going to switzerland in late sept. 2 people, 74 and 77. Want to travel from Rome to switzerland. Am interested in Lucerne, maybe a Swiss train, and want to spend about 3-5 days there. Any advice on how to get from Rome to Switzerland and how to spend the days there would be helpful.
Do you just want to get from Rome to Switzerland in one hop, or visit places on the way?
The answer to that depends on what else you are doing before your departure from Rome. Will you already have visited other places in Italy?
And what are you doing after Switzerland (where, by what method of transport)?
If you just want to get there. fly from Rome to Zürich, then get a train from Zürich airport station to Luzern (70 minutes).
If you want to do it in stages: Train Rome to Florence (2-3 nights); Train via Milan to Stresa on Lake Maggiore (1-2 nights); train to Luzern (however many nights you want). Route via Brig, Spiez, Interlaken for a good train ride through the Alps.
Once in Luzern (how many nights?) you can do trips on the lake, up mountains. Official website here: http://www.luzern.com/en/index.cfm
So far that is just a few ideas, it will need fleshing out and looking up transport details.
It is a longish trip from Rome to Luzern of 6 hours and 41 minutes but can be done in a day. You can research the trains at www.sbb.ch/en or www.trenitalia.com. You could spend 2-3 nights in Luzern then take a scenic train. Did you pick Luzern for a reason? There are other locations you might enjoy as much or more, depending on what you expect to experience in Switzerland.
As to advising exact itinerary, it would help to know where you will go after Switzerland and where you will be prior to Rome. Are you flying into Rome and planning to fly out of Switzerland?
I would not travel so far if you cannot devote at least 4 nights.