7days - Rome, Florence, Venice

From your other post in the Switzerland Forum, I thought you were giving up SW and only going to Italy, France & Amsterdam?

• Yes, trains from www.Trenitalia.com or www.italotreno.it. If you buy in advance you get a discount, but the tickets are non-ref. Passes do not make sense.

• Ditto to Interlaken. Actually, the trip is to Spiez via Milano if you are going to the Berner-Oberland. Please do not stay in Interlaken, go on to the Lauterbrunnen Valley where there is some charm. For this trip buy at www.Trenitalia.com. If you are traveling Venice (the station is Venezia Santa Lucia) to Spiez, you had best depart at 7:50 AM, connecting through Milano Centrale and arriving Spiez at 13:53. From there you transfer to Interlaken Ost and on to Lauterbrunnen or points beyond (Murren or Wengen for example).

• Use www.SBB.CH to plan how to get to Zurich.

As to what to see and do, no one can guess at your interests. I suggest you read a good guide (like Rick Steves' Italy as well as R.S. Switzerland) to get ideas for what appeals. Mr. Steves does an excellent job at explaining the Berner Oberland and hwo to navigate, hikes to take, etc. And in the Italy book he has such suggestions as a 1-day, 2-day or 3-day itinerary for each of your Italian destination.

Dear Laurel,

I wanted to keep Germany and Switzerland for the next time but it seems that my husband is really interested in going to Switzerland and visit Jungfrau. He is very reluctant to leave Switzerland out of the itinerary. Can we easily go from Lauterbrunnen Valley to Jungfrau? I will read the blogs on Italy to get more information :)

Thanks again Laurel :)

Yes, the Lauterbrunnen Valley is where you want to stay to see the Jungfrau and so much more. Wengen is even closer than Lauterbrunnen, but for various reasons, my spouse and i prefer to stay in the valley.

Lauterbrunnen is one of the easiest starting points to the Jungfrau. I'm in agreement with your husband. Switzerland is the highlight of our trip every year, although the Jungfrau is not the highlight. You speak of Lauterbrunnen which is a stunning village in the Swiss Alps. The other surrounding alpine villages (about 15-20 minutes from Lauterbrunnen) are in addition to Lauterbrunnen are the highlights of our Swiss trip. The villages are drop-dead gorgeous.

Unfortunately, your time is so short to include Switzerland and you're going to be selling Italy short.
If it's mountain scenery you're looking for, the Dolomites are 1 1/2 hours north of Venice and easily reached by rental car. And they're absolutely stunning in beauty.

When we're looking to travel The Alps, we find the Austrian Alps, including the Grossglockner High Alpine Highway, to be about as incredible as any place we've ever traveled (including Switzerland.) Tirol is also very easy to travel in, has great B&B's and is very well priced.

Hi Laurel, my husband just googled the place and was amazed by the beauty of this place. I think this is going to be the highlight of the trip for him :)

Hi Tim, Thanks for your message. Lauterbrunnen is beautiful! Do you suggest we would be able to visit other surrounding villages? Are they close and easily reachable? We are staying in Switzerland just for 3 days unfortunately. Thanks in advance

Hi David, couldn't agree more with you. But my husband really wants to visit Switzerland and it’s his birthday so I decided to squeeze it in. We are spending 7 days in Italy and then 3 in Switzerland. We will be going to Austria next year towards the end of March. I will definitely post again to seek your views for that trip too :)

Do you suggest we would be able to visit other surrounding villages? Are they close and easily reachable? We are staying in Switzerland just for 3 days unfortunately.

Hope that is 3 nights giving you two full days? One day in the area is chancy because if there is inclement weather you miss the scenery. You have to go through Wengen to get to the Jungfrau. Or you can stay in Wengen. If you go up to the Jungfrau early, you have the afternoon free to go elsewhere, like up to Muerren.

Hi Laurel, Yes we do have two full days. I will definitely try to keep the afternoon free to visit Muerren.

Hi All,

I got a very nice message, a day wise itinerary for Rome, but unfortunately i cant see it here in the forum but it is there in my email notification which is very strange! :
Day 1: Colosseum, Forum Romanum / Palatine / Circus Maximus, Emannuel 2 (all nearby each other) and in the evening relax at Spanish steps
Day 2: Vatican Museum + Saint Peter church + Castel Del Angelo
Day 3: Villa Borghese gardens and a museum (for instance GNAM)
Day 4: Some smaller attraction like Trevi fountain, Piazza Navonne, .. or go for a swim in one of the water parks

I would have discussed it over the forum but it is not reflecting here.

Hi Tom, Thanks for your message. We will be buying the tickets today itself. The suggestion to eat out rather than sitting down in restaurants is very useful. You are absolutely right, this is a very short trip and we will only be able to experience and see few highlights unfortunately!

Joshi, what to see in Rome/Florence/Venice is very much up to personal taste. I can do Italian churches (and I'm not religious) for days and days but they're not everyone's thing. Spend some time with a guidebook and start making a list of what looks interesting, then whittle down to what's possible with the time that you have (we can help.)

It would also help to know more exactly what your schedule is: for instance, does the 9th count as one of your three days in Rome, and what time do you arrive? You're going to have to work around days the Italian State Museums are closed (Mondays) and possibly Sunday in Rome when the Vatican Museums are closed.

Consider limiting eating out in sit down restaurants to save time for sightseeing.

I disagree. One of the great joys in Italy is a leisurely dinner, especially when one can sit outside. Lunches, yes, quick bite at a bar but you need to rest sometime too! Eat dinner late with the locals and enjoy the pleasant evenings!

Dear Kathy, Many thanks for responding. My husband and I have started to make a list of places and things we would prefer to do. We are going to have a short and crisp list as we don’t have a lot of time. Yes, 9th would count as one of the three days in Rome. We will arrive at 7:30am in the morning.

Tripti you might want to look up airfare on European domestic airline (easyjet, ryanair etc) before you decide whether to travel by train or plane. Planes save you time and are usually not that expensive if you plan well (and also depending on destination)

Dont waste your money in Zurich, it is a very bland city. (if you have a day to spare, then spend in a better city than Zurich). If I were you, I would spend my days in Switzerland in the Alps. Jungfrau joch area is beautiful and very expensive

Also unless you are a major art enthusiast, I would skip Florence. Rome and Venice should be enough. Instead of spending time in Florence, why dont you see the hill towns of tuscany or the italian riviera.

Ouch. We loved Florence but I do agree that, once you factor in arrival-day processes and travel time between Rome-Florence and Florence-Venice, just 2.5 days for Rome, 1.5 days for Florence and 1.5 days for Venice is pretty skimpy. Arrival day in Florence would also be a Monday (Sept 12) when all of the State Museums will be closed so they'd have to be crammed into the 13th.

Just to note, Joshi, that your third day in Rome is a Sunday and the Vatican Museum will be closed on that day. Something to consider if that's on your list? You'd need to do them on Saturday or get tickets to the Friday night opening, and you'd need to decide if you'll be too jet-lagged for that on arrival day. Colosseum/Palatine/Forum would have to be Sunday.