Italy to Switzerland

My partner and I will be flying into Italy for a 3 day conference in June in Turin. We will fly in a week prior starting on June 8th and will have until the 11th before we need to be in Turin for the conference.

Jun 8th through Jun 11th is four nights not one week. How many nights do you have before the conference starts? If you go to Switzerland (CH) fly into CH.
Traveling by train or bus between Turin and CH will take all day and involve transfers. Furthermore, there a no nonstop flights between Turin and CH.

Do not know where you are traveling from or your age, but you could fly into Geneva (GVA) and take a train to either Lausanne or Montreux on Lake Leman. It is the "French" region of Switzerland. Depending on your interests would determine where you stay. The train from Montreux to Turin takes about 4.5-6 hours with train changes.

Lausanne: International Olympic Museum, old town area with 12th century cathedral, near-by vineyards that terrace down to the lake

Montreux: smaller lakeside town with a fantastic promenade , Queen's (the band) former recording studio, Chateau de Chillon

Two ideas.

1. Fly into Zurich and take train immediately to Pontresina, stay 2 nights. Then train to Tirano, either by Bernina Express or regular train, then train to Varenna on Lake Como for 2 nights, then train to Milano Centrale, then train to Turin.

2. Fly into Zurich and take train immediately to Luzern, stay 2 nights. Then train to Lugano and stay 2 nights, then train to Milano Centrale, then train to Turin.

Mary Pat- sorry my post was confusing. We will fly in on Saturday am and have until Tuesday or Wednesday to be in Turin to meet up with friends prior to the conference that starts on Friday(goes to Sunday). Thank you all for the suggestions, taking all into consideration. We originally looked at flying into and out of Milan but are now looking at open jaw flights as we will possibly go to Bucharest after the conference for the next leg of our 2 week trip.

With three or four nights you won’t be able to visit CHs Lauterbrunnen Valley which is CHs number one sight. You need five nights for this area. When staying in mountains always add an extra night in case of unexpected weather.
The same with Zermatt. You want to allow five nights for this region too. With that said there’s always Luzern which people love. Fly into Zurich and out of Budapest (multi-city [open jaw] or buy two one-way tickets.

Many others mentioned going to the Alps and not having enough time since you have four days. I did not see where you mentioned necessarily going to the Bernese Oberland region. While this region is beautiful, it may work out better for you to explore the Ticino region of Switzerland instead. This looks like it would be about 1.5 hours by train from Milan and 2.5 hours from Turin. My husband and I visited Lugano last spring and it very pretty! There will be a lot to see in this area between UNESCO World Heritage Sites, castles, lakes, and museums!

Ok so I have more information -we are flying into Milan morning of the 8th (open jaw tickets were too $$$) and will head to the Turin area on the morning of the 12th. Still looking at the Geneva area, looks like a 3.5 hr train ride from Milan?Could we use Geneva as a base all 4 nights and explore that way, or are there other places in the vicinity that are not to be missed?

Can you change your ticket and fly into Geneva instead?