Two weeks in Italy and Switzerland

We are not travel agents. How about you laying out a tentative plan and we will add our comments? That way we will have some idea of what YOU would like to see and do. Some quick suggestion -- Seven different location is two weeks about twice what you should attempt. You may be active couple but the 3 yr old may have different ideas. You should consider open jaw (multi city) ticket -- into one city and home from another. Generally cheaper and more efficient use of time. Need some sense of your priorities for locations. You might take a map and put some pins in it to judge distances and times.

Few people would recommend that you spend time in Zurich on such a short trip, beyond what might be necessary if that is your departure airport. Late-April/May may be a bit early for walking in the mountains, but I'm not sure. Let's see what the Swiss experts say.

I agree that you're trying to cover too much territory.

I would agree that this sounds very ambitious, especially with a 3 year old, who will need a lot of downtime.

We spent 2 weeks just in Italy. If you are looking mostly for walking, landscapes, etc, then you might consider skipping Florence and Rome, and focusing on Cinque Terre/Lucca, Tuscany, maybe up to Lake area. Then maybe a few days in Switzerland.

Welcome to the Rick Steves Travel Forum. Here you will find many experienced independent travelers who freely give of their time to help others refine their travel plans. My first trip to Europe was in 2014, and I did 3 weeks in Italy in 2015. I found the forum invaluable for making my trip great. You're already getting good advice, like flying open jaw.

Unfortunately, you won't find people here who create day-by-day plans. You can pay a travel agent to do that or, for a bigger reward, you can put together an itinerary yourself using resources like Rick's website (see his Italy Travel Guide, which includes recommendations for itineraries) or, better yet, a good comprehensive travel guide.

Good luck with your planning!

Have you been to any of these locations before?

With 15 nights (please confirm) pick no more four places given they so much depth (Rome and Florence could eat up 2 weeks). No to Zurich and realize the mountainous areas like Zermatt are not ready for hikers that early,

As an aside, Rick's 3-week plan for Italy seems a little aggressive to me. I had half as many stops over 3 weeks and very much enjoyed my trip. I like to spend a minimum of 3 nights in one spot before moving to the next place.

Thanks for the update. I am already looking at open jaw ticket. Fly to Rome and flyout from Zurich or vice versa.
Tentative plan as of now.
Rome - 3 nights
Florence - 3 night, Day trip to CT, Day trip to tuscany
Venice - 3 night
Zermatt - 2/3 nights
Zurich - 2/3 nights

14 days at a fast pace could give you this. If you want Switzerland, then Venice and probably another town will need to be dropped. Purchase the Rick Steves Italy book if you haven’t already. It will answer many questions that will give you a better trip.

Fly into Venice - 3 nights minimum due to arrival day & jetlag
Cinque Terre - 2-3 nights (know that you will waste a day traveling here)
Florence - 3 nights (be sure to make reservations ahead of time for museums)
Tuscany (Siena?) - 2 nights ( reserve a Tuscany day trip)
Rome - 3-5nights, counting the night before you fly home from Rome.

Set your sights a little lower: Rome Florence, Venice, Luzern.
Luzern will have better hiking opportunities in May, and it is only one hour by direct train to Zurich airport, so you can skip Zurich altogether.

I agree with Sam. We were in Zurich for a few days before our flight out. Zurich doesn't have the charm of Lucerne. It is an easy train trip from Zurich. I think it was less than an hour. The trains run frequently, and tickets can be purchased the day of travel. We did enjoy Ricks Walk of Zurich that was in his Switzerland book. His books are a wonderful source of all kinds of information, and there are tons of websites that can also help, like roninrome.com; europeforvisitors.com; www.reidsitaly.com; www.cinqueterrainsider.com; and www.seat61.com. I have used all of these websites mapping out our trips to Europe. Hope this gives you some direction.

Too short a time to see all of that in Italy and still include Switzerland.
You are not seeing much of Cinque Terre and Tuscany if your plan is to day trip to each from Florence.
With 3 nights in Florence and 2 all day trips to see these other 2 areas when will you actually see Florence?

Need more time Rome, more in Florence if doing those day trips or leave Florence at 3 and add 2 or 3 for Cinque Terre ; seeing Cinque Terre as a day trip is a bunch of travel time to visit during the worst (most crowded) hours.

Zurich can be skipped ; fine if you have to fly out but would stay max. 1 night there.
I have been to each of the places on your list with a young child (though not on the same trip), one thing different with traveling with a young child is moving bases frequently is more of a pain and your plan is full of check in / check outs.

By your user name it sounds like you are serious about photography. You are unlikely going to get very good photos of Cinque Terre or Tuscany countryside if you only see them each as part of a day trip from Florence.

Thanks for the input guys. Let me come with a day by day plan for your review.

Sr No Day Where Details
1 Friday Rome landing at 8 AM - take a nap - local
2 Saturday Rome Piazza del Campidoglio - Square at the top of the Capitoline Hill, Colosseum, Palatine hill, Triveni Fountain, Piazza del Popolo, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, Piazza Navona
3 Sunday Rome Vatican Museum, Sistine chapel, St Peters Sq, Castel Sant’Angelo, Campo de’Fiori, spanish steps
4 Monday Siena 3 hrs travel - relax - Local
5 Tuesday Siena day trip Val d'orcia
6 Wednesday Cinque terre 5 hrs travel - Manarola 
7 Thursday Cinque terre Manarola, hike to villages else visit beach
8 Friday Venice 7 hrs travel
9 Saturday Venice check foot notes
10 Sunday Venice check foot notes
11 Monday Venice check foot notes
12 Tuesday Lucerne 6 hrs travel - relax - Local
13 Wednesday Lucerne Local
14 Thursday Lucerne Mt Titlis
15 Friday Lucerne Mt. Jungfrau, Interlaken 
16 Saturday Zurich 1 hrs travel - Zurich Local
17 Sunday Zurich Fly out early morning

Venice 3 d plan by Rick Steve https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/venice-itinerary

Please review my plan and suggest.
Time frame will be last week of April onwards. I want to avoid hot weather . Is it ok?
Should i base myself in Lucerne or Lauterbrunnen valley? whats better as I want to stay at one place only.