Switzerland and Italy in May

Hi Irene - I think you meant you are spending a full 10 days between Switzerland and Italy?

I have spent time in Switzerland in late May and am going back this May around the same dates (and spending time in Lausanne/Montreux). Just the right weather and hardly any tourists.

Interlaken to Montreux is 2 hr 15 min to 3 hrs with 1-2 changes in trains one way. Probably not good for a day trip. (For our trip this year, we are starting in Lausanne and when we're done there we're taking the Golden Pass Scenic train from Montreux to Interlaken and then staying in Murren within the alps for 4 nights).

The majority of people on here don't stay in Interlaken as it's more of a train hub for other locations and stay in the alps instead.

I can only speak for Murren but can tell you hotels opened around May 25 last year (and this year it appears the place I'm staying is opening 1 week earlier than last year) but are closed prior for about a month from Easter. I thought the weather was very pleasant last year around this time. I wore a tshirt during the day when sunny but it can rain at any point and did a couple times. We were lucky and the temperatures were very nice and comfortable and ony a little bit of rain. I had been worried since just a couple weeks prior to the trip I kept monitoring a webcam on Murren and there was still snow on the ground!

Hi Irene, I can't speak highly enough of the Interlaken area. You could easily spend 4-5 days just going up and staying in the Alps. The area is unbelieveably beautiful. Home base in Murren. As far as the Italy part, yes, it's way too much for 5-6 days. We just returned from Italy and went to all of the places you mentioned. We had 13 days and felt rushed. Half of each day you travel from place to place will be eaten up on the train. Also, each place deserves at the least 2 days. I would cut out Venice as it is completely on the other side of the country. For 10 days, I would spend 4 nights in the Interlaken area, travel to CT for 2 night stay, then 2 night stay in Florence, and the final night in Orvieto (easy stop on train from Florence to Rome). You will love this hilltown! Cutting out any one of these destinations would definitely give you a much more relaxed trip which I don't think you realize how much you will be glad you did.

Hello and thank you for your advise. yes I meant staying a total of 10 days, and now that I do the math it would be more like 12 days (not counting traveling to and from europe) between Switzerland and Italy. It sounds like if I call some places I might get a better feel if they are open. I didn't think of hotels not being open.

Also, if it's this May you are speaking of, you might have a hard time finding hotel reservations. Determine your itinerary and start contacting the hotels asap. You might esp. have a hard time in the CT. Good Luck!

Hello Irene. In your first paragraph you said you will be in Italy for 10 days. Why did you ask (in Question 3): "Too much in 5 - 6 days ?" (in Italy).
A traveler could travel in trains to Rome from a Cinque Terre village : A high - speed train goes from Pisa to Rome (the coastal route). For that railroad trip I recommend : reserve seats in a First Class train car. I travelled, in trains, in Italy. I liked being at the Cinque Terre. I will go to Switzerland, in the first half of May, 2009. I do not know the answer to your question about the weather. Flying to and from Europe during the first half of May could be less expensive than flying to and from Europe during the last half of May, because American Airlines tickets have much higher prices for flying from the U.S.A. (Dallas - Fort Worth airport) to Europe after May 15. That is what an American airlines ticket agent said to me. I recommend that you acquire your (Electronic) airline tickets very soon. I guess : many people will fly from the U.S.A. to Switzerland in May. (I will fly from Dallas - Fort Worth to Paris).