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Honeymoon Itinerary Check (Zermatt to Florence): Is This Feasible?

Posted by (Chicago, IL) on

Hi! My fiancé and I are organizing our honeymoon trip for about 11-12 days in Switzerland and Italy this September. We're both in our early 30s and tend to be energetic travelers who have difficulty staying still because we're always eager to experience new cultures and cities.

Our itinerary starts with a flight into Zurich, followed by exploring some Swiss cities like Grindelwald and Zermatt. From there, we're planning to take the train to the Tuscany region, where we'd like to rent a car to easily discover smaller towns. We're a bit uncertain about the long travel day from Switzerland to Tuscany, which could take around 8 hours by train. Given our limited time of just 11 days for the trip, we're not sure if this journey is worth it. We've been trying to find examples of others who have done similar trips and their recommendations.

Ultimately - I want to ask this group - Will the itinerary below facilitate a beautiful trip for a couple on their honeymoon - or is it really pushing us to do too much?

Here's our tentative Itinerary now: (no flights have been booked yet, but we hope to do that soon)

Days 1-4 (Stay in Grindelwald - maybe include a day trip to Jungfraujoch)
--- Fly into Zurich
--- Train into Grindelwald (3 Hours)
--- Stay in Grindelwald for 4 Nights

Days 5-6 (Brief Stay in Zermatt to See Matterhorn)
--- Train into Zermatt
--- Stay in Zermatt for 2 Nights

Days 7-11 (Stay in Tuscany - Mix in a few day trips from a resort that's a little outside of Florence)
--- Train to Florence
--- Rent a Car in Florence
--- Drive to a Hotel/Resort in the Countryside
--- Stay in Tuscany resort for 5 Nights

Day 12 (Trip Home)
--- Return Rental Car in Florence
--- Fly Home from Florence to Chicago

Thanks in advance for any comments or advice!

Posted by
5107 posts

As much as I love Italy, I love maximizing my time more, so my personal inclination is to not combine places this far apart, but that does not mean this is a bad itinerary. And it certainly can help to balance out time in Switzerland with time in a less expensive country. I guess what I am saying is that the north of Italy also has many, many appealing places. Than again, that long train day can be considered rest after all of the hiking, and you do make up for it by slowing down once you arrive in Italy and having a long stay.

IF it helps (I don't have the train routes memorized), you could hold off on Zermatt (which can be very weather dependent) and break up the trip elsewhere (Italian lakes are popular but not the only option), or just add those days to your two main stops. You will want to arrive in Florence with enough time to pick up a rental car, so that could possibly affect things. The way I look at it, if you are staying at a resort and not in Tuscan town, then you could just as easily pick a resort in northern Italy (perhaps Piemonte) and fly home from Milan.

Hope these rambling thoughts are helpful in sorting out how YOU feel about it all, and congrats! You are absolutely on the right track, as while time does strange things on vacation (it seems to stop, then run out all of a sudden), the best way to plan is to give yourself ample time in each place to really enjoy it and not rush from stop to stop.

Posted by
2543 posts

Zermatt to Florence should be around 5 1/2 hours. Myself I did Wengen - Florence last sunday. I personally think that is all perfectly doable.

Posted by
3 posts

Thanks @WengenK. I'm surprised to hear that. All google maps routes I see take at least 8 hours by train. Driving would take 6.5 hours it looks like, but that's not an option for us.

Do you recall the specific trains/routes you took - maybe I'm missing something.

Posted by
34010 posts

the options you put in this and your other post seem identical to me. Maybe I'm missing something.

In any event the only difference appears to the the station you start the journey to Tuscany from, either Zermatt or the Berner Oberland... am I wrong?

I have been back to the Lauterbrunnen/ Grindelwald valley countless times (well, I probably could count them, probably less than a baker's dozen, but a lot) and I have visited Zermatt exactly once and didn't get much out of it.

There is certainly plenty to do in the Berner Oberland without venturing elsewhere if you want to drop Zermatt which simplifies things. It could even give you time to split your journey somewhere en-route. It sounds like this is your first trip to Switzerland, maybe Europe?

Think how romantic a day or two on Lake Como or in the Borromean Islands would be. And not out of the way at all.

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