Please sign in to post.

Travel to Switzerland and Possibly Germany from Milan

Posted by on

Hello,

We arrive in Milan March 19 and will be in Europe until April 2. We have been to Italy and traveled through Rome, Florence, Tuscany, and the Amalfi Coast. We are flying into Malpensa Aeroporta in Milan, arriving at 7:30am. So far, we are considering Lake Como, Lugano, Lucerne, Zurich and possibly parts of southern Germany or western Austria We are very open to suggestions, we feel we've spent tons of time in Italy and want to explore other countries, though we do know we want the last 2-3 days in Milan (we are flying out of Milan as well).

We are mid-30s, in good shape, love to eat and drink good food/wine, love cities but also love small towns and would like a mix. Do not mind renting car (we drove the entire Amalfi Coast in March!!) but would like to avoid if possible and do all trains. I am a professional photographer, but I imagine anywhere we go will be beautiful. Just wanted to mention if there happens to be any must-see stops for photographers.

So far we've come up with the following-- we do understand the limitations of Lake Como and Lugano during March but would like to include either one of these or somewhere similar for scenic lake/mountain views (with good food and wine of course!). Having a scenic mountain/lake town is a must.

So far these are the places we've read about and done research on from various forums and travel websites,

  • Arrive at Malpensa and go straight to Varenna, Lake Como by train (stay for ?? Days)
  • From Varenna we are thinking we want to go to Lucerne, Zurich, Germany? Or maybe even somewhere on Western side of Austria.
  • End in Milan, fly out of Malpensa

Can someone let us know some good suggestions, we are very open to anything! We want to keep individual train rides to 3 hours max between destinations. It's 2 full weeks, but we don't want to stretch ourselves too thin.

Thank you in advance!

Posted by
1456 posts

Have you already booked your flights? If not, consider flying out of Munich, Zurich, Vienna, etc. Flying out of Milan is inefficient because you will have to backtrack; it will also limit your itinerary's flexibility. Even if you already booked your flights, you should spring for the change fee because itinerary flexibility is that important.

Keeping in mind the weather in late March, maybe you should consider swinging south to the French Riviera. Plenty of gorgeous early spring mountain scenery there! Your camera will get a work out. You could fly home from Nice.

ETA:
With 14 nights available for your trip you could do something like this:
Lake Como area - 3 nights
Lucerne - 3 nights
Montreux - 3 nights
Chamonix - 2 nights
Nice - 3 nights

Posted by
8 posts

Thank you so much for your prompt reply and advice. We got an amazing deal through Scotts Cheap Flights and both my wife and I got our tickets for $407 each leaving from Ohio. Unfortunately we can't change them.

I will definitely look into the French Riviera and decide if we should possibly head that direction. We are very much open to anything exciting. The only place we've traveled in Europe was through Italy, which we LOVED!

Posted by
1456 posts

Ok, so you're flights are fixed then. Much of the French Riviera used to be ruled by Italy so there is a heavy Italian influence there.

This topic has been automatically closed due to a period of inactivity.