Hi,
Just returned from a wonderful 2-week trip to Switzerland and Italy. Some of our stops were places we had visited 11 years ago on a RS GAS trip and 8 years ago on the RS Northern Italy trip.
Itinerary:
Day 1: Landed in Zurich. 4 trains to Wengen. Everything worked well; train connections were quick, and we were walking off our jet lag on the wonderful paths in Wengen with those amazing views by late afternoon!
Day 2-4: Hiked in Wengen/ Kleine Scheidegg area and enjoyed seeing the Jungfrau Marathon on Saturday. It was COLD the first two days, but I had packed some tights & thin thermal top last-minute, so I was fine. Our last day we hiked on trails starting behind our hotel, Alpenruhe Kulm - wonderful time!
Day 5-6: Train to Stresa, Italy. We stopped for lunch at one of our train stops - Spiez, and they were having a street fair. Enjoyed having some worst for lunch. Onto Stresa... Wow, those fast Swiss trains are amazingly nice! Arrived in Stresa and walked the few blocks to our hotel. Really enjoyed the town of Stresa and the instant feeling of relaxation walking on the promenade on the lake. The next morning we took the ferry to Isola Bella - gorgeous! Eventually we took the ferry on to Isola Pescatori for lunch and then relaxed on the bench at the end of the island. We definitely want to return to Stresa. We stayed at Hotel Boston (what a name!) as a less-expensive option, and we were pleased with the accomodations, location and staff.
Day 7: Train to Florence. Too many tourists! Stayed at a very nice hotel at the end of the Ponte Vecchio bridge, Pitti Palace al Ponte Vecchio, with great views of Florence from the breakfast terrace. We stayed away from the major museums we had seen last time and focused on some new ones. Our dinner in an out-of-the-way place late in the evening was still 50% American tourists.
Day 8-9: Bus to Siena. Loved returning to Siena! We stayed at the Hotel Chiusarelli since it was an excellent price, where our RS tour had stayed 8 years ago. We noticed a lobby note that another RS tour was there this time, too! We enjoyed roaming the streets of Siena and seeing the amazing floor at the Duomo, along with the baptisty, library, etc. The gelato place on the Campo was still there...and good!
Day 10-11: Bus to Grosseto - handy connection just around the corner from the hotel in Siena. Grosseto was our non-American tourist adventure. From the moment we boarded the bus to Grosseto, we were excited to experience a "local feel". We mingled with the people for a special "Notte Visible" - a night when artists, musicians, dance acrobats were performing in piazzas in the old center of town. Also, the museums were all open and free, so we were able to see the early Roman beautiful statues, etc. in the historical museum. The next morning, we jumped on a train to Follonica for a quick day trip to the beach. Our hotel, Grand Hotel Bastiani, was inside the old center of town - fortified walls of Medicean origin surround the old portion of the city in a hexagonal star shape with six bastions
Day 12:15: Train to Rome. Stayed at Albergo Cesari - fantastic location and very nice staff. We wanted to enjoy Rome without a checklist itinerary, other than a planned cooking class & seeing Ostia Antica. I had reserved this class after reading great reviews: "cookingclassesinrome". What a fun afternoon on our 2nd day in Rome to spend it with Chef Andrea and a nice group of people! We learned so much and ate very well! Our last morning was planned for Ostia Antica - very interesting to walk through time. We could have been there all day but decided to get back into the center of Rome around 2pm. We finished our evening with one last walk to the Pantheon and were thoroughly entertained by a street performer.
Day 16: Flew back to Seattle after a cancelled flight on one leg. Volunteered to be bumped at JFK and ended up in good shape and day later.