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Switzerland & Italy 12 Night Itinerary

Posted by on

Hello,

I'm in the process of planning a summer vacation to Italy and Switzerland for a family of seven. I have been to both countries before, but will be bringing my parents and siblings for their first Europe experience. My dad's grandparents were born in Switzerland (Bern & Grindelwald) so he obviously wants to see those towns. I'm trying to plan out my itinerary for Switzerland where we can visit Bern & Grindelwald, but spend most of the time in Berner Oberland area. We plan to fly out of Zurich.

Question: Where do I stay in Berner Oberland? I want to see Schilthornbahn and Jungfraubahn. I was thinking Murren. Is this the best location for families? If so, any hotel recommendations? Please see my itinerary below.

Day 1 : Rome
Day 2: Rome
Day 3: Rome
Day 4: Florence
Day 5: Florence
Day 6: Venice
Day 7: Venice
Day 8: Bern?
Day 9: Murren? or the best recommended place to stay?
Day 10: same as day 9
Day 11: same as day 9
Day 12: same as day 9 or Zurich

Thank you in advance for your suggestions!!

One last note: I was told to take the train from Venice to Geneva then to Bern? Does this sound correct for the shortest route?

Posted by
28065 posts

The fastest trains between Venice and Bern do not seem to go through Geneva [edited]. You can take a look at your options on the Deutsche Bahn website, clicking on "Show Details" for a particular departure to see where you'd have to change trains (commonly in Milan, plus possibly other stops). If you want more details on stops the train makes, click on "Show Intermediate Stops".

If you're interested in knowing whether one of the routes is more scenic, post again and probably someone else will be able to assist. (It's possible the person who suggested the Geneva [edited] routing had scenery in mind; I do not know.)

For a transatlantic flight out of Zurich, I would not spend the previous night in Murren or anywhere else in that area, because I think it's risky to be that far away from the departure airport. The Swiss trains are phenomenal, but it's my philosophy always to be within an affordable taxi ride of the airport since I don't want to have to buy a replacement airline ticket if something goes badly wrong with my planned public transportation. I wouldn't say you have to stay in Zurich itself, though.

Posted by
8889 posts

I was told to take the train from Venice to Geneva then to Bern? Does this sound correct for the shortest route?

No, that is doubling back.

The fastest trains between Venice and Bern do not seem to go through Zurich

Yes, but the OP isn't going from Italy to Zürich. There are two main routes from Italy to Switzerland (1) The Gotthard route, which goes to Zürich and (2) the BLS (Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon) which goes to Bern or Geneva. The second one is the logical route if you are heading for Mürren.

But, you don't need to know the best route. Just feed Venice to Mürren into your rail favourite route planner (for example SBB: http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html ) and it will find the quickest route.

Mürren to Zürich airport is OK if you have an afternoon flight, but not a morning flight. My suggestion, do Venice - Mürren - Bern. Saves doubling back, and Bern - Zürich airport is only 1½ hours.

Posted by
28065 posts

Sorry; didn't mean to confuse anyone. Somewhere along the way I got confused by the flight departure point and thought the issue was whether the most direct route from Venice to Bern went through Zurich. I've edited my earlier post.

Posted by
451 posts

Murren is a good base. Grindlewald is in the next valley over, an easy day trip from Murren. I would stay in Bern before your flight.

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