Switzerland and Italy in two weeks? YES YES YES

We have just returned home from a 2 week family vacation that started in Switzerland and finished in Italy. When I started planning the trip I was concerned that there was not enough time to see as much as we had hoped. After lots of research and listening to some of the suggestions on the forums here I felt a little more comfortable with our plans but still worried about fitting it all in.
Turns out there was no need to worry. I made a day to day trip itinerary for both Switzerland and Italy and tried as much as possible to stick to it. There are some factors like weather that may impact some changes but all in all this worked for us.
Our trip started in Zurich (landed here from Toronto) with a one night stay to get our wits about us. We purchased our Swiss Pass at the SBB office at the train station. Even though this was a short stay we managed to do a lot. A couple of nice restaurants, walking, site-seeing, patio drinks etc... After Zurich we were headed to Wengen where we would stay for a while. On the way we got off the train in Lucerne (locked our luggage in lockers at the station) and did a few hours of site-seeing here (Lion Monument etc.) I would recommend this - worked out well.

Our stay in Wengen was fantastic. It was a great spot to stay with two teenagers. The train system in Switzerland is absolutely phenomenal! We were able with ease to do lots of different day trips all around from Wengen - we visited Lake thun (for a day cruise to Thun), Lauterbrunnen, Interlaken Ost, Murren, Top of Europe (Jungfraujoch) and Gimmelwald for hike and lunch. This is not a trip to sit and relax - lots to see and lots to do!

After almost 8 days here we took our trip to Italy. We started in Varenna on Lake Como. Most definitely going back here!! You will never get bored of the view. Simply stunning and a must do. We relaxed a bit here for a couple days before venturing on to Florence and Rome. Both places were just filled with wonder and adventure! We spent every day visiting all we could in both places and feel like we covered a ton. Of course you can't see it all in the short time we had but we averaged 15,000 - 25,000 steps everyday and saw as much as we could. Most definitely schedule proper tours for Florence and Rome. You can see a lot of places on your own but it is worth it to actually hear about the history - we learned a lot and the teens actually enjoyed them. And the food in Italy - can't even put it into words - soooo good! Try to avoid the "touristy" spots - go deep into the alleys and find yourself somewhere off the beaten path and you wont be disappointed. One spot to have a phenomenal T-Bone is in Florence at Buca Mario! Make a reservation.
All in all I would say that 2 weeks worked for us - AND believe it or not we all packed in CARRY ON luggage only! This is a must as it is much easier than lugging large suitcases on the trains. It just involves planning ahead for outfits etc. but even our teenagers managed it. We just did some washing here and there. I brought travel mini Tide washing powder. Now it's time to go have a look at the thousands of pictures we took. That is no joke - bring lots of extra memory cards for the camera ;)
June and family