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First Switzerland Trip

Hi, I've gotten some feedback and I've revised our itinerary a bit.

Fly NY - probably Lyon - arriving June 24, 2024
France: Annecy (4 nights) just because I've had it on my bucket list for ages (and haven't been in France since 2015)
Switzerland:
Lake Geneva Area (4 nights based in Vevey)
BO Area (4 nights based in Wengen)
Luzern Area (4 nights in Luzern)
Italy: Lake Como Area. (4 nights based in Varenna) just because I've always wanted to see it
Fly back to NY - I assume from Milan

I have some questions:

1) am I spending too much time in any of these locations. Note: we do prefer a slower pace of travel where you immerse yourself a bit in each area.

2) should I do an overnight or 2 in Bern? If so, after which base above? RS's guidebook indicates it as a must-see.

3) what do you suggest are the must-see's from the above destinations? in terms of nearby villages/attractions/sights/etc...Love to. k now what you felt were highlights from your past trips.

Posted by
5581 posts

I think your itinerary is pretty good. If it were me, I'd take a day from Vevey and add to Wengen. Bern is nice, but I'd do it as a day trip from Luzern. On Lake Geneva, Chateau Chillion was enjoyable. We are "sciency" types and we found CERN outside Geneva interesting. In Luzern, we enjoyed the boat trip and cog wheel train up to Mt. Rigi. We spent a lot of time walking around Luzern. We were in BO in winter, but, we loved walking through Gimmelwald a few times, the walk from Murren into Gimmelwald, we enjoyed the trip up to Schilthorn. The Jungfrau was never clear. On Lake Como, we enjoyed walking around in Varenna and Bellagio. (The RS guide had some walking tours) I highly recommend Villa del Balbianello

Posted by
4706 posts

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/lucerne-62eb4d28-60ab-4837-b4b4-91a2486eb732

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/venice-lake-como-sorrento-amalfi-coast-with-lots-of-rain

Above are my Trip Reports, hopefully you'll find some helpful info.
We just returned from Lake Como this past May, and I can't wait to return already.
I'd definitely recommend spending the night before the return flight in Milan. In our experience, the regional train from Varenna to Milan is usually SRO, but it's only an hour.
I hope you're considering riding the Bernini Express route from Switzerland into Tirano Italy. It is an incredibly beautiful route, and you can ride the regional trains, which have more schedule options than the panaoramic trains, and use the same tracks. From Tirano you can easily get to Varenna.
I like Bern, but it's not a priority, when you have all these other beautiful places to explore.
Have a great trip. Safe travels!

Posted by
8445 posts

I would not add Bern. It's a nice city, but it's not in the mountains. I might shave a night from Varenna and stay in Milan the last night. But no bad decisions here.

Posted by
201 posts

4 nights in Luzern may be a bit much unless you do more than one mountain excursion. We currently are booked for 2 nights in Luzern with a TBL walking tour, concert at the KKL on arrival day and Mt. PIlatus on Day 2. Previously we did a walking tour there, noon concert at Jesuit Church, a one hour boat cruise and a day trip to Mt. Rigi when we stayed at Hotel Balm in Meggen. Our upcoming 4 nights in Wengen after Luzern is beginning to feel like too short a time there. Bern was fine for us as a day trip from Villars-sur-Ollon, where we spent a timeshare week and found plenty of day trips from there via rental car, so maybe one night in Bern will suffice?

Posted by
782 posts

Thank you all for your feedback! I am thinking of tweaking some more based on your comments!

Posted by
11322 posts

Nice plan overall! I would shave a night from Luzern and add it to Wengen. 3 nights is also sufficient for Varenna, IMO. You might enjoy a last night in Milan if only to make certain you suffer no delays getting to your flight.