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From Torino to Lugano or Zermatt for 3 days?

Posted by (Michigan) on

We will be traveling to Torino next month, flying in and out of Milan. We will be in Torino for four days for work, but then have some freedom to explore for four more days before returning home. I'm wondering if it makes sense to head directly from Torino to Lugano or Zermatt, maybe staying 2-3 nights in one of those places. We don't want to travel farther from Milan to see other points south and east in Italy on this trip - not enough time. I'm also hoping to find some cooler locations for this mid-summer trip, so Switzerland keeps popping up on my radar! :0) We will be traveling with carryon luggage and are comfortable with train and boat schedules and being flexible.

We will have 3-4 nights free to travel after exploring Torino, but we will need to return to Milan for flight home. We will likely stay in Milan for that last night.

Is there enough time to make it worthwhile to visit Switzerland? We were there four summers ago, in Lucerne and Engelberg, and we loved it so much we have been dreaming about returning. However, part of that dream includes the Bernese Oberland, and I know we can't do that this time...so I'm trying to see if travel times make sense for this shorter trip to get a taste of another part of the country?

Thanks for your help!
Laurie

Posted by
20178 posts

There are a couple of connections that will get you between Milan and Lauterbrunnen in 3 1/2 hours, same travel time as going to Zermatt, so if you are itching to go, go. Yes, Lugano in 1 1/2 hours is closer.

Posted by
8889 posts

Torino to Zermatt may look near on something lie google maps, unfortunately there are mountains in the way. Zermatt is at the end of a valley which opens out to the north into the Rhone valley, wrong direction.
You would need to go east to Milan, north past Lake Maggiore and through the Simplon tunnel to Brig, then back west and south to Zermatt. Total about 5 hours by train.

You could do it slightly quicker by car (3½ hours) as you could take a more direct route to the Simplon pass.
See route here: https://www.openstreetmap.org/directions?engine=graphhopper_car&route=45.0678%2C7.6825%3B46.0677%2C7.7770#map=9/45.7004/7.7687

Lugano is a much easier option as it is on the south side of the Alps, and easy to get to from Milan.
Torino to Lugano via Milan is ~3 hours.

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