Hello! My husband and I are planning to spend 10 days in northern Italy & Switzerland during the winter months, and would love some insider tips on what to see. We would love to encounter some Christmas markets, and primarily small villages where we can enjoy great food and drinks. We will be traveling primarily by train after we fly into Milan or Zurich. Thank you!
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440 posts
Try Chat gpt as your plans are too vague to comment on at the moment.
Posted by
Washington DC
29851 posts
This webpage lists ten Christmas markets in Switzerland; perhaps it will help.
Edited to add the missing link--and it's 17 markets rather than 10: https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/experiences/cities-culture/listicles/christmas-markets/
Rail service is reliable and frequent in Switzerland, but there are lots of mountains, so some trips are quite slow. Keep geography in mind as you try to put together your itinerary. Similarly, there are not a lot of places to cross from Switzerland into Italy.
Check Swiss rail schedules here: https://www.sbb.ch/en. If you cover a fair number of miles in Switzerland, you may benefit from the Half Fare Card or some sort of rail pass. That can only be determined after you have a relatively solid itinerary.
Check Italian rail schedules here: https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html
Please be more specific about your travel dates if you can. Do you plan to travel in December 2025? Folks here might know of date-specific activities they can recommend.