Honeymoon help? - Italy and Switzerland

Is anything booked?
I would take a long hard look at travel time and decide if you want to waste any time moving about on your honeymoon. Switzerland is lovely to be sure, but Italy has no shortage of mountains or pretty nature. Both countries have such an abundance of attractions, I would save Switzerland for an anniversary trip and choose one last destination in Italy, whether in the mountains or not.
But if you do decide to squeeze it in, you can fly out of Zurich and stay in Lucerne if your flight is around noon or later; for an early morning flight, I would stay closer to the airport, no matter how efficient Swiss trains are!
Swiss train company is SBB, Italian is Trenitalia and Italotren.

You could take the scenic Bernini Express from Tirano, Italy, north to Chur or Pontressina, spend the night, then proceed to the Berner Oberland, and/ or to Lucerne. If you don't make it to the BO, you can experience the summit of Mt Rigi from Lucerne for that alpine experience . I have been to Mt Rigi in December and it was a fantastic experience of fresh powdery snow above the tree line. And if your flight out of Zurich isn't too early, you can stay in Lucerne the night before, as it's an easy one hour train to the airport.
Have a wonderful trip and you have many great choices between these beautiful countries.
Safe travels!

hey hey sinram
you are moving around too much and spending time in a train watching the towns and winds go by. where are you traveling from, another european county, Canada, or USA? how do you with jet-lag, cuz it's real to many people
always remember count nights, your flight arrivals and departures may affect your check in (usually 3-4pm) and check out is 10-11am). people have booked an extra day either before or after. usually hotels will hold luggage instead of lugging around.
march is not the best time to travel to cinque terre, the weather may be bad, not all businesses are open, could be cold and wet. it's your trip though.
there are many mountains within italy to see the beauty. take the train to milan to turin (torino), spend a few days and fly out of milan.
tripsavvy.com/ turin
spend a few days, less touristy than rome, florence, venice with lots to offer plus the mountains. take a train up to mountains, look for a town near station, spend one or two nights at foot of mountains
theculturetrip.com/ 6 reasons why to visit turin
visit coffee shops/cafes for delicacy chocolates in historic coffee house, auto museum, egyptian museum and others, food and wine.
give milan a chance. much history there, fashion, food, restaurants along the canals.
theculturetrip.com/ milan
ask more questions and people will give more info.
aloha

If you keep Switzerland in your trip plans, don’t stay in Interlaken, a transit hub. Go onto the mountains staying in Grindelwald or Wengen, Murren. Lucerne is a pretty city too.

I would also recommend skipping Switzerland at that time of year. There will still be snow, so you probably won’t do much hiking and the alpine slides will be closed. Some of the hotels don’t open until April, so you may find limited options for lodging and dining. But if you do go, stay in Lauterbrunnen, Wengen or Murren. Not Interlaken.

If you really want a mountain experience, you might consider going to the Dolomites instead, then flying out of either Venice or Munich.

How many nights are going to be there not counting the flight over.

Your not planning on sking (ice and slush that time of year) and hiking is out. So unless you want to bob-sled or snowshoe I would save Switzerland for another trip, one in August or the start of September. For me 4 nights in Rome then going to Florence for another 4 would be too much city, too many museums, too many car horns. Between the two cities are so many enjoyable places to see and stay. Orvieto is on the train line out of Rome north, easy without adding any back tracking. That time of year artichokes are in season, why you say, well have one fried and you will understand. Also Sorrento that time of year is great. I have never been to CT it always seems to far out of the way to travel to. As for Interlaken, cute town but very expensive, when you go to Switzerland stay in the mountains. J

Thank you all so much for your help and feedback! I wish I was able to respond to you all individually. I provided logistic details below. I welcome additional thoughts or advice.

We already have flights booked from the U.S to Rome and out of Zurich. I started second guessing Switzerland for many of the reasons mentioned (weather and travel/moving around too much). Canceling and booking new flights is possible but costly and complicated at this point.

Our current plan: 16 night vacation, plus two days of flights -- 4 nights in Rome, 4 in Florence, 3 in Cinque Terre. That leaves 5 nights for Switzerland/up for debate.

Good to hear about the train from Lucerne to Zurich airport. Our flight out is at 9:50am. That seems like a feasible option?

We would love to snowshoe or bobsled. Does anyone have first hand knowledge of best options?

I don't think we will be able to do Tirano and Bernini Empress. Even though Bernini Express looks amazing, but it's too far East.

Turin is also tempting, but seems too far out of our way.

It would be nice to experience small town Italy. We were considering the slow train from Rome to Florence so we can stop for a night in Spello. Orvieto also looks nice. Similarly, we could also stop in a small town between Cinque Terre and Interlaken / Lucerne. Any suggestions? Maybe outside of Milan?

Thanks to all the feedback, we will not stay in Interlaken. Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnenor, Wengen, Murren or Lucerne all look like better options.

Much appreciated.

hey hey sinram
thought when you asked for tips and advice, nothing was booked. apparently you are determined to spend time in cinque terre, besides the weather and some businesses not opened and leaving from zurich. spend your last night near airport for early flight out 9:50am with check in 2-3 hours ahead for customs/passport control, don't want you to miss flight if train/road/taxi issues. seen it happen too many times within my travels. good luck
aloha

Rome to Florence so we can stop for a night in Spello. Orvieto also looks nice.

Assuming you can drive a manual, you could take a train from Rome to Orvieto, get a car and roam around rural Tuscany towards Florence. You'd be able to visit more hill-top villages in less time. Just memorize the ZTL sign and drop the car at Florence airport.

Maybe outside of Milan?

Once you cross the mountains between the Cinque Terre and Milan, you can either go towards Piedmont and the Langhe wine country (Unesco site) or you can enter the industrial heartland of northern Italy. Sure, outside Milan there are stunning towns, like Bergamo and of course there are the Lakes etc. But there are also blu collar cities with absolutely nothing to see. I mean... It's not southern Tuscany where the next village is always more charming than the previous one, in Lombardy and Piedmont you need a plan.

If you go to the Lauterbrunnen Valley you need all five nights for Switzerland. It’s good to add extra nights when staying in the mountains because weather is less predictable.

So if you must fly out of Zurich then the decision is made. It will be tight but doable. I would sort out the travel logistics and work backward. So, one night in Zurich (9:50 is too close for comfort for coming from Lucerne). I found Lucerne very romantic and you can also do mountain trips from there so easily, so it would still be wonderful if you decide to skip the Bernese Oberland this time.
For now, I would mull over how much you want to visit Cinque Terre, as you could also put those nights in Switzerland.

Our flight out is at 9:50am

In that case it is unlikely you will be happy with the last night in Luzern. Shame.

You need a 3 hour check in, that's 6:50. That's pretty early for a honeymoon.

The first direct, shorter time, train from Luzern is at 5:35, arriving at the airport at 6:44. Will that work for you?

Me, for such an early departure, I'd be in or near the airport.

I'm planning a trip to Switzerland, but see you're mirroring my own honeymoon that was in early April years ago. We visited Rome, rented a car, went to Tuscany (take a cooking class! we stopped in Orvieto en route) and Cinque Terre (stayed in Vernazza), dropped the car in Milan, took a train to Lake Como and back, flew out of Milan. For this France/Switzerland trip, we are flying home from Zurich as well, and really think the last night should be at Zurich airport. Enjoy!