Switzerland / Italy - 2 Week Itinerary Advice?

Danny,

I think you need to add more nites! Seriously, I would do either Venice or CT.

Your train ride from Interlaken to either of these areas is going to be at least 7 Hrs.

If you keep both, you then have a 6 hr. train ride from Venice-CT.

That's 13 hrs. of travel in 3 days. You really won't see anything but the train.

Delete one of these, and add the time to Florence or Rome.

Easy way to look up how long it takes to get from city to city use https://www.rome2rio.com/.

For Swiss trains http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

Italian trains http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ee13721bdd69a110VgnVCM1000003f16f90aRCRD

Hope this helps.

Thanks Gerri. So much to do, so little time - your comment confirms what I'd feared.

Having not been to Italy before, would you take Florence over CT or Venice? Rick rates both CT and Venice as "must sees" so what about cutting out Florence?

I would give up CT and add the days to Venice or Rome. Florence is beautiful and has lots of amazing art museums. very charming in evening. Have been to Italy twice - never to CT but enjoyed every minutes in these cities. Esp as you will have country time in Switzerland as opposed to cities

You posted this in the Switzerland forum, too. And like the others here I agree you're going to TOO many destination and spending TOO little time at all of them. I agree that the Cinque Terre should be omitted.

Drop the CT, add time in Lauterbrunnen area IF YOU ARE HIKERS. It's good to stay there 4 nights so that if there are weather problems, you have a better chance of some clear weather, and if you are hikers you are going to LOVE it. Otherwise add an extra night to Roma. The itinerary below short-changes Roma, but at least you get more than 2 nights in most places. Also, it is not sacrilege to skip Firenze. We didn't go there until we'd taken 2 long trips to Italy and lived here for over a year. You could do the CT instead of Firenze or Venezia for that matter if you are more outdoors people and less art museum lovers. Or you could skip Firenze and add the time to Roma allowing some day trips while there. The point is you need to have fewer transfers, more time in each place to enjoy. And beware the costs in Switzerland! It is very expensive. Luckily the cost of Italy is now much better thanks to the exchange rate!

Use Rome2Rio.com to get an idea of intercity travel options.

Day 1 - arrive Geneva, assuming you arrive by Noon, go immediately to Montreux as it is only an hour's trip, 2 nights

Day 2 - Montreux

Day 3 - travel to Lauterbrunnen Valley, 4 nights

Day 4 - Lauterbrunnen

Day 5 - Lauterbrunnen

Day 6 - Lauterbrunnen

Day 7 - travel to Venezia, 3 nights

Day 8 - Venezia

Day 9 - Venezia

Day 10 - travel to Firenze, 3 nights

Day 11 - Firenze

Day 12 - Firenze

Day 13 - travel to Roma, 3 nights

Day 14 - Roma

Day 15 - Roma

Day 16 - fly out

Hi Danny, Just in case you decide to keep the CT, it is more efficient to travel to Florence, then to the CT, then to Rome, if you are using the trains. I do agree with the others that it will be a more enjoyable trip if you drop one destination, adding a day each to Venice, Florence and Rome.

Aside from it being tiring to have so many 2- and 3-night stays, changing locations eats up a lot of sightseeing time. It's not just the time on the train. You have to pack up, check out and get to the train station, with enough leeway so that you don't miss your train (traffic snarl, long line to buy tickets, time to locate the train). Then you have to get from the next station to your hotel to drop your luggage before you can start getting oriented to the new place, the new modes of transportation, etc. It can easily take an hour from your Venice hotel to the train station - the vaporetto (water bus) is v.e.r.y s..l..o..w.

If you must keep all your destinations, I would take a night from Cinque Terre and add it to Firenze, but if you don't particularly love Renaissance art, you can drop Firenze altogether. For the sake of varying types of locations, I would keep Cinque Terre and Venezia.

Thank you all for the replies, I appreciate it!. Looks like we'll need to omit either 5T or Florence.

I would omit Geneva/Montreux, but unfortunately thats where the airport is! That or Zurich - Bern is expensive. And while we're on our way to Interlaken, seems like it makes sense to stop for 1 night in Montreux to see the castle.

I would omit Geneva/Montreux, but unfortunately thats where the airport is! That or Zurich - Bern is expensive. And while we're on our way to Interlaken, seems like it makes sense to stop for 1 night in Montreux to see the castle.

But you do not have to stay in Geneva because you land there. You can go directly to Montreux so you have a full day to visit.

I would follow Chani's suggestion to move the Cinque Terre after Florence in the order, as well as Laurel's suggestion to get yourself to Montreux on the flight arrival day. In Venice, Line #2 is usually the faster one to the train station, versus Line #1 which makes all the stops. Check schedules at the dock(s) closest to your hotel.

How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it. This is an easy place to print train schedules for all your destinations (but not to buy tickets), published through June 13 at this time.