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Christmas itinerary in South Tyrol (Vipiteno/Merano/Bolzano) and Switzerland

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Hi Fellow travelers!
Always grateful for the good advice I receive on these fórums and wanted to ask about a Christmas trip I'll be taking with my mom (82 years Young) this year. She wants to have a "White christmas" so big mountains and charming villages with snow are the goal.

We will be visiting Austria, Italy and Switzerland. I'm wondering how this itinerary looks or if I should adjust the Number of nights?
December 21-23: Innsbruck (2 nights) and explore the christmas markets, visit Seefeld.
December 23-26: Vipiteno (3 nights) Explore the town and it's christmas markets and spend christmas in this festive Village. Visit Brixen in route to Merano.
December 26-29: Merano (4 nights) Use this as a base town to explore it and the surrounding towns (Bolzano, Ortisei)
December 29-January 2: Sils Maria, Engadin(4 nights) - day trip to St. Moritz
January 2-4: Glacier Express to Zermatt (2 nights)
January 4-6: Lake Lucern (2 nights)
January 7- Fly home from Zurich

I would welcome any feedback on the itinerary. This will mostly be a trip of visiting villages at a slow pace and enjoying the scenery/trains/cable cars along the way. Given my Mom's are, although active, this is not a ski trip (tho I would love to ski one day if I can). I have some Hotels booked but they are cancellable so welcome any feedback on places or areas to stay also (although many things are already booked up!!)

Many thanks for any help/feedback.
Jeanna

Posted by
1008 posts

Only two thoughts: 1) Moving 6 times in 17 days would not be relaxing for us, and it takes a lot of time away from other activities. 2) Merano is 45 minutes by train from Bolzano - but Ortisei is an hour by bus beyond Bolzano. That would be a long day trip and the days are short.

Posted by
1960 posts

Innsbruck has a beautiful Xmas market. I would spend the second day visiting the city (for example, the Hofburg palace, almost as beautiful as the Vienna one but much smaller), IMHO Seefeld does not add much.
There is more to see in Innsbruck than in Vipiteno, but you could take advantage of the direct railway link and visit Brixen from Vipiteno. Of course, Dec. 25th and 26th are almost lost days as everything will be closed (reserve restaurant), but maybe the 25th December High Mass at 10am in Brixen Cathedral may be something to attend. I would expect full choir and orchestra for that service.
Merano is not a base for Ortisei. Almost two hours travel
Be sure to understand how you get from Merano to Sils Maria; this involves multiple switching between buses and trains.

As a general rule, consider that temperatures will be on low side, so do not plan too many outdoor activities and be ready to substitute indoor ones if necessary. This is why Innsbruck is better than Seefeld, and this is why I am perplexed about the multiple switching between train and buses for getting to Sils-Maria. This also considering your old mother.

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