Italy & Switzerland Travel Advice

One night in Venice is too short for the extra distance you will travel. You may have to save Venice for another trip or spend 3 nights in Venice and then one night in Lucerne on your way to the Berner Oberland area in Switzerland where you could stay in Interlaken or Wengen.

Like the previous poster, I think you are trying to cram too much Italy into too little time. You don't say if you've been on similarly paced trips in other countries in Europe. For most of us on the forum, your pace is too fast. It would also be helpful to know what you are most interested in seeing in the Italian cities.

Rome is a big city that can be very confusing for first-time visitors and it has lots of sights. It may be very tiring to try to cram a lot into those two days and leave you exhausted at the beginning of the trip.

Cinque Terre is a conundrum of sorts. While it can be very scenic if it's sunny - and chances are good in early September - it can be severly crowded making it a poor experience. And chances of crowds are good in early September. Since you'll have lots of scenery and hiking opportunities in Switzerland, consider dropping the CT from your itinerary. Another reason to do that is the length of time it takes to get there. If you keep Venice, it's more efficient to go to the CT from Rome, then Florence.

Florence is a treasure trove of Renaissance painting, sculpture and architecture. If you are fans, then 2 or 2.5 days in Florence will be delightful. If you're not big on medieval art, you can see the highlights in one full day.

Venice is one of my 2 or 3 favorite cities in all of Europe, so it pains me to say it, but if you can't give at least 1 night to this unique and wonderful city, you should skip it.

You wrote: probably we will not to be coming back to the same places again as our time is limited and there is so much more of the world to explore. Consider that the quality of your experience is more important and lasting than the quantity.

To be brutally honest - I would cut both CT and Venice from your trip. You just don't have enough nights to justify the travel for such a short time, and I worry that in trying to see everything, you'd end up seeing nothing. I don't know what the jetlag is like coming from Delhi to Italy, but when I go from the US to Europe, most of my first day is spent in a dazed, confused, fog. That leaves you with almost no time in Rome as it is. I know you say you won't be back and it's incredibly difficult to narrow down places in Italy, which has so many blockbuster sights, but I think you'll regret all the moving and traveling you'd have to do with this current plan.

My ideal plan would be Rome (5 nights) > Florence (4 nights), then do a quick tour of Milan on your way from Florence to Switzerland. You can easily store your bags at the Milano Centrale train station and go into the city for a few hours.

At a bare minimum, cut CT, which would allow you to allocate one more night to Rome (giving you 4 nights), Florence (3 nights) and one additional night to Venice (giving you 2 nights). Rome > Florence > Venice > Switzerland makes more sense than trying to backtrack.

Everyone is different, but that's just my two cents :)

Yes, Venice is a huge outlier in this itinerary. It will take 7 hours to get from Cinque Terre (I am using Monterosso, as this has faster train connections) to Venice, so you will not arrive until the afternoon, then you will have to leave for Luzern the following morning as that is another 7 hour train ride. Bottom line, save Venice for another time.

A little learning is a dangerous thing ;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring :

I would do it like this to minimize travel time.
Rome>Cinque Terre>Florence>Interlaken>Luzern>Zurich

Notice I say go to Interlaken first as it is same travel time and you will not have to backtrack.
If your flight home from Zurich is in the afternoon, you can go from Luzern to Zurich airport by direct train in just over 1 hour.
Standard advice is to stay in Muerren or Wengen rather than Interlaken, but may require you bringing some warmer clothing. I'll leave that up to you.

I just returned from a trip where I relocated 4 times. Not only does moving locations take time, it also takes a physical toll from which you must recover. I would not recommend this many moves in one trip. In places where you only spend one night, you won't have time to really see and absorb anything.

Good luck with your planning!

It's not my intention to rain on your parade, just offering food for thought. Perhaps you should return to square one and rethink your entire itenerary and prioritize the places that are really important to you. Please reconsider the time you will lose each time you relocate. It almost always takes longer to change locations than anticipated even when everything goes well. It's not just the actual travel time, its the packing up, checking out, getting to the train station / airport, finding the track / gate and waiting for the train or plane. Then, upon arrival, you have to clear the terminal, get a taxi, get to your hotel, check in (if your room is ready), and unpack to some degree. A two night stay only gives you one full day and part of the arrival day. A one night stay only gives you part of the arrival day.

You want good memories of unique sights, good food, good wine, and people you'll meet. If your try to do too much, I'm afraid you'll only have blurred memories of taxi rides, train stations, and airports.

Again, I'm not throwing stones, just pointing out something to consider.

Well the first piece of advice I got from a RS Travel consultant was "travel like you will return". Now I know you said you probably won't return but you never know. I'd take Venice out, I'd take CT out OR I'd take Rome out and fly into Venice. Careful travel planning.

If you don't have your flights I would book Switzerland first and Italy second, the best chance of warm weather in Switzerland without rain and cooler weather in Italy (but expect that to be hot). I agree with all the posts that say to cut some places. For me one big city per trip is enough and that would be Rome with your itinerary and no less than 3 nights per stop. Rething all of the places your going in Switzerland. Read some RS books and go the mountains! Enjoy your trip J

Hi,
Thanks for the responses. Based on your opinion this is how the new itinerary looks like 4 Nights in Rome, 3 Florence, 2 in Venice and 6 in Switzerland. Since Switzerland is a much smaller country in these 6 nights are fine for that. I have dropped Cinque Terre completely.

Since, the time difference from Delhi, India and Italy/Switzerland is only 3.5 hours, jet lag shouldn't be an issue. Also, since I live in Delhi National Capital Region, India I am used to long commute hours on daily basis in jam packed roads say at times up to 3.5 hours or more each day just to and from office to cover a distance of 35 kms each side (Atleast lil more than 1.5 hrs each side on an average day). That's why I don't think travelling in a comfortable train while enjoying the scenic views will be tiring for me in the least. So the above itinerary looks doable and reasonable.

I am still open to feedbacks/suggestions/ideas.

Do you think it will be a good idea to do a day trip from Rome or 4 nights just be exclusively for Rome? Also, we will be there over the weekend. Will it be more crowded in September over the weekends than weekdays? Shall i arrange there to be on weekdays?
Any ideas on the kind of collapsible water bottle i should be buying?
Thanks,
Puja

I think you have made a sensible decision on your revised itinerary.
Next question is this sentence.

That's why I don't think travelling in a comfortable train while enjoying the scenic views will be tiring for me in the least.

Going from Venice to Luzern on Sunday September 18, you have the option of going the fastest way, which uses the longest underground tunnel in the world, but misses most of the scenery. It takes about 6 hours and a single connection along the way. Or you could take a more scenic route, also with a single connection that takes about 1 1/2 hours longer, but goes mostly over the mountains, so more scenery. Something to think about.

The trains from Rome to Florence to Venice are not especially scenic, but they are very fast and comfortable.

Sorry, but I do not have any special recommendations concerning collapsible water bottles. I am sure some are better than others, but I have not used them.

PS. This thread contains others recommendations for collapsible water bottles.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/packing/collapsible-water-bottle

Good idea to drop Cinque Terre. Overall the plan looks great. I agree- travel on a train in italy would be relaxing, in itself.

one suggestion - add more time in interlaken/gimmelwald area - the mountains hikes and gondola ride there will be memorable. Personally, I would skip Lucerne all together. From Venice, head to Milan. See the Duomo ( 1 night stay) and then head to Interlaken. The train journey from Milan to Interlaken ( Lucenre is on the way, I think) is amazing.

have fun!

In my opinion, 2 nights in Lucerne is plenty. Add another night and stay up in the mountains for 3 nights, don't stop in Interlaken. Murren was magical. Just exactly what you think a Swiss village would be..

Rome: 5 nights / you could tour Tivoli for 1 day- see Villa Adriana (Hadrian’s Villa). But 5 nights in Rome, minimum. It’s packed with things to see- give it it’s due and settle in just a bit!