Italy - 10 days

halfdozen

Visiting six different locations in a 10-day time frame is a bit ambitious, and I'm not sure it will be possible. You'll likely have to skip at least one and probably two of the locations you listed. The two outliers are the Dolomites and either Lake Como or the Cinque Terre. You can also do some hiking in the Cinque Terre. Does that time frame include your two flight days?

You might consider flying inbound to Venice and moving west from there - Venice > Florence (with day trip to Siena) > Cinque Terre or Lake Como (Varenna?) and then moving into Switzerland.

It is possible to get to all those places in your time frame but you will spend your time checking in/out of hotels and going to/from train stations.

I concur with Ken, you need to have fewer places. I suggest 3 , possibly a 4th, if it is close by and the other 3 are fairly clustered together.

Have you traveled in Europe before? From your question, it sounds like you haven't.

You can use either the Italian (trenitalia.com) or the German (bahn.com) train website to get an idea of train times. The German site is a little more friendly but the Italian site will show prices as well as trains. Using the Italian site, you need to put in the Italian place name (Venezia for Venice) and for areas like the Cinque Terre and the Dolomites, you need to know which place.

As Ken says, you are best to travel in one direction. Milan is probably where you'll get a train to Switzerland. You can day-trip by bus from Florence to Siena. Venice is a good place to start your trip, both for the logistic reason Ken notes but also because it is low key, easy to relax and absorb the atmosphere while you get over jetlag and catch up on sleep.

Every time you change locations, you use up about 1/2 day. If you have 10 days in Italy, that probably means 9 nights. Your first day is only about 1/2 day by the time you get through the airport and to your hotel, and you'll probably be in a haze. Your last day will be used getting to Switzerland. That leaves 8 full days. If you move 3 times, you use up 3 half days, leaving you with only 5 full days - one for hiking in the Dolomites, one for a day trip to Siena, that means only 3 days to see everything else. If you have 9 nights, I'd recommend no more than 3 places and neither the Cinque Terre or the Dolomites, because it takes way too long to get to/from them.

Chani - yes I have, three times, 3 weeks each by train with a backpack visiting Germany, Netherlands, Belgium,
Paris and Switzerland. Never to Italy. The 10 days are in addition to arrival and departure, and I usually do pretty well my first day. Not a lot of jet lag 🤗

I see a philosophical clash between your original plan and several replies on how to best spend your time in travel-- see a little bit in depth or a lot lightly? I prefer skimming and then a later trip to see what looked good in greater detail. Being trapped by packaged tours in old age, I've spent 3 days in Florence and 5 days in Venice. That was a waste of 4-5 days.
By saving wasting time in these two cites. you can add Verona and Pisa, and maybe Lucca (a half day each will do).

The prospect of "saving wasted time" in Venice in order to see Pisa is not a concept I would endorse. It is true that some travelers primarily want to visit in person the sights they've seen pictures of and seemingly don't care much about having enough time to absorb the atmosphere/sights/smells/tastes of a foreign country. However, as backpackers who want to include the Dolomites in your trip, I suspect you are not that type of traveler.

Don't forget that the less time you spend checking in and out of hotels and riding trains and buses, the more you'll have time to see (without looking through the window of a moving vehicle, at least). You will see more by going to fewer places than you have on your wish-list.

and I usually do pretty well my first day. Not a lot of jet lag

Does that apply to everyone you are traveling with?

Just my hubby and I, and yes 🤗

We’ve also just decided to change our trip to sometime I’m March/April. We found we have a grandchild the docs think may come early. Don’t want to miss that 🥰

half dozen,

Given your home location, you may find it very helpful to attend the next meeting of the RS Portland travel group. They're an extremely well travelled group and I'm sure they would be able to help you sort out the details of your trip. It looks like the date of the next meeting will be July 27th, but check the thread I linked for confirmation of that.

Thank you!! That would be fun to attend. I work the Timbers game on the 27th, but will look at other possible dates now that we are pushing our trip to spring.

half dozen,

It's unfortunate that you have a prior commitment on that day. The attendance at the RS travel groups varies from month-to-month, and not all the experts may be at all of the meetings. You might want to post a comment on the thread that I provided, to let the group know that you're planning to attend.

If you are going in March/April, you can cross the Dolomites off your list and probably the Cinque Terre. Florence with a day trip to Siena, plus Venice and Lake Como would be feasible if you have 10 nights/9 full days.