We are heading to Florence, Italy for family wedding mid-July.
The best flights I found are in/out of Zurich, so I am looking for some ideas of things to do in/around Zurich )the mountains) for a few days?
Also, any recommendations re: itinerary that might include Lake Como, Cinque Terre, before heading to Florence, and then travel back to Zurich? We have 10 days to travel and relax before needing to be in Florence.
Looking for help with itinerary and recommendations for travel and relaxation!
Thank you!
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16054 posts
Couldn’t you fly all the way to FLR?
Swiss flies to FLR from ZRH with 3 or 4 daily pairs. I’ve flown from SFO to FLR (Via ZRH) with Swiss a couple of times.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17427 posts
I replied on your other thread, in the Switzerland forum.
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8319 posts
You don't say where you're flying from.
We flew into London Gatwick and got a cheap EasyJet flight down to Pisa when last going to Florence. The train over to Florence was just 1 hour.
Those flying from the Northeast US Corridor (and Florida) can get to Gatwick really cheap on budget airlines.
We're flying from BNA to Madrid and home from Paris in May/June for $700 using a budget airline. That's a $1,000 savings over legacy U.S. air carriers.
Posted by
1 posts
Spend a day or two visiting Zurich proper and the lake. Take a train to Lucerne for a couple of days to see the city, boat ride on Lake Lucerne, visit Mount Pilatus. From there, take a train to Lake Como. Visit the town of Como, then ride either bus or boat from Como up to Bellagio. Visit Bellagio and nearby water front towns via water taxi. As an alternative, take the train from Zurich to Milan. The train ride through the Alps is, itself, worth the price of the airfare.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17427 posts
Be careful with a train ride “through the Alps”, as the direct trains from Zurich or Luzern to Milan do exactly that: they go literally through the mountains in a tunnel. The new Gotthard Basistunnel is very deep and very long, and you will not see any alpine scenery from there. The only train that actually goes over the Alps is the one using Bernina Pass to connect Pontresina with Tirano on the Italian border. There one can change to an Italian train for the 1.5-hour ride to Varenna on Lake Como.
An alternative would be to take a boat from Luzern to Fluelen, and pick up a train to Lugano there. This train, now called the Gotthard Panorama Express, uses the older Gotthard tunnel, which is not as deep nor as long as the new Basistunnel. One can still see some snowy peaks and hanging glaciers from the train before and after the tunnel. There also some interesting and shorter spiral tunnels on the way.
But I prefer the Bernina Pass route, especially to reach Varenna ( a worthy destination in its own right). You can ride the named Bernina Express train, or a regular regional train which is cheaper and more frequent. Same views.