Good afternoon, everyone
We are traveling to Switzerland and Italy in May this year. We have the Swiss part situated but need thoughts on Italian part. We will have one week in Italy. We will enter Italy via train after visiting interlaken Switzerland and we will be leaving thru Rome at the end of the week. We do want to spend some time in Rome. Question is do we go straight to Rome from Switzerland or what City/Cities do you recommend stopping at.
Thank you for your time
Posted by
Idaho, USA
7882 posts
This trip report is a little dated, but the locations still would apply. We went from Wengen, Switzerland near Interlaken to Stresa, to Florence, to Siena, to Grosseto, to Rome. You could skip two of them.
By the way, I loved Stresa so much that I have returned two more times.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-switzerland-italy
Posted by
Idaho, USA
7882 posts
Just in case your Interlaken lodging is free cancellation, I would stay in Wengen or Murren or in the lower town, Lauterbrunnen. It is so gorgeous to maximize your time with those views!
Posted by
OP
21 posts
Thx Jean. Did you like Florence? I have heard different things - good and bad. Love the itinerary. Wasn't sure, but when did you go?
Posted by
Land of La
9264 posts
What bad things about Florence and from whom?
Merely curious. I’d return there in a nano second.
Posted by
OP
21 posts
Hi Claudia,
They said that there's a lot of homeless. I have never been there and looks amazing. I just had a friend say that she went there and love it too. She spent 3 days there and traveled to Tuscany for a day trip.
Posted by
Idaho, USA
7882 posts
Hi again, here’s how my adult daughter & I liked Florence in June 2022:
“ Florence – 2 nights: I booked a fantastic location for us at Relais Piazza Signora. Our room had the view of the outdoor statue of David and beautiful sunrises over the piazza. It also was extremely handy to be at the Uffizi Gallery for our timed entry.
I typically prefer to visit art galleries in smaller cities because they’re usually almost empty, and the art can be enjoyed as intended. I will admit I wasn’t looking forward to clambering with the crowd with their selfie shots at the Uffizi, but our daughter needed the chance to see it. Imagine the joy of discovering that we were so early that no one was in most of the rooms, and we really could gaze at these priceless works of art with no interruptions or noise! It wasn’t until we circled back as we finished to see the Venus we somehow missed that we met the wave of people coming down the hall.
Two other activities that we definitely recommend were a city bike tour with “I Bike Florence – Original City Bike Tour” and a cooking class, “Pasta Class Florence, The Art of Pasta – Authentic Recipes”. I have been to Florence a couple of times. The bike tour took us to some of the places I hadn’t seen previously, and it was an overall fun experience for both of us. We saw so much during the three hours! Our guide, Martina, was excellent with lots of info, too. The pasta class was excellent! Our chef taught us how to make three different filled pastas and three widths of straight pasta. He offered me a job after seeing my rectangle of pasta dough & shapes. Hmmm! ; ) (Probably from my experience of making lots of croissants after a class in Paris.) His sauces were wonderful – some new excitement added to traditional recipes. We will definitely be making these recipes at home!
Two places across the Ponte Vecchio bridge to recommend: I found my favorite Florence gelato shop again – Gelato Mancuso on Via Guicciardini, the main street up from the bridge. Also, we ate dinner at Trattoria Vasari – same street, closer to the bridge. The staff there were very nice, and we liked the meals and the desserts.”
Posted by
Idaho, USA
7882 posts
The trip report I linked was in 2014. The insert from my trip with my daughter was 2022. I’ve been to Italy 7 times.
Posted by
Gig Harbor, Washington, USA
1869 posts
Jean gave you good advice about Switzerland even if this is the Italy forum! We stayed in Lauterbrunnen a few years ago - from there you can go up to the Jungfrau one day, up to Schilthorn another day, take a cruise on one of the lakes in Interlaken the third day. Much better location than staying in Interlaken!
Posted by
Western Canada
3514 posts
Hi jh,
I’ve had 10 trips to Florence and will always go back as part of future trips.
I hope you will decide to make it part of yours!
Posted by
OP
21 posts
Hi Jean,
I can’t tell you how you have help us with our decision. I absolutely love all the items you and you daughter did. Thx for helping and adding all the details!! We have to post our trip when we return :)
Posted by
OP
21 posts
I want to thank everyone for your help and info. We have made a change from Interlaken to Grindelwald/ Lauterbrunnen. Thank you again