Northern Italy suggestions please!

Padua has a good-sized historic district with several worthwhile sights, the most important of which is probably the Scrovegni Chapel (timed ticket required). It's a convenient base for visiting Vicenza and even Verona, and there's enough in Padua itself to keep you busy for more than one full day.

Vicenza feels much smaller and is known for Palladian architecture. Very pleasant for wandering around, but I think it might feel sort of limited as multi-night stop, so I'd choose Padua as my base.

Verona I haven't seen, but many people really like it. Roman arena looks impressive in photos.

Possible day-trip from Milan: Bergamo, with old town built on a hill. Very atmospheric.

Closer to Venice are less-visited cities like Trieste and Udine.

You also have the lakes. Many people on the forum like Varenna on Lake Como. I've been to Stresa on Lake Maggiore and enjoyed the boat trip to the Borromean Islands. There are other lakes as well: Garda, Orta, etc.

And the Dolomites, accessible by bus from near the train station in Bolzano. The museum housing the Iceman is in Bolzano, which also has a very pretty historic district. This area has a strong Austrian influence.

You can check Trip Advisor's "Things To Do" lists for each town.

June
14. Arrive Venice (3N)
15. Venice
16. Venice
17. Via Padova (store bags) to Verona (2N)
18. Verona
19. Via Milan to Lake Como (2N)
20. Lake Como
21. To Lauterbrunnen (3N)
22. Day to Jungfrau
23. Day to Murren
24. To Luzern (2N)
25. Day to Pilatus
26. Depart from Zurich

Thanks so much to both of you! Wow...that gives me some great ideas and things to go on. Can anyone tell me about crowds in this area in June. As its in season but its not Rome Florence ...etc. I know Venice will be crowded but I am wondering about the outlying areas you mentioned. Also, since we won't have a car.....can we use trains to get to these areas.?

I'll let someone else address Switzerland, but the Italian cities are strung out along a major rail line: Venice-Padua-Vicenza-Verona. Very easy by train. If you wanted to be virtually sure of no really hot weather, you'd change trains at Verona and head north into the Dolomites (train to Bolzano and then bus uphill).

I haven't been to Lake Como recently, but there's train service to some of the towns and bus/boat service to others. To check on the availability of trains, you can use the Deutsche Bahn website. It won't give fares for Italian trains, but it does have schedules, though perhaps not yet for June.

I stayed in Padua, Bolzano, and Bressanone (north of Bolzano) in July 2015, and there were no tourist mobs in evidence. I suspect tourists would be denser in Verona but have never been there. I'm not sure about Lake Como. For Venice, the trick is to wander away from the areas around San Marco and the Rialto Bridge and avoid the direct path between them. That will help.

Verona is lovely. Ravenna is a wow - 5th-7th century Byzantine churches with stunning mosaics and some pre-Christian Roman ruins too. Ravenna was the capitol of Christianity when the emperor was forced to abandon Rome. Skip Milan, you've seen most of the best.

Lake Maggiorie has lots to see and do. Many towns with neat sights. Stresa, Cannobio, Baveno. Take the boats around the lake. Dine at Verbania on a island in the lake. The Maggiorie Express...combo train and boat ride can be done in a day. I have taken the train from Zurich down to this lake twice. I get off in Locarno. The drive on the lake shore is beautiful.

Milan is a fairly expensive city for hotels. If visiting Bergamo or Brescia, for instance, you could probably sleep cheaper and experience the destination better by sleeping there.

Hi Deb
We did a prosseco tour with Orianancc.it and truly enjoyed it. You can check out Indianajo.com, put prosseco in search and read about the tour. Very pretty country side, uncrowded, couple stops for tasting and a lunch, speaks great English.
Another time we stayed in bardolino on lago de Garda for a wine festival. Enjoy your holiday.
Happy travels
Princess pupule

Hi Everyone,
Thanks again for your input and suggestions....it was very helpful....I really liked the tip about Ravenna.....I added that to my trip.
This is what I have so far using current train schedules (maybe some time changes by June right now rail Europe wouldn't give us June so my husband picked Feb just to get something to see trains connect. I am hoping maybe more trains by June
to increase our flexibility but ultimately the trips take time especially to get to Varenna from Interlaken As of now itinerary is as follows:
June 12 leave JFK overnight trip
June 13: Arrive in Zurich at 10:30 take train to Interlaken arrive 2:55pm
June 14 Day to Jungfrau or maybe another Alps mountain (would like tour suggestions...viator Jungfrau trip over 200 per person just for the cog train up there and a walk thru the ice cave I think...I am wondering if booking day trip while in Interlaken is cheaper)
June 15th leave 1:29pm Train to Milan Central Station then on to Varenna (Lake Como) arrive by 6:23pm
June 16th Day in Varenna
June 17th Leave Varenna 12:37pm Arrive in Verona 3:28pm
June 18th Day in Verona
June 19th Leave Verona 12:26pm Arrive in Ravenna at 3:27pm
June 20th Day in Ravenna
June 21st leave Ravenna 2:09pm Arrive in Padua 4:29pm
June 22nd Day in Padua
June 23rd Leave Padua 10:51am Arrive in Venice 11:18am
June 24th Venice
June 25th Venice
June 26th leave for airport by 10am to catch a 1pm flight

Does anyone have any comments or suggestions. Do you think I have planned enough time? I am a bit concerned that I really only have 1 full day in each town except Venice which I planned to have more time on purpose. I could add 2 days to the trip but my husband is balking a bit that is it really worth it to pay hotels for 2 more days to leave on the 28th instead of 26th...airfare is exactly the same. Should I not go to Varenna? Rick Steves seems to really like this town. As I mentioned before been to Milan....should I go to Bergamo instead of Varenna? Or some other town? I guess I could try to schedule trains earlier but I kind of know myself and on travel days I slow down....lets say I arrive at 12noon ....then go to hotel settle in...eat lunch etc by that time...its realy around 3:30 anyway so I am sort of torn between why rush in the am on a travel day. Any and all feedback welcomed.
Thanks in advance
Deb

Deb, it's good to know yourself when you think about precise scheduling. I'm a late-starter myself but would try for earlier trains--maybe departing between 10 AM and 11 AM. I know that I will accomplish nothing in the morning (except breakfast) if I have a mid-day train; I will just piddle around. On a short trip, I think you'll look back and be sorry that you didn't push a bit to have more sightseeing time. I assume you're looking at TrenItalia (not RailEurope) for schedules.

I think one thing that's going to be unanimous is that you should stay in Lauterbrunnen or one of the higher villages like Murren and Wengen rather than Interlaken. Those trips up top are very expensive. It's important to check the webcams early in the morning before you buy your ticket. No sense in paying those prices to see nothing but clouds.

I'm not fond of two-nights stops, but you have some small italian towns on your list that really don't need three nights. To get rid of one of those quick stops, you could visit Padua on a day-trip from Venice. It's extremely close. The disadvantage is that Venetian hotels are a lot more expensive than those in Padua, and it means a morning trek to the train station. But one less unpacking/packing cycle might be worth it.

Absolutely Yes! to adding two days. You could add them to Padua (less-expensive hotels) and make day-trips to Vicenza and Ferrara from there. Of course, there are good side-trips from Venice as well.

Try the Piedmonte area, the Langhe wine region is beautiful, not many tourists at all. Cities of Barolo, Asti, Mondovi. Many vinyards, hazelnut groves, restaurants, charming!!

I see you're going from Zurich to Milan then onto Varenna.
I'm planning a trip from Zurich to Italy in June as well. I think there is a direct, and much shorter train to Como (doesn't go all the way to Milan and back). There's ferry service from Como to the other towns, like Varenna.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

I'd leave earlier for the airport from Venice because you have to get across the water first. We like to be early, so it's a matter of how comfortable you are. We plan to return and would probably stay in Venice two nights. First trip was supposed to be three nights, but we added one because of an unplanned fight change. Four nights were too many for us.

I'm keeping your itinerary in mind because those are areas in Italy we want to visit, too.