Side trip from Switzerland

I suggest you consider the Alsace region of France. There are many beautiful towns/villages in that area. I'm sure you can take a train to Colmar and Strasbourg but don't know about the smaller villages. It might be possible to pick up a tour from one of the bigger towns however.

Check out Cinque Terre located on the northwest coast of Italy! Rick covers the area in his books. It was an awesome adventure...and 3 days would be perfect. You can take the train into Milan and onto the Cinque Terre..5 of the quaintest, friendly and authentic italian little towns connected by hiking trails, train and/or boat. We loved it. And their are not big hotels and/or resorts..just locally owned businesses. We are head to the Bernese Oberland are in 12 days! Up to now Cinque Terre has to be one of the top 5 places I ever been..so we are looking forward to visiting your favorite place...so try one of ours.
Happy travels. Carol

Near Switzerland, look into Besançon, Perouges, Ornans (home of Gustave Courbet), Ronchamp (if you're interested in Le Corbusier), not to mention Dijon and Lyon. Those last two are food cities, so you need restaurant money. We had quite a *** meal at Restaurant Pic in Valence-and Chef Pic's first names are ... ... Anne-Sophie! I shouldn't read between your lines, but it sounds like you might be looking for a "Rick Steves Experience", which cannot be guaranteed!

Or....you could consider Chamonix/Mt. Blanc. From Berner Oberland head west to Montreaux, down to Martigny, and then onto Chamonix. Rick covers this area quite well in France GB. Or...head towards Milan and go 1 hr. north by train to Lake Como and Varrenna or Bellagio.

Can heartily recommend the Cinque Terre - we had 4 days there - reached by train via Milan from the Italian Lakes. If you go, couldn't do better than staying with Carla and Matteo at Villa Steno in Monterosso. Enjoy - we did lots of day trips on the ferry to other towns and a limited amount of walking.

I can recommend either the Alsace region or Chamonix/Mt Blanc area of France. For Alscace you could stay in either Colmar or Strasbourg (they both have their proponents here)and train to the other one for a day trip and then either rent a car for a day to visit the smaller villages on the wine trail or do an organized day trip from ether of these cities. I stayed in Colmar, which I loved, and took the train to Strasbourg for a day. For the Alpine region you could stay in Annecy and visit Chamonix for a day or vice versa. I didn't make it to Chamonix but stayed in Annecy for two days and two nights and found it to be one of my favorite places in France, would go back in a snap.

This summer we had a home exchange in the Valais canton of Switzerland and stayed in the area for 3 weeks. From the chalet, we could be in Aosta, Italy in 90 minutes and Chamonix, France in 60 minutes. This part of Switzerland is known for its vineyards, dating back to Roman times, and its orchards as well as beautiful villages, castles, and mountains. Although the place we stayed in was in a ski resort, I can highly recommend the town of Sion, which is down on the valley floor. We went there numerous times because we loved it so much. Beautiful, medieval town center with a ruined castle and ancient church perched on two hills with the whole place surrounded by some of the most beautiful vineyards I have ever seen crawling up the surrounding hillsides. You can also stay closer to Lake Geneva (and pay the corresponding prices!) of Vevey, Montreux or Laussanne. Spectacular lakeside settings within easy reach of France and Italy. Quite a bit more crowded though! We had a car so I don't know about public transportation to France and Italy although I'm sure it must be possible.