Italian Lakes/Switzerland Vacation Help

kkimmet - Greetings and welcome to the fabulous forum and congratulations on your trip this summer. The locations you chose are wonderful family destinations. For 10 to 12 days, you and the family will have the opportunity to see quite a bit.

A possible itinerary to follow can be like this:

(Arrive in Milan)

Milan - 2 Nights (Day trip to Lugano)

Lake Como (Towns of Menaggio or Lecco for a base) - 4 Nights

Zermatt - 3 Nights (Day trip Matterhorn and Thermal Quellen Brigerbad in Brig)

Lucerne - 3 Nights (Day trip to Mt. Rigi or Mt. Pilatus)

You can catch train straight to Zurich airport from Lucerne.

This itinerary gives you 4 bases

You do not mention if you are traveling by train or by car. If train, you can easily do a day trip to Lake Como from Milan, riding up to Varenna then ferry hopping. Train is only 1 hour. Lugano from Milan, with the right train, is 1:20 or so., making it a potential day trip as well. Booking Milan, Stresa, Zermatt is nice. I'd recommend Interlaken as a alternate stop before the train to Zurich airport (2.5 hrs). From Interlaken you can explore the lake there as well as the Lauterbrunnen region.

Great information...thank you so much! We can rent a car or use rail system..what do you recommend? Car for part of the trip? Any recommendations would be great!

Milan 2 nights see Varena at Lake Como on a day trip simply by train.
Training from Zermatt is not easy as mountains are between Italy and Switzerland.
Also, FYI Zermatt is very expensive for lodging unless u stay in hostel and weather is iffy and changeable quickly. It took me 2 summers to reach it has storms came in ea summer during my plans. However third year I was successful for 2 out of 3 days. There are other options as beautiful as Zermatt if u wish for an alternate. Like Berner Oberland area, gorgeous area with the Jungfrau, also.
Then Lucerne as your final city. You must book lodging ASAP for any summer travel these are very popular areas and fill up quickly.
Study the train routes as this will determine how u reach from base to base. As a yearly traveler to Switzerland and Europe the above is what I have succeeded with for over 20 years.

You do not need a car and it will not benefit u for your suggested itinerary. Stay with the train but study the routes in advance, it will help u plan better.

Lecco was mentioned as a base for Lake Como and I wonder why. Not a great choice. Varenna is a much better alternative.
And from Varenna, the railroad takes you over the Alps via the scenic Bernina Railway to the St Moritz area, which I would consider over Zermatt. Scenery is different, but equally stunning in my opinion (at least in winter - never been to either in summer). And you save many hours of travel time - Zermatt takes a while to reach...
From St Moritz area, it is quite easy to reach Luzern in about 4 hours.

I avoid driving only because I end up not getting to see as much of the scenery and it just causes general fatigue for the driver. But with 4 people you may find driving more economical. However, unlike the US, you cannot (or should not) rent in one country and think you cna drop it off in another. Doesn't really work that way. And with Switzerland not in the EU, that presents its own challenges.