We are making a trip end of June with our 2 kids who are 5 and 1.5 yrs old. We have a 2 week trip starting in Genoa – we have couple of nights and a day to spend there. The current plan is from there We will make a road trip to French riveria – Spend couple of days in Nice and make day trips to sur mer, cannes, drive to monte carlo Drive back to Italy and overnight in Milan Make a day trip to Lake como and drive back to torino , drop car off in torino Take the Panoramic train from Torino to Chur, overnight at chur. Next day take the glacier express from chur to Zermatt and spend couple of days at zematt. Take the train from Zermatt to Lausanne and then to geneve and fly back to Minneapolis. Does this sound reasonable and doable with 2 kids ? We are debating between driving all the way through vs taking the train from Italy to Switzerland and in switrzerland. So another option is , once in Nice rent a car and drop off the car back in france some place close to Geneva. Which is a better option with little ones , interms of comfort and pricing ? . Also what places are more approachable and drivable in Switzerland from Italy ( scenic route) Also – any recommendations on places to see in these places.
Any suggestions are welcome – please let me know if I should plan on doing anything differently. Thanks much for all your help!
Posted by
OP
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
77 posts
Thanks Adam. I meant get to nice and rent a car since I heard renting in France is a better option and we can drop it off in France closer to Geneva. So if I understand you correctly you are suggesting renting a car and driving instead of trains from Italy to Switzerland? Thx Mala
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
I think this is a lot of road time with small children in such a short time period. You have to balance that against your own priorities for the trip, and temper it with what you know about your kids. Of the two scenarios, I think the second makes more sense, except that I do not follow the "drive to Nice and then rent a car in Nice" thing.
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
I'm as disuncobobulated as Adam. Is there any chance you typed "Geneva' once instead of "Genoa'? It doesn't matter. Here's the salient facts: 1 - It costs like the very devil to pick up a car in one country and drop it off in another. 2 - If you rent the car in Italy (as opposed to renting it elsewhere and driving it in Italy) your credit card will not cover the cdw - - you have to pay it separately and its daily cost can equal the daily cost of the rental. There's nothing exciting/intimidating about driving in any of the three countries. With kids, a car will get them up to the hotel door without having to herd them and tote luggage from a train station. With a car you can stop at the coffe and snack shops at the top of every pass. I've no opinion about a panoramic train.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
Mala: No, I'm with Ed on this. If you are thinking of taking the train to Nice (you said you were driving), I think that beats doubling back to Italy just to return the car.
Posted by
OP
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
77 posts
So we are flying open jaw - Landing in Genoa in Italy and flying out of Geneva in switzerland. If we were to rent a car i was told it is better to rent in france and return it in france. So i was thinking of getting to nice from Genoa using train . rent a car in Nice for the rest of the trip back into lake como and switzerland and drop off the car in some place in france close to geneva in switzerland since thats where we will fly out from. or should i just rent the car in genoa in italy - drive to the french riveria and back into italy, see lake como and drop off the car in torino and use the train to go to switzerland ( chur , zermatt and geneva) and fly out from geneva. Are there scenic routes from lake como to zermatt and zermatt to geneva, or do we need to change our destinations ?
Thanks for your inputs.