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Switzerland and Italian Dolomites - 2 weeks

Posted by on

Hi,

Me and a friend are travelling to Switzerland and the Italian Dolomites in July 2019, having a bit of an issue wrapping our heads around especially the transportation/route portion. Below is what we are thinking. Need some insight as to if the route, train travels, destinations seem accurate. Any insight and suggestions much appreciated. Thank you!

Day 1- Fri, July 12 - Arrive in Paris from Toronto. Paris to Montreux - 1 hour flight in the evening.

Day 2 - Saturday, July 13 - Montreux explore, overnight in Montreux .

Day 3 - Sunday, July 14 - Montreux to Interlaken (via Zweismmen) on the Goldenpass Train. Will use Swiss travel pass so no additional train fees, other than seat booking fee of approx. $10USD per person. Is this correct?

Day 4 - Monday July 15 - Overnight at Interlaken - Bernese Oberland Region hike all day.

Day 5 - Tuesday, July 16 - Overnight at Interlaken - Bernese Oberland Region hike all day.

Day 6 - Wednesday, July 17 - Overnight at Interlaken - Bernese Oberland Region hike all day.

Day 7 - Thursday, July 18 - Day trip from Interlaken to Lucern. Will use Swiss travel pass so no additional train fees on local train. Do you recommend we book the seats for this? Alternatively, should we take/is there another scenic train that we should be taking instead of the regular train from Interlaken to Lucern? Overnight at Lucern.

Day 8 - Friday, July 19 - Lucern to Chur via regular train (Swiss travel pass so no additional train fees). Overnight at Chur.

Day 9 - Saturday, July 20 - Chur to St. Mortiz on the Bernina Express. Swiss travel pass so no additional train fees, other than seat booking fees of around $10USD. Is this correct? Visit St. Mortiz for 4-5 hours and then take the Bernina Express from St. Moritz to Tirano. Swiss travel pass so no additional train fees, other than seat booking fees of around $10USD. Is this correct? Overnight at Tirano.

Day 10 - Sunday, July 21 - Tirano to Bolzano via train. Swizz pass will stop working in Italy, do you recommend we buy point to point train ticket for this leg of the trip, or another rail pass? After arriving at Bolzano, planning to rent a car at Bolzano and drive for 1-hour over to Val Gardena. Overnight at Val Gardena. Any recommendations for car rental at Bolzano for the next 3-4 days in the Dolomites? Or do you recommend that we take a bus from Bolzano to Val Gardena (is there a bus?) and book hiking trips in the Dolomites for the next few days?

Day 11 - Monday, July 22 - Val Gardena to Adolf Munkel Trail in Odle. Any recommendations for alternate transportation as opposed to rental car? Overnight in Val Gardena.

Day 12 - Tuesday, July 23 - Val Gardena to the Dolomites hike – Seceda - Pieralongia. Overnight in Val Gardena.

Day 13 - Wednesday, July 24 - Val Gardena to the Dolomites hike – TBC. Overnight in Val Gardena. should we go anywhere else? Open to not being stationed at Val Gardena for the Dolomites portion of the trip.

Day 14 - Thursday, July 25 - Val Gardena to Bolzano to return car (if we rent car, would prefer alternate transport if available from Days 10-14). Take the train from Bolzano to Venice.

Day 15 - Friday, July 26 - Free day. Venice and/or day trip to surrounding areas. Suggestions welcome.

Day 16 - Saturday, July 27 - Free day. Venice and/or day trip to surrounding areas. Suggestions welcome

Day 17 - Sunday, July 28 - flight from Venice back to Toronto.

Posted by
21155 posts

Hmm. Not bad but you need to be more precise in some of your destinations.

July 12: How are you getting to Montreux? Are you actually connecting at CDG to Geneva (about 1 hour), then taking the train to Montreux (about 1 hour)?

July 14: A reservation fee is not really necessary. But it is 8 CHF if you want one, roughly equivalent to 8 USD.

July 14 to 17: Stay in Lauterbrunnen, or Muerren, or Wengen to access hiking in the Berner Oberland, not Interlaken.

July 20: The reservation fee on the Bernina Express is 16 CHF, roughly equivalent to 16 USD.
July 21: Ditto.

July 21 to 25: Pick a definite location, suggest Ortisei.

Posted by
3 posts

Hello fellow travelers, helalbushra and I are travelling together.

Just adding our semi-finalized itinerary. We switched things around a bit, now heading from Paris to Zurich instead of Montreux and included the glacier express since we are thinking of getting the swiss travel pass.

What is your recommendation on the best Swiss Travel Pass? Should we get the Swiss Travel Pass consecutive or the flex?

We would really appreciate your recommendation on how best to optimize this itinerary to make it cost-efficient. (Booking hostels over AirBnB's?) What other tips do you have?

We plan on doing a lot of hiking wherever possible so any recommendations on that would be really appreciated. We plan on booking everything by this week based on our preliminary findings and of course, your feedback.

 Day 1 - Fri, July 12th

• Arr. Paris at noon
• Depart for Zurich via Train (Catch the 4:30 or trains after 4:30 p.m.)
• O.night in Zurich for 2 nights

 Day2 - Sat, July 13th

• Explore Zurich

• Onight in Zurich

 Day 3 - Sun, July 14th

• Zurich to Lucerne

• Onight in Lucerne
• Explore Lucerne

 Day 4 -7 - Mon, July 15th

• Activate Swiss Travel Pass on this day!!

• Lucerne to Interlaken and on to Grindelwald (4 nights)
• Tue, July 16th, Wed, July 17th, Thur, July 18th in the Bernese Oberland Region

 Day 8 - Fri, July 19th
• Grindelwald to Interlaken to Montreux on GoldenPass
• O.night in Montreux for one night

 Day 9 - Sat, July 20th

• Montreux to Zermatt
• Onight in Zermatt for one night

 Day 10 - Sun, July 21st
• Zermatt to Chur on Glacier Express

• Onight in Chur for one night

 Day 11 - Mon, July 22nd
• Bernina Express from Chur to Tirano
• Swiss Pass expires on this day
• St. Moritz to Tirano

 Day 12 – 15 - Tue, July 23rd

• Tirano to Bolzona to Val Gardena

• O.night in Val Gardena for 4 nights
• Wed, July 24th, Thur, July 25th and Fri, July 26th at Val Gardena - Dolomites hike - TBC

 Day 16 - Sat, July 27th
• Val Gardena to Bolzano O.night in Venice for 1 night
• Bolzano to Venice

 Day 17 - Sun, July 28th
• Return Home

Posted by
33 posts

Hi,

For Italy, have a look at Castelrotto as a base and hiking in Alp di siusi.... We visited recently and it was amazing. Also Lago Di Braies is worth visiting. For Switzerland we stayed in Lauterbrunnen, couldn't hike much as most of the trails were closed, but visited Murren and Gimmelwald, it was beautiful.

Posted by
17432 posts

I suggest you skip the second night in Zurich and go to Luzern on Day 2. You can walk around the Altstadt area upon arrival on Day 1, or in the morning of Day 2 before catching the train to Luzern. That is enough time for Zurich.

For the Dolomites, I like your plan of staying in Val Gardena, which offers a wide range of hiking on either side of the valley. You can reach Alps di Siusi by lift from Ortesei or farther up the Valley for a hike on the beautiful Meadow. ( Or youncan rent mountain bikes and ride many of the trails up there).

Then you can hike the other side ( Puez-Odle area) on another day. And maybe head over to Alta Badia for your third day.

It is nice but not necessary to have a car in the Dolomites. ( We have done it both ways). Public transport ( bus) is good and designed to serve hikers. Many hotels will provide a pass for local buses to encourage visitors to use them.

If you decide to rent a car in Bolzano, you may have to go to the airport to pick it up ( we did). One advantage of the car is that you can drive yourselves to Venice and turn it in there at Piazzale Roma. There should be no extra drop fee for this. Be VERY careful to observe the speed limit going over the causeway into Venice. There are three speed cameras and you can get a speeding ticket from each one.

Posted by
1632 posts

Your itinerary looks very busy. You must be very fit in order to accomplish what you have planned. Summer in the Bolzano area can be brutally muggy and rainy. For those days, have Plan B ready in case of bad weather. Alpine weather is fickle.

Posted by
3 posts

Thank you all!

@Lola - do you recommend then, spending 2 nights in Luzern or should we do:

  • one night in Zurich
  • one night in Luzern
  • 5 nights in Bernese Oberland region? (Currently looking to spend 4 nights in Grindelwald) If we do 5 nights in that region is that too many nights to spend there - It looks like there should be plenty of hiking we can do but just wanted to get your thoughts.

Kindly advise.
Thanks,

Posted by
17432 posts

Since you are interested in hiking, I suggest you go straight to Luzern and spend the first two nights there. It is only a bit over an hour from Zurich airport, and the two-night stay will save you changing hotels. And you will have a full day to enjoy what Luzern offers, including the excursion by boat, cogwheel train and cablecar to Rigi. There are lots of nice trails with. Ire’s over the lake at both the mid- mountain area ( Rigi Kaltbad) and the summit (Rigi Kulm)..

The “standard “ route is boat from Luzern to Vitznau; cogwheel train to the summit; spend time there for a hike if the weather permits; descend to Rigi Kaltbad on foot or by cogwheel train; more walking there if you wish; then cablecar down (waaay down) to the lake at Weggis, where you catch a boat back to Luzern.

It is a great day and all legs are fully covered on the Swiss Pass ( unlike Pilatus).

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