Please sign in to post.

Trip to Italy / Switzerland April

Posted by on

Dear all,

I am planning a trip to Italy/Switzerland for 14 days in April. Is start of April ok?

Honestly I can’t figure out what my husband & I enjoy, If anyone can shed any light please do!:)
We have been to New Zealand, Canada and Alaska but our favorite holiday has been Alaska (loved exploring the towns and the wildness of it and animals). We have been to Greece too which was beautiful but vastly different landscape and had an overdose of history but we really did enjoy it looking back on the trip, more than while we were there (if you know what I mean). However we really loved Metsovo and Meteora!

My husband says Alaska was probably my favorite because it felt like an adventure (I didn’t plan the trip) whereas I had too high expectations a from Canada (because I planned the trip) hahaha I can’t figure.

So some things we think we enjoy:
2-3 nights per stop, less day to day driving, we don’t mind a day or two of driving (drove Alottt in Canada and wouldn’t do it again). We enjoy Abit of history, relaxation & less crowds. We enjoy exploring mountains and local culture.

We are thinking hence to do Switzerland and take a train/fly to Rome and then Amalfi coast.
Is 14 days ample time and doable in start/mid April? Where would you suggest to base ourselves / places you loved to visit even?

Well one thing I must mention is the inactivity /siesta times in Greece really caught us offguard when we were trying to explore in the afternoons.

Thank you!

Posted by
1813 posts

I take it this is your question: "We are thinking hence to do Switzerland and take a train/fly to Rome and then Amalfi coast. Is 14 days ample time and doable in start/mid April?"
In my opinion, April in Switzerland is way too early. Only the valley bottoms will have any of the characteristics of spring. Start at Rome and the Amalfi coast.

Posted by
9064 posts

You would benefit by reading a good guidebook or two, and focusing on what interests you. You could spend as much time as you have on any of these locations, and it still would'n t be enough. If you're asking can it be done? - yes. If you're asking is it practical or reasonable?, maybe no. You have to consider that each time you change locations (by train, plane or car) you will be eating up 1/2 to one whole day just in transit. That's a lot of precious vacation time wasted for a short trip.
April can still be ski season in the mountains in Switzerland, if that tells you something.

Posted by
8360 posts

I agree with Mike. The Spring in the mountains is hit and miss temperature wise and it can also be pretty rainy up until May with the change of seasons.
Your time would be better spent in Italy as it has so much history, art, food and general culture to see. You would get so much more limiting your 14 days to 3 stops for 14 days.

Posted by
396 posts

Early May would be better. It is still "shoulder season" and not too many tourists. I like to fly into Zurich and take the train down into Italy. The train ride traverses some beautiful scenery and tunnels in Switzerland. I usually go as far as Verona for my first stop of 2-3 days. I would stay in the Northern part of Italy if you are just going to be gone 14 days. The lakes are great and the Northern towns like Verona, Venice, Bologna, etc. hold wonderful sights to explore. I have flown back out of Zurich while stopping in Lucerne and different towns on the way back to fly home...usually 2-3 days. You could, of course, fly open jaw..into Zurich and out of Rome or Florence if you wanted to explore deeper down into Italy and not have to back track to Switzerland to fly home.

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