Which trip option?

Honestly they all sound awfully rushed, a two night stay in any place is only one full day in the town.. so your one night stays are not visits, they are simply passing throughs as far as I can see.

I agree , too much traveling. I'd pick option 2 , add a night to Venice, and skip Zermatt.

2 night stays are a particularly bad idea for the Alps in November. Your chances of clear skies at that time of year are likely below 50%. So, what if it's cloudy and overcast for the one day you have chosen to view the Matterhorn?

Whatever you decide, all I can say is to consider giving FLorence and Venice 3 nights each. Like another poster said, 2 nights in a city is pretty much 1 full day. Venice and Florence, although not that big, really deserve more than 1 full day.

It seems you really want to move at a fast pace, and see a new place almost every day. I'm inferring this from your option 2, where you have 3 nights in Florence, but also plan to see Rome and Siena from there, allowing only 1 day in Florence itself. If this is the case, strongly consider an organized tour. They can move much faster than you can on your own, since they handle the logistics of getting you from place to place. If you try to do this on your own, you'll spend most of your trip in transit (you still will with a tour, but it will be much less hassle than constantly finding your way to and from train stations). If all you have is 9 nights and you don't want to take a tour, I'd pick one country and slow down a bit. Given what I've read of Switzerland in November (between "seasons" and so not good for either winter or summer activities), I'd focus on Italy. Do the "big three" of Venice, Florence, and Rome, with 3 nights for each. This way, you can do side trips if you want, but you aren't forced to rush around if you don't. With short time, fly into Venice and out of Rome; don't backtrack, even if the airfare is more than flying RT to Rome or Milan. Book your train tickets in advance for discounts.

I've been to Venice, Florence and Milan and you will have a great time. Don't know a thing about Switzerland but my business partner goes there often and loves it. But like a lot of the others my taste would be to slow down a little. A one night stay usually translates into one sight and dinner after what is often a hard journey. I am guessing that this is a road trip? Rented Car? It's almost okay that way but my taste would be a minimum of 2 nights any place and 3 nights in the larger towns and cities. If you are driving, its November in northern Italy and Switzerland and that's bound to slow you down a little. Like Harlod I think an organized tour is more suited for the pace you want to keep. Another option is to get a rail pass for either Switzerland or Italy and just stay in one country and take a different train every couple of days.

This is a duplicate post - - there are other answers in the other copy

Thank you all so much for the information. Definitely am revising. How does this look (and a little background as to my thinking)?: Luzerne - 2 (flying into Zurich, train to Luzerne on AM of Day 1) Lausanne - 1 (interested in the Golden Pass Train, gets into Montreux at 4:15 in the afternoon, need to stay somewhere, could see the Chateau the next morning) Venice - 3 (first night we would arrive late, having travelled from Montreux) Florence-3 (see Florence & day trip to Siena)
AM of last day - fast train from Florence to Milan for 1:00pm flight out of Milan

Great trip. Have fun