 1st of April. You can get to Vernon by train but will have to walk, take a taxi or take the shuttle bus to the Gardens. Make sure you can leave your luggage at the train station in Vernon if you are going through there on the way to Paris.

Now, totally personal opinion here. I would skip Switzerland and/or Austria in favor of more time in Florence. Much to my surprise, of all the places we have been, my husband found that a week in Florence and visiting its environs was not enough.

Whether you take trains or fly internal European airlines, you must pack light. I say this because sometimes people who go on cruises, even river cruises, take way more luggage than they can handle on trains or than will be allowed on the small European airlines. If you pack a standard 22" carry-on and one smaller carry-on only, and keep the weight down, your should be able to manage your luggage yourselves in all the ways you will need to do that when you get off the boat.

Maybe finally and especially since you are from southern CA, expect the weather to be wet, windy, cold and possibly snowy wherever you are in late March and early April. Consider any sunny and dry days to be gifts. Also expect to walk on sandy, wet, unpaved terrain when touring Normandy.

Hi,

Getting to Gare St. Lazare can be done by taking the Metro or by a bus route. I stay at Gard du Nord; from there I take the metro or a bus to St Lazare. Where are you staying in Paris? Depending on the dep. time going from St Lazare to Bayeux could be direct or requires a transfer in Caen.

Thanks to all for the recommendations and discussion!

Based on your input, some more research, and more discussions with my wife, we are narrowing down the number of locations we are visiting which should help cut down on the cost and complexity of travel. and maximize the enjoyment of visiting each location.
We're now planning on traveling by train. We'll go from Basel to Salzburg, staying 3-4 full days, travel to Florence, staying 5-6 days, travel to Bayeux, staying 4-5 days, travel to Paris CDG with a stop in Giverny along the way ), and overnight at a hotel near CDG airport ( any recommendations anyone? ), then fly home.

We'd like to fly between many locations but there are some difficulties that appears will preclude us from doing so:
Although we travel by air in the U.S. and on International flights, it does not look like there is any way of doing the same with intra-Europe airlines that aren't cost-prohibitive and/or just not possible due to the European airlines carry-on restrictions. As flight carry-on items we have two small partially recessed back wheeled bags that match European carry-on requirements ( not spinners, which seem to be all the rage in the US ), a Bi-Pap machine, collapsable cane and a medicine bag containing prescriptions. We can get along fine with taking 2 checked wheeled suitcases. ( I've found that we can bungee cord the two carry-on bags onto the checked, wheeled bags's handles to move after flights and plan to do so between trains too ). I haven't seen anyone comment on problems with luggage, or this type of luggage on trains...anyone got advise on the above as potential problem?

My research so far indicates that we can take trains from Basel to Salzberg, Salzburg to Florence ( a long day) an overnighter to Paris from Milan, and trains to & from Bayeux from Paris. I've allowed at least 30 minutes for connecting trains in the same terminal and much more elsewhere.
Anyone see any major flaws with the above approach/suggest better solutions?
I'm also looking for recommendations for 2-3* hotels or B&Bs at each location with ground or 2nd floor accommodations. I considered looking at apartments in Florence & Bayeux, but like the approach of using B&Bs with helpful staff who can give advise regarding their area.

Thanks for all the comments. I too hope that there will be a separate forum just for Travel in the near future.

"I've found that we can bungee cord the two carry-on bags onto the checked, wheeled bags's handles to move after flights and plan to do so between trains too."

Are you saying that you are taking checked luggage in addition to the carry-on bags? We travel for a month each year with only the carry-ons. I have a 22" spinner, my husband has a Rick Steves convertible backpack. We each have messenger bags of different types. And he has a CPAP. We pack for a week plus a day and do laundry about once a week. According to your latest itinerary, you will be in most places long enough to do your laundry, or have it done for you, so if you coordinate well, you will not need to take anything more than that.

You may be able to pull those bungee corded bags along in the airport and train stations, but what are you going to do when you have to go up and down stairs with them? Or get them up the steps into the train? Or stow them on the train while you are traveling? Or get them out and off the train before it takes off again? Lugging that much stuff in any form will slow you down.

I know it is very difficult to consider cutting back, but try packing all you are going to take in the way you describe and getting it through a mall in your area. Go up and down the stairs with it. No cheating on the escalator or elevator. There may not be either available where you will need to drag your stuff around. And there certainly will be no one to help you with it. You each must be able to manage it yourself. And if there is anywhere in your area that has rough sidewalks that might simulate cobblestone streets, you should drag your stuff along them for several blocks, too.

We are 68 and 65 and have been traveling together this way for 5 years now. If we can do it, anyone can. I will say that we try to get lodging on the ground floor or with an elevator, but it is not often possible. It is not uncommon for the elevator to start on the 1st floor or end before the top floor, so you will want to check on that. And, I have yet to find a B&B that had rooms on the ground floor. The closest to that was several steps up from the sidewalk, and breakfast was served on the 1st floor, up some narrow stairs. Typically, breakfast is served on the ground floor and the rooms start on the 1st floor, so going up and down stairs is a given.

Don't wait to make your travel arrangements, train and hotel. Late April is expensive because most of Europe schools have 2 weeks off for the Easter holiday. Europeans also book early, so whatever seats are left on trains will go quickly soon.