Zurich to Italy

Christine, you might try the Engadine region. Head via Chur to the Samedan-St Mortiz-Pontresina area, and you can easily reach Italy from there. Look for signage in Romansh language around there.

I can highly recommend the route we took this last trip, in late September, via the Bernina Route. After four hiking trips to Switzerland ( including Zermatt, Berner Oberland, and other places) I wanted to finally ride this scenic route on our way to Italy (destination Venice). The Bernina Express is reputed to be the most scenic of all the Swiss scenic train rides, and that proved to be true. We rode a regular (regional) train instead of the designated one with panorama cars, but the view is the same---and we had a car practically to ourselves so we could change sides to see it all.

We flew into Zurich and took the train straight to Chur, transferring there for a train to Samedan in the heart of the Engadine region. We spent two nights in this village and had a full day for a great hike, a traverse above the village with a gondola ride down to Celerina, and short train ride back.

Other villages nearby, also on the route, are St. Moritz and Pontresina. There is fantastic hiking from all of them, including a famous ( fairly easy) traverse from one lift to another above Pontresina. Google "Muottas Muragl to Alp Languard" to read about it. Most of the hotels include a travel pass good on trains, buses, and lifts in the area with a 2-night stay. This makes hiking from point to point very easy and inexpensive ( free).

From Pontresina the route continues over Bernina Pass, past peaks, hanging glaciers, and little tarns to amazing views south to the valley far below. You end the Swiss portion at Tirano on the border with Italy. From there an Italian train takes you straight to Varenna in 1.5 hours.

Thanks so much Lola and Stan. Yes, I am looking at the Pontresina/Samedan area right now and it looks fabulous. Any hotel recommendations?

I stayed at the Gasthaus zum Weissen Kreuz in Samedan, and liked it very much, but have nothing else to compare it to there. I can say you can have a pleasant hike or short local train ride from there to St Moritz and see how old money lives. Some of the smaller villages you can get to by local train are also charming.

Christine,

I'd also suggest the route mentioned in the previous replies, as that will allow you to take a trip on the scenic Bernina Express (Chur to Tirano). From Tirano it's an easy trip to Varenna. If you decide to spend a night or two in Chur, I'd definitely recommend Ambiente Hotel Freieck. It's not far from the station (although I'd recommend a cab with luggage), the staff are great and the rooms very comfortable.

We stayed at Garni Laager in Samedan. They have just four rooms, above their bakery; one of these is an apartment for self-catering.

http://laagers.ch

Breakfast is very good, with some items from the bakery, plus cheese and meat. They do serve lunch but there is no restaurant for dinner. We looked at menus for dining out but everything looked pretty expensive, so we chose to cook in the apartment. If you like taking half-board in Switzerland, Zum Weissen Kreuz looks like a good option.

I need to add something. If you are coming from Zurich, the route to Samedan splits into two possibilities at Landquart (after Sargans and before Chur). They rejoin at Bever, just before Samedan. The ticket we bought from a machine said it was good on both routes..

A Swiss woman sitting across from us on the train advised that she much preferred the western route, Chur and Tiefelcastel, over the eastern route,which goes through a long tunnel after Klosters. The western route, which coincides in part with the Glacier express route! does some interesting spiral turns and crosses over the famous Landwasser viaduct. Our train provided commentary on the high points. I would strongly recommend going this way.

http://www.amazingplacesonearth.com/landwasser-viaduct-switzerland/

Thanks everyone for the great advice. We are now planning on taking the train via the Bernina Route with a two night stop in Samedan. After flying into Zurich, we need a couple of days to get over jetlag. Luzern? Appenzell? Any other ideas?

Christine,

Lucerne is definitely worth a stop (IMO). It's an incredibly beautiful city, and there are some good sightseeing possibilities there (cruises on the lake, trips to Mt. Pilatus, etc). Appenzell is also good, but it's much smaller so not as much in terms of museums or whatever. It's a great area for hiking and nature though!

If you would like something a bit different, you could stay up on Rigi, above the lake by Luzern ( often called Lake Lucerne but actually it is Vierwaldstättersee). You can easily get there from Zurich by taking the train to Arth-Goldau and transferring to a cogwheel train up the mountain. There is a hotel at the top ( Rigi Kulm) where Mark Twain stayed. We found that one a bit expensive so rode down the lake side of the mountain to Rigi Kaltbad, a little resort area. We stayed at Hotel Alpina, with great views over the lake:

http://www.alpina-rigi.ch

Or there is the Edelweiss, which has its own train stop:

http://www.edelweiss-rigi.ch

Another way to get to Rigi Kaltbad is to take the train to Luzern, boat to Weggis, and cablecar up to Rigi Kaltbad. This would take a bit longer than the Arth-Goldau route but is fun and interesting.

Either way, there are nice walks of all types ( easy, moderate, and strenuous) on Rigi, and nice wildflowers in June. Plus the sound of cowbells coming up from below.

Luzern is lovely too if you prefer a city.

Rigi looks like fun, but I think we will probably go with Luzern. Any hotel recommendations for Luzern?

Christine,

You should be able to do Rigi as a day trip from Lucerne, if you're interested. On the topic of hotels, I enjoyed my stay at Hotel Krone. It's easy walking distance to the river and rail station, and I found the room to be very comfortable.

You could also look at Hotel Waldstätterhof which is very close to the train station and gets excellent reviews:

http://www.hotel-waldstaetterhof.ch/

In Luzern, I had a good stay at the Hotel des Alpes, http://www.desalpes-luzern.ch/en/welcome.

When trying to make Swiss hotel reservations, I learned that many of them do not list all available rooms through their online booking engine. By e-mailing them directly, I not only got the rooms I needed, but was able to get a Rick Steves discount for some of them.

And yes, it's an easy trip from Luzern to Rigi, and if you have a Swiss Pass the entire trip on boats, trains, and cable cars is fully covered. Just make sure, if you're taking the boat (which was extremely scenic), that you take the boat from Luzern to Vitznau, not to Weggis. From the Vitznau dock to the train is a slightly inclined short walk. From the Weggis dock to the cable car is a 20 minute, insanely uphill walk.