Itinerary and which rail pass to buy - family of 5

I see you have done some good research. Had you noticed that you can't take a car to Zermatt - similar situation with parking in Lauterbrunnen to get up the hills - you need to park some distance down the valley and take the train to Zermatt.

Are you intending to leave from Italy and leave the car there or return to Switzerland to drop the car? (I see you have answered that bit but others may not). Are you aware of the massive drop charge to leave the Swiss car in Italy? Do you know about the IDP (International Driver Permit) you'll have to have in Italy and a good idea in Switzerland (also required in France if you pop into there)? Do you need help with the quirks and money pit traps of driving in Italy?

Not trying to divert you, just to learn the limits (if any) of your driving law knowledge...

Are the Airbnbs you are looking at (any booked yet?) in the boonies or in town?

Any reason your last 3 are in Zurich rather than somewhere on Lake Lucerne, perhaps Luzern which is gorgeous?

Hm - we thought about keeping the car for travel through Italy and then would drop the car off when we return to Zurich. We would spend the last 2 days in Zurich without a car.

We heard you could park your car at train station outside of Zermatt and take the train in. We just wanted to touch in for one night and see the Matterhorn and have dinner on our way to Cinque Terre.

As for Italy, I did not know about the IDP. I also am not clear on tolls, etc. We are flex taking trains but we have an aggressive travel itinerary in Italy as well and do value being able to go when we want to go instead of spending time waiting for trains.

I hope you are aware that most towns in Cinque Terre are car free as well? So the train is a much easier way to get to them compared to driving.

I see "waiting for trains" twice.

Very unlikely more than an hour, and that's only on the most rural routes and only if you just missed one.

They run to a timetable, usually a clock face timetable so they are the same times each hour, and they run to time so not a lot of guessing.

They are frequent , at least hourly, often half hourly or more frequently, all day.

I think your itinerary is a bit much/ambitious and has left very little room for poor weather, soaking in the area, etc. For example, 1 night in Zermatt….assuming you want to see the Matterhorn, which is notoriously covered in clouds. If you’re there 1 night you’re just going to have to hope you get lucky, otherwise it’s a bit of a wasted trip. The views in the actual town of Zermatt aren’t much to write home about. The real views are up the Gornergrat. Your wish list in Lauterbrunnen is not realistic for 3 days. You don’t say how long you plan to be in Italy, but you’re talking about a 6+ hour drive to get down there and 7-8 hour drive back to Zürich to fly out. So it’s very out of the way, especially if you only have a few days there. If you’re insistent on Cinque Terre, it would make more sense to fly out of Milan to avoid all the backtracking.

As talked about above, a car in Switzerland is really not helpful and often just an excuse for you to have to pay a bunch of parking fees to basically not use it. Also, it takes basically the same amount of time to train to Cinque Terre as it does to drive there, so just use the train if it’s a must on your list.

Have you thought about just doing a trip to Switzerland or switching to a flight that’s into Zurich and out of Milan? These things would make a big difference in your overall experience. Especially with kids.

If you’re going to keep your flights and wishlist, then you need to remove Zermatt or add time there. 3 days at the end of your trip in Zurich seems unnecessary, unless you have a reason why you want to visit an international banking city. Zurich obviously has attractions, but it seems out of place in your itinerary when you need more days elsewhere. I’d do something like this….

*Land in Zurich, train to Lauterbrunnen (or better option - Wengen) - 4-6 nights
*Train to Zermatt - 2-3 Nights
*Train to Cinque Terre or another option - to justify the 15 hours of roundtrip that Cinque Terre requires, I’d think you’d want atleast 4 days there. You’re using up 2 days of your vacation to get there and back, so if you picked somewhere in Switzerland you’d get those days back
*Train to Milan or Zurich to fly home

if you don't know IDP you may not know ZTL or Tutor either.

International Driver Permit - obtain at AAA/CAA for something around $20 and take your photos with you or they will do them. Must be presented to police with your current diving licence.

ZTL - abbreviation for the Italian for zone of limited traffic,you MUST NOT drive there when it is active or you will get a steep fine eventually in the mail (patrolled by lots of cameras) and a ding from the car rental place in the range of 50€ for telling the police who you are. If the light is red, and/or the sign prohibits entry at the time you are there - do NOT pass the light or sign, and don't get in the position where you can't avoid it.

Tutor - speed detection system of cameras which measures your instant speed and average speed. There is no built in fudge in the speed. If it says 130 it does not mean 131. If it says 50 it means 50 - when you pass the sign, not lifting off and coasting or you are liable to get another of those expensive fines. Note that even if there is not a 50 sign as soon as you pass the town/village/city name sign, unless posted otherwise, the max allowed in built up areas is 50 kph. Expect lower speeds in the urban areas as low as 10kph or 25 or 30 or 40. They mean it.

Driving in Switzerland you must slow to the posted speed in highway tunnels - usually 80 kph, could be lower, before you reach the illuminated signs. If there are chevrons on the road in tunnels you must keep the separation. Signs on tunnel walls point you to the nearest safe room (highlighted in green light) in case of fire or other tunnel emergency. You must not enter a tunnel against a red light.

With three kids under 16 you should get the Half Fare Card, which gives you half price travel for the adults, and free travel for the kids. That way your trip up the Schilthorn etc. just became more than three times cheaper.

But with the HFC you may just want to use public transit for everything.
A car indeed allows you to stop and admire the landscape. However a train means that you do not have to stop and admire the landscape... (And the kids in the back aren't going to see much in a car...)

But this also depends a bit on where your airbnb's are.

Wow, thank you so much for all these helpful tips. I am a AAA member, so will go get an IDL there.

We are in Zurich for a concert and meeting friends there. I agree, a lot of time there, otherwise. Zermatt was meant to be a convenient and pretty point to stop in between and break up the drive to Cinque Terre. We have an apartment we are renting in Levanto which includes a parking space.

Switzerland is quite pricey and my children really wanted to see Italy, so we felt this was a good way to spend 2 weeks. We are used to driving a lot in the United States, but haven't heard of these times when we aren't allowed to drive in Italy. We like the idea of flexibility because rushing my kids to make trains and carry their luggage might be a bit too much for us and their first European trip.

Also, our Italy trip: 2 nights CT, 3 nights Firenze, 2 nights Lake Lugano, then head back up to Zurich. We are doing a loop. I just mapped it, so seemed like the drive times between towns were not too bad - the longest was Zermatt to CT (5.5 hours) and Florence to Lake Lugano (5 hours). And we hope to stop in Parma to check out the town on the way to Lake Lugano.

If I skipped the Jungfrau glacier, maybe we get some hiking in Lauterbrunnen Valley and check out the towns and maybe do some rafting in Interlaken?