Day Trip from Milan: Switzerland or Nice?

You say a day trip from Milan in your post title but you describe Lake Como in your post. The two locations are about an hour or so apart by train. Not sure in Lake Como you are talking about. Varenna? Como? Menaggio? Bellagio? If you are thinking about a day trip by train to Nice, your 2hr estimate is way short. In actuality, the train trip would take 6.0-7.0hrs one-way. It's an hour just to get to Milan Centrale where you would change trains, 2.5hrs to get to Genoa and another 2.5hrs to get to Nice. Bern is about 4.0-4.5hrs one-way. You can get to Interlaken Ost in Switzerland in about the same time as going to Bern. In about 4.0hrs, you can get to Venice. You might consider looking at a closer one-day trip. Bellagio, Lugano, Switzerland, Saronna or even Milan are samples of closer places. Good luck with your planning.

Dave, A bit more information would be helpful. For example, where will you be staying on Lago di Como? I'm not sure where you got the information on travel times to Monaco and Nice, but (for example) a trip from Varenna to Nice is about 7 hours with two changes (Milano Centrale and Ventimiglia). This is NOT practical for a day trip! A couple of possibilities you might consider for day / one night trips to Switzerland are either Locarno or Lugano (both are exceptionally beautiful cities IMO). For a trip to Locarno, you could travel to Domodossola and then take the scenic Cento Valli Railway. Preferably stay at least one night to enjoy the ambience in the main Piazza at night (and of course the restaurants). On the return trip, travel by boat to Stresa and then train back to Lago di Como (Stresa is only about an hour from Milan). If you'd prefer to travel by regular train, the trip from Varenna to Locarno is about 3 - 4 hours and Varenna to Lugano 2 - 3 hours. Happy travels!

James is correct. Need to look at a map. Nice is not a day trip from even Milan or Lake Como which is even further.

If you are in Como town, the trip to Luzern is easy. It is a beautiful small city on a lake and you would cross the Alps to get there. Some tunnels but some nice views too.

Thanks to everyone who responded. James, you are correct, I need some remedial work on my European geography! Frank, I'm studying that map this weekend. For those who suggested a day trip to the north (Luzern or Lugano) I am looking into that as well. And yes, James, as someone who lives just 7 hours from EPCOT, you are correct about my limited experience. Since this will be our first trip to Italy, I can use all the good suggestions you can provide. Thank you all and Happy New Year to each of you!

The Rick Steves' Italy guidebook has a section on "Transportation Connections" that will give you a good idea about travel options - one thing to consider is that some buses (for example) might run less frequently off-season (mid-October to mid-June.) Where you can easily day trip to does depend on where you're departing from on Lake Como. If you're interested, there is a travel group that meets in Atlanta the 3rd Saturday of the month. We're all enthusiastic travelers, appreciate the Rick Steves' philosophy of travel, and many of us post on this site. You're welcome to join us - we almost always have someone in the process of planning a a trip and you should get some good feedback and suggestions. I post a meeting announcement on this site about 1 week before our next meeting. We've been meeting at Panera on North Druid Hills but it's so busy that we are looking for an alternate location. Best wishes in your travel planning!