My husband and I are going to Switzerland & Italy in September of 2016 . We haven't made any decisions yet and would like some advice from veteran travelers. We are thinking about flying in to Zurich, enjoying some quaint towns. Then we would like to train through some Alps, and end up in Cinque Terre. Can anyone give me some ideas, especially about what train line to take. Is Zurich the best place for us to fly into? What city should we depart from?
Thank you so much!
Cynthia
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32212 posts
cynthia,
More information would help. For example......
- Which "quaint towns" do you want to visit?
- How long is your trip?
- Is there anywhere else in Italy that you want to visit besides the Cinque Terre?
- Which of the five towns do you want to stay?
To answer your question, Zürich is a good place to start your trip. There's a rail station right at the airport and that makes it easy to get where you're going. I'd suggest going from the airport directly to Lucerne and spending a few days there while you recover from jet lag.
If you're touring northern Italy, Milan / MXP is usually the best place to depart from.
To visit "some alps", most here really like the Berner Oberland and the Lauterbrunnen Valley. You might want to check out the RS Switzerland guidebook if they have a copy at your local Library.
Posted by
Green Bay
20143 posts
You might save a couple of bucks flying to Geneva from Dulles. Oodles of quaint towns in western Switzerland, full of cheese and chocolate. Relatively straight forward train connections to Milan. Might stop for a few days at Stresa on Lake Maggiore.
Posted by
Los Angeles
4412 posts
there are basically 2 airports in CH so it's an easy thing to research fares.