Planning Suggestions - Switzerland & Italy - Fall 2025

Definitely go straight to Lucerne. Then take that extra day and give it to Wengen to make sure you have a day with nice weather. That said, you could use another day in both Florence and Rome.

I agree with Jules completely.
In addition, I think you have too many destinations for 16 nights. Is there one destination you could eliminate? After awhile on the road, you need a day to slow down, nurse a cold, let it rain, do laundry, and/or just do nothing.
Also, Wengen to Florence will pretty much be a travel day.
Two days= 3 nights in Rome isn't very long- would you be heartbroken to eliminate Rome and just stay in northern parts?
How many folks in your group/ages? interests? Priorities? It's natural to be overwhelmed at the beginning of the process.
You are doing your homework and planning way in advance- Kudos! You can really plan this yourself, as you have so much time. However, travel agents cost money, one way or the other . Which is more important to you?
I think you can do this!

Ps I love Venice and I'm going back for my fourth time. Please Search all your cities here and review the posted responses. I have not found the Venice of which you speak.

I don’t agree with the number of nights you plan on spending in most of your locations. How about:
Lauterbrunnen Valley (Wengen) – five nights: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/switzerland/lauterbrunnen-valley. Click on the + sign on the right of At a Glance. You want to add a night when staying in the mountains. This is the land where the weather rules.
Traveling from Wengen to Italy will take all day and involve a minimum of five connections if you’re lucky. Go to Wengen on arrival day.
Lucerne – three nights.
Venice – three nights.
Florence – three nights for Florence only. If you take day trips add a night per trip.
Rome – four nights if you include Vatican City. If not then spend three nights in Rome. Book multi-city flights flying in and out of Zurich and Rome.
Have you booked plane tickets, hotel or Airbnb in the past? If so, no need to work with a travel agent. Instead, buy: https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/switzerland-guidebook and https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/italy-guidebook.

I appreciate the replies so far. Others, please keep them coming. @MaryPat - do you mean to travel straight to Wengen upon arriving in Zurich? I thought we would work North to South which would put us starting the trip in Lucerne. If I have to give up a city to make sure I have enough time in my other choices, I suppose I would give up Venice. We could probably extend the trip but I want to keep budget in mind. Of course adding 1-2 nights to a 16 night trip may not make that much difference in the grand scheme of things.

Putting Luzern after Wengen makes your trip to Italy a bit easier and, to my mind, more scenic. Whether you are heading to Venice or Florence next, you first have to get to Milan. Take a look at the rail map of Switzerland and you will see that there are 2 major routes between Interlaken and Milan:

The shorter, faster route goes from Interlaken southwest to Spiez, and then through two successive long tunnels to Domodossola in Italy, and from there to Milan.

The other route goes north and east to Luzern, then straight south past Lugano to Milan. This route also has a long tunnel, but there are trains that avoid the tunnel and they are much more scenic. This makes for a long day if you start from Interlaken, but not if you start at Luzern.

The Spiez route it being impacted by track work south of Domodossola, which requires a bus link across a closed section this summer. That will probably occur next summer as well, although likely not into late September.

https://www.travelswitzerland.com/en/download/swiss-travel-system-map-en-2023/?wpdmdl=14294&masterkey=63a023c8da36c

do you mean travel to Wengen upon arriving in Zurich?

That is correct. From Zürich Flughafen (Zurich airport’s train station) take the train that involves no more than three connections to Wengen. The whole journey takes 3h. Once there allow five nights so you can recover from jet lag and explore this very scenic valley. You won’t be bored, there’s plenty to do.
Pack light because it’s a hassle to haul luggage. Instead do laundry when you can. This means slow down so you have time to find the laundry mat, etc. If you stay at an Airbnb request a washer (and dryer or lots of hangers). It’s always wise to allow some down time.

@MaryPat...thank you so much. I wish I had your travel expertise. I am overwhelmed already. I want to make the most of this trip as it will most likely be a once and done for me and my husband, at least for these 2 countries. I also don't want to get tired of travel and wish I were home already. I know I want to do Florence & Rome (for Sistine Chapel at the very least) in Italy. Switzerland for its beautiful scenery. I just hate to go to these countries and not see at least the best highspots of both. Arghh!

You are visiting the best areas in both countries. It’s a shorter distance to travel from Luzern to Florence (S.M.N. station) than to Venice. Both places will take a full day to get to and require two train connections. It will not be a fun day. You can buy decent food at the train stations and enjoy a picnic lunch while riding the rails.
Buy tickets for the Uffizi Gallery before leaving home. Otherwise, you’ll waste four hours standing in a line that barley moves.
Feel free to send me a personal message if you have questions by clicking on my name.

Your travel day tinto Italy can be fun if you start in Luzern and take the scenic route over the Gotthard Pass to Lugano, then proceed to Milan. From Milan, it is 2.5 hours to Venice, or 2 hours to Florence.

From Luzern to Lugano, you even have the option of riding a boat down the lake to meet the train to Lugano. The easiest way to do this is with the First Class Gotthard Panorama Express:

https://www.travelswitzerland.com/en/download/gotthard-panorama-express-news-2024/?wpdmdl=46449&refresh=65efc43669f711710212150

You can also put together the journey on different boats and trains to make it less expensive. If you choose the boat + train option, I suggest you plan an overnight in Lugano instead of traveling all the way to Venice or Florence the same day.

If you are going to visit both Venice and Florence, it makes sense to go from Milan to Venice first, then south to Florence and then Rome, flying home from Rome airport. If you skip Venice, then go straight to Florence from Milan, and finish in Rome. That airport has more and better flight o[tions than either Florence or Venice.

...have heard mixed reviews about Venice...very dirty and smelly and shouldn't be included...

In my opinion, nothing could be farther from the truth. Sure, here and there there might be something one could consider dirty and smelly, but a whole lot less than most large metro areas. In fact it's very clean compared to most cities. Several trips to Venice and can honestly say we never encounterd anything that could be classified as dirty and smelly.

Venice is one of the truly unique places on the planet, and you should not excluded it based on what seem to be unfounded recommendations.