Italy AND Switzerland with 2 teenage daughters?

I would recommend an open-jaw, if the flight costs allow it.
Fly into Zürich, then go by train straight to somewhere in the Bernese Oberland. The owner of this site recommends Gimmelwald, but that is one very small village. I would say anywhere in the valleys past Interlaken is OK. Then after 2-3 days train it to Somewhere past Milan where you pick up a hire car to get to your idylic Tuscan farmhouse.

The train journey from the Bernese Oberland to Milan is worth the time for the scenary.

The Dolomites are a long way off route, so I say no to that. And Lake Como is beautiful, but it is not the high Alps, and does not have the 5-star spectacular mountains (and the Swiss culture as a contrast to Italy) that the Bernese Oberland has.

Yes, the Dolomites are out of the way. You and your daughters will love the Berner Oberland ( as do we and our daughters).

Fly into Zurich as Chris suggests. Depending on the time of arrival of your flight, you may or may not wish to travel onward the same day. Coming from Seattle, we cannot get to Zurich before late afternoon, so always choose to overnight in Zurich. Luzern would work too---it is only an hour from the airport by train; no changes if you get the direct train. Luzern is smaller than Zurich and has more charm. Try Hotel Stern for moderately priced rooms.

Gimmelwald always feels too small to me. We prefer the village of Murren up the hill. Still small, but a number of hotels, shops, and restaurants to choose from, most in classic Swiss chalet style and bedecked with flowers. Our daughters were enchanted. There are some nice hikes right from your door in Mürren. But you will also want to travel over to Wengen and up to Mannlichen on the cablecars for the classic walk to Kleine Scheidegg ( or hike up the goat path if you prefer, or go theother way round and hike up to Kleine Scheidegg via Wengernalp and cows.

If budget is a concern, try the ground floor apartment at Chalet Fontana. The two bedrooms sleep four very comfortable, and you still take breakfast with other guests so have a chance to meet them.

I WISH I had added Switzerland to our Italian trip......we are planning on it next time! we flew swisse air from Chicago to zurich (and then flew zurich to Florence) any way......huge endorsement of Suisse air......great food....attentive staff, right on time, and I had no problems with checked bag coming or going.................
pps.......lake como is beautiful.....we stayed in a 2 bedroom apt

Thank you all for your ideas and feedback. This is so helpful. With the confidence this gave us, we are able to book the open jaw into Zurich and out of Milan. We will land at noon in Zurich.

I like the idea of going to Luzern. Will now be looking for "must do" places/restaurants/cafes for Luzerne since we will simply have an exhausted evening there :) A great meal will definitely be on our list of to-dos.

Will Luzerne be out of the way for our train ride to Murren? I also understand there are some great train options to Milan as mentioned. I think we can take the train all the way to "Chiuzi" - something like that - and our host will pick us up.

I will capture all your ideas on places to go and stay and really appreciate it! Any other ideas are more than welcome!!!

kim,

One thing I didn't notice in your post is WHEN this trip is taking place. The suggestions I would have for each place will vary accordingly.

Will Luzerne be out of the way for our train ride to Murren? I also understand there are some great train options to Milan as mentioned. I think we can take the train all the way to "Chiuzi" - something like that - and our host will pick us up.

As to these specific transportation issues:

• It is about a 2 hour trip from Luzern to Interlaken Est (edited thanks to Lola's advice). There you change to a train to Lauterbrunnen, then on to Murren via one of two routes: 1) cable way to Grutschalp and train to Murren (about 20-30 minutes total travel time) or 2) bus to Stechelberg and cable way to Gimmelwald and then Murren. We prefer the first route, FWIW. The Jungfrau VIP Pass covers trains from Lauterbrunnen and many of the mountain railways and lifts. Or the Bernese-Oberland Pass may make more sense. You may benefit from a pass that starts in Zurich, for that matter. Maybe someone else can comment on that as the Swiss Pass system is varied and I have only used the ones in the B-O. Be sure you are aware of exactly what each pass covers. We bought a Jungfrau VIP and found it covered the Grutshcalp Murren route, but not the one thru Stechelberg.

• The trip to Milan is lovely! Backtrack from Murren/Lauterbrunnen to Interlaken West, then on to Spiez. If you have a couple of hours in Spiez, take a walk down to the lake and castle. At Spiez, change to a train direct to Milan. You can go all the way to Chiusi-Chianciano Terme with a train change. If you need a car, you can rent one there.

• When you go to the Cinque Terre, drive to La Spezia and drop your car there. You do not need nor want one in the CT but the train trip from Tuscany to the CT can be arduous with several changes (it took us four trains from Vernazza to Siena). You can take the train back to Milan for your flight home.

Thank you, Laurel. I will research those options.

Ken - such a good point! Mid-June. I am also wondering about clothing choices but didn't want to ask since I have not done any research on that yet and it may be posted already.

We stayed in Murren (also at the apartment in Chalet Fontana) with our three kids in July 2013. The town is perfect. Not too small. Not too big. Beautiful views. Easy access to the Schilthorn and certainly not far to any other location in the Bernese Oberland. We visited Gimmelwald for an hour... maybe. It is small small small. We walked down the road. We walked back. The kids enjoyed the swings while waiting for the cable car. I know its popular with some but I can't imagine staying there.

One correction to Laurel's excellent information: From Luzern, you will change trains at Interlaken Ost, (East), not Interlaken West. It is the first Interlaken station you will come to after riding along the shores of Lake Brienz.

Luzern is not out of your way at all; it is right on one of the two possible routes between Zurich and Mürren. The other route ( via Bern) uses faster trains, is more expensive ( by almost 20 CHF per person) and less scenic. Going via Luzern, you are on the scenic Golden Pass route along the lake, over Brünig Pass,mand then along another lake, Brienzersee. After the train leaves the town of Meiringen, look across the lake and watch for the Grand Hotel Giessbach, which looks like a fairy-tale castle. At the far end of this lake, you will arrive at Interlaken Ost and disembark the train to connect to the train to Lauterbrunnen.

From Lauterbrunnen, you have a choice of two ways to get to Mürren. The one described by Laurel involves a bus to the village of Stechelberg farther up the valley, and a cablecar up from there ( you change cablecars at Gimmelwald). The other route involves a cablecar right up from the station at Lauterbrunnen to Grutschalp, and a train along the edge of the cliff to Mürren. The cablecar ride is not as scenic as the Gimmelwald one, as it is not as high off the ground, but the little train offers nice views frommthe left side windows. We like to go up that way and down via Gimmelwald. Very exciting as the cablecar swings out over 3000 feet of air and then descends close to the cliff.

You can see the train, bus, and cablecar routes and schedules on the Swiss train website, SBB.ch.

Living in flat Florida I can just imagine how exciting it must be for you and your family to finally see a mountain.

I'll give you 2 transportation options, also cognizant of the fact that you only have 3 days before Tuscany and many who have never traveled to Europe tend to understate travel times, maybe because Europe looks so small on that globe many of us have gathering dust on some piece of furniture at home.

1: SWITZERLAND (CH): fly MIA to ZRH preferably with Swiss Intl Airlines (they have a non stop from MIA). Head by rental car to your CH destination (Bernese Oberland?) visit for 3 nights, Drive back to ZRH, return the rental car, take evening flight (Swiss Air) to Florence (FLR). You could also visit CH by train and buses, but with only 3 days I think you can maximize your time in the mountains with a car.

Once at FLR not sure about your plans, if your friends will have already a car? Or if you stay a few nights in Florence before heading to the farmhouses? For sure you will need a rental car for your farm house, but not while you are staying in Florence. So rent a car to go to the farm house, but if you stay in Florence first, rent it after visiting Florence.

Return home from Florence FLR. You could do so with Swiss (FLR-ZRH-MIA) or with Lufthansa from FLR to FRA (or MUC) to MIA. Swiss Air is part of the Lufthansa group, so you can arrange using both with the same trip (I've done it often from SFO to FLR).

2: DOLOMITES: You could also satisfy your desire to see mountains in the Dolomites. In that case you should fly preferably to Verona (VRN) pref. with Lufthansa via FRA or MUC or also Venice (VCE) rent a car there, visit the Dolomites for 3 days, then drive from the Dolomites straight to your Tuscan destination (about 4 hr drive mostly on freeways). Then to return, you still fly back from FLR as illustrated at trip 1.

You could also do the Cinque Terre as a day trip from Tuscany. From Florence, with my car, it would be about 1hr and 45min each way. Flying out of Milan will take an extra day out of your vacation because you need to spend the last day and night at or near Milan MXP.

Kim, some little tweeks.
Luzern is a picturesque town on the edge of the Alps. Apart from the town, it's main attraction is as a base for day trips further into the Alps. It is on a lake called Vierwaldstättersee, but many English-Language tourist publications call the town by the French name "Lucerne" and the lake "Lake Lucerne". If you stay here, go on a boat trip on the lake further into the mountains. For more info about Luzern and area see: www.luzern.com

As your time in Switzerland is too short for two places, if you have time after the flight to get into the Bernese Oberland (anywhere past Interlaken), that would be better as you are then really in the Alps. From Zürich Airport to Interlaken Ost (where, as already explained, you have to change), it takes 2½ hours using the fast route via Bern; plus however much longer it takes to get to you final destination (Mürren, Lauterbrunnen, Gimmelwald, Grindelwald, ...).
Zürich airport to Luzern is 1¼ hours. The rail route from Luzern to Interlaken Ost goes over the Brünig pass and is worth the ride, but if coming from Zürich airport via Bern is quicker.

Do not under any circumstances rent a car for these places. Trains go where cars can't, and are a lot easier. Some places in the high Alps, including Mürren and Gimmelwald, do not allow cars. There are no roads, just cable-cars!

2kim,

Thanks for the clarification on your travel dates. You've received some excellent suggestions so far, and I have a few comments to add.....

• With only a very short three days, I'd suggest skipping Lucerne this time and focusing just on the Berner Oberland, as there's more than enough to keep you busy for three days (especially since you're an "active family"). Spending one night in Lucerne and only having a short time to look around while in a jet lagged state would be a waste of time (IMO). Your "jet lag recovery" time would be better spent in the Berner Oberland, where you can get out and do some hiking or whatever.
• As the others have mentioned, you can travel directly from the Zürich airport to Interlaken Ost. Depending on your flight arrival time, hopefully you'll be able to connect with one of the trains that has a travel time of 2H:17M (one change in Bern). From Interlaken Ost, you'll transfer to the Berner Oberland train for the short ~20 minute ride to Lauterbrunnen.
• Depending on what touring you plan to do there, one of the Swiss Passes may be a good investment. You'll have to do some number crunching to determine whether that will work for you.
• Which place to stay in the Berner Oberland is always a source of debate here. For touring both sides of the valley, Lauterbrunnen makes a good home base, as it's the transportation hub. Many here really like Mürren, but staying there will add both cost and time for touring on the other side of the valley (ie: the Jungfraujoch, Wengen, Grindelwald). If you want to only focus on the Gimmelwald / Mürren side of the valley, it makes sense to stay there. Mürren is a good place to access the Cable Car that travels up to the Schilthorn, a good place for walking up and down to Gimmelwald, and also for the Allmend-Hubel Funicular - take that to the top and hike down, listening to the sound of cow bells echoing through the meadows.
• Regarding Lago di Como, it likely wouldn't be as attractive a destination for your daughters as the Berner Oberland (IMO, of course).

A few questions......

• What is your destination following your visit to the Berner Oberland?
• Where does the visit to the Cinque Terre fit in? Have you decided which of the five towns you might like to stay in? Especially for travel at that time of the year, I'd suggest getting a hotel booking there as soon as you have your dates finalized.
• What area of Tuscany is the farmhouse (Agriturismo?) located?