Planning on a 2 weeks trip to Italy, Switzerland and France in 2012

Jag It is always tempting to include more destinations than are realistic in a European itinerary. However, you will be spending at least 1/2 day/evenings each time you change places, when you include the full travel time. Really. So 4 changes of places equals 2 full travel days. Better spent seeing the cities you want to visit, IMHO. I agree with Linnae to Switzerland and take a discount airline from Venice to Paris. For mid April, costs are currently $73, 1 hr 40 min. Buy as soon as you know your dates as the prices go up with time. Also you may want to rule out the BVA (Beauvais) airport since it is far from Paris and stick with OLY (Orly) and CDG (Charles De Gualle), I would add the day saved to Paris and reconsider the Versailles trip as it takes at least 2/3 day. The first day is a Recovery Day. I suggest you plan to check out your hotel neighborhood, pick out a restaurant for dinner, and a cafe to while away your time and watch the world go by. In advance, maybe you can research a park or a couple of streets near the hotel to wander. Don't forget to take a couple of hotel business cards with you in case you want to take a taxi back as you begin to collapse. The taxi driver may not understand your fractured pronunciation. Good luck with your itinerary! Bobbie

Thanks Linnae for your suggestion. Yes this will be my first time.. Oh BTW, I am planning this trip for either June or September? I heard June till August is considered tourist season and in September prices drop a little bit... is that true?? I personally want to visit the mountains in Switzerland... :) I enjoy scenic routes along with some culture, history... So I thought I will pick Italy and Switzerland... I am gonna do another trip later.. that time I will do more of France.. But given the time, can I cover Italy and Switz in 2 weeks? I want to fly back from either Zurich or Paris depending on the distance..

Thanks Bobbie.. I think what you are saying makes perfect sense... So if I decide between Italy and Switzerland, how can I change my itinerary?? any suggestions? Thanks

In my opinion, the Italy portion looks good but Switzerland and Paris seem a bit rushed. I absolutely love Paris and would want more than 2.5 days there (Is this your first time in these places?) Is there the possibility of extending the trip by two or three days? If it's not, I'd personally suggest cutting Switzerland on this trip, then either take an overnight train from Venice to Paris or find a budget flight. But in general, it looks like you have the makings of a fabulous trip!

I feel like this is becoming my mantra but:
If you have less than say, 4 full days in Paris and you do NOT have a strong interest in the history or archetecture of the period, skip Versailles. It's at LEAST a 1/2 day but more like 2/3 of a day and really Europe is lousy with baroque palaces. Yes, Versailles is extraordinary and beautiful but again, unless you are seriously interested in it, don't do it if you have limited time "just because" it's famous. I spent a week arguing with my brother about this for our 3 day trip to Paris, but he insisted we go anyway. I was able to get him to admit that it really just was not worth it for the time we missed seeing other stuff far easier in Paris. If the gardens at Versailles are one of the selling points, I recommend the gardens at the Palais Luxembourg instead. It's in the heart of Paris, no time-consuming trip required!

OK, right now you are thinking of 3 nights in Rome, 2 in Florence, 2 in Venice, 4 nights in Switzerland, and 3 nights in Paris. Is that right? I think for a first trip and a nice overview of italy, Switzerland, and Paris it sounds fine. Sure, you could spend more time in any one of those places, but 2 nights and a full day will give you time to explore the highlights of Florence and Venice. You pass through Switzerland on your way to Paris (unless you fly) and if you want to spend some time in the Alps that will work. I can suggest some possibilities in Switzerland, but it depends on how much time you want to spend on trains. a couple of options (I can come up wit hlots more as we have spent a lot of time in Switzerland). All involve travel from Venice to Milan as a starting point. (There are other routes, such as the Bernina Express from Tirano, but they take more time.) 1. Milan to Luzern (about 3 hours). spend one or 2 nights there, visit Rigi or Pilatus, cruise the lake, sightsee the town. Train to Lauterbrunnen Valley via Interlaken; stay in Mürren or Wengen (car-free villages). Head to Bern or Basel to catch the train to Paris. 2. Milan to Brig to Spiez to Interlaken to either Wengen or Mürren as above. That is too much travel for one day but there are some interesting places to stop overnight on the way. Train to Paris as in Option 1. to be continued. .

3. Milan to Brig to Zermatt (2 nights), then to Montreux and Lac Leman (Lake Geneva area). Vineyards, a nice castle, and a fast train to Paris from Lausanne. 4. Milan to Brig to Bettmeralp, a car-free village perched above the Rhone Valley. This is one of our favorite places and it is NOT on the RS path. gorgeous views of the Aletschgletscher from the ridge above the village. From here you can head either to the Brner Oberland area (Wengen or Mürren) or to Montreux and the castle and vineyards. Prices may drop in Sept. in the mountain villages in Switzerland, but probably not in the cities in Italy.

Jag Would you clarify what you meant by changes with Switzerland and Italy? Would you lay out the different options you were thinking of? Also, prices do not drop in Paris or Italy during September; it is still high season. Bobbie

Jag, As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend reading the Guidebook Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip. It has a lot of good information on "how" to travel in Europe. The Italy and Switzerland Guidebooks also have lots of good information. Travel in either June or September is good, as those are the "shoulder seasons". They will still be busy and prices are not likely to drop. Try to avoid July and August as that's peak season! Your proposed Itinerary looks fairly well organized albeit somewhat "busy". However given the short 14-day time frame I'd suggest skipping Paris this time, and returning home from Zurich. The rail trips between cities in Italy will each be fairly short, but overall you should allow about half a day for each one. The trip from Venice to Switzerland is going to be at least 7-hours, so you may want to leave in the morning instead. If you want to stop in one city in Switzerland, Lucerne would be a great choice. It's beautiful, has some interesting sights and as others have mentioned you could take day trips to Mt. Pilatus or other locations. If you want quintessential Swiss scenery, I'd suggest making your last stop the Berner Oberland and the Lauterbrunnen Valley. Staying in Mürren would be a good choice. It's an easy trip from Interlaken to Zurich Airport, about 2H:20M, often with one change in Bern. Be sure to budget accordingly for Switzerland, as it tends to be a bit "pricey". As you're planning to return to Europe, make Paris your first stop on the next trip. You'll have time for a "proper" visit, which IMHO will be much more enjoyable than a "rushed" visit. Good luck with your planning!

If you want to see the Alps, don't think your only option is Switzerland. The highest, most impressive peaks in the mountain chain are actually on the French-Italian border, and depending on how you decide in the end to string your trip together, it might save you some significant amount of time and money to avoid a detour through Switzerland. Don't get me wrong, I love Switzerland. But most of the major travel corridors between Italy and the rest of Europe bypass the country, so it usually involves going somewhat out of your way. And it is REALLY expensive.

Bobbie, Since I hear most of them suggesting me to do 2 countries instead of 3, I would like to tweak my itinerary little bit... I defn would like to visit Italy plus another country in 2 weeks time.. Can I know what will be my options of going from Venice to Switzerland i.e less travel time with possible scenic routes.. I am thinking of visiting Bern, Interlaken and Montreux..Did I miss any other destinations?

Jag, you can see the routes and travel time by train from Venice into various points in Switzerland on the Swiss rail site, www.rail.ch which is very easy to use. Put in Venice in the "from" and try Interlaken and then Montreux in the "to". You can travel between the two (Interlaken and Montreux) on the sceniec Golden Pass route which is quite nice. You can ride a "regular" train on this route or book the named "scenic" Golden Pass train but we found the regular train just fine. The routes shown will take you from Venice to Milan, and you have various choices from there. You can see the Swiss rail routes on this map: http://rail.myswitzerland.com/download_sts/uebersichtskarte_en.pdf

Jag,
I would rate the two first order places in Switzerland to be Lauterbrunnen area and Luzern. From Luzern, Bern is the closest large city from which to fly home. I don't know that I would recommend Montreaux except as part of the Golden Pass itinerary from Luzern to Lausanne. A nice trip and Lausanne is worthwhile and a short jump to Geneva is worth a day prior to returning home.

Hi Jag I enjoy traveling in Sept best. The air fare is cheaper starting Sept 1st. Weather has cooled down, lines are smaller, hotels easier to get and just plan less crowded. You mentioned Switzerland, one of my favorite places is Gimmelwald. We stayed in the small town, road the lift up to Schilthorn, you can hike back down, or rent bikes to ride in the mountains. Tons of trails and things to see. On the next mountain is Jungfrau. You can take the train up the mountain. One thing I enjoyed is you get out of the big cities, relax, and enjoy the mountains. I try and keep my travel between towns to a min. Stay min of 2 nights in one place. And only travel max of 3 hours. Learned I would rather see more, then go to a lot of places, and not see anything. Enjoy your trip.
Wendy