Help planning itinerary for family in late June

Hello,

We are a family of five (including three teen-aged boys) flying into Zurich on June 19 and flying out on July 1. This is their first trip to Europe, and we are planning on taking a high-speed train to Paris upon arrival in Zurich, spending a few days in Paris, then flying to Rome.

However, of course we don't want to miss some sights in Switzerland. We will be traveling back to Zurich by rail either from Rome or the Cinque Terre. We all love to hike, so factoring in a couple of easy/moderate hikes, as well as visiting some quaint towns, would be what we're looking for. We will likely only have one or two nights to spend in Switzerland on the way back, with the last night probably in Zurich since our plane leaves at 10:40 am on July 1.

I've been struggling with how to figure this out and where to go. The Bernese Oberland region looks incredible - so this would probably be my preference, but not sure it's the best option if we're taking the train from Rome to Milan and then flying out of Zurich. Then there's the Bernina Express route, which looks lovely too, but guess I'm partial to Bernese Oberland. Any way we could head to Bernese Oberland from Milan in two days, with a stop overnight (either one night or two)? Or would it be best to follow the Bernina Express, and if so, suggestions on what towns to stop at during the way, where to spend the night, and any hikes recommended? Or any other must-do or see things on the way?

Thank you for this forum and thank you in advance for any suggestions.

Welcome to MySwissAlps, Espaid! Great that you try to spend a few days in Switzerland during your Europe trip.

From Milan, the Bernina Express isn't the obvious route if you're heading for the Bernese Oberland (which is a great choice by the way, if you're fond of hiking). Instead, you can best travel via Domodossola and Brig. If you like a scenic train ride, you could then change to the Lötschberger Regio-Express train connecting Brig and Spiez. You can find details in the timetable; enter Goppenstein as a via-station to get information on this regional train (otherwise the timetable will show the quicker tunnel connection to Spiez).

From Spiez you can travel to Interlaken or a nearby town. If you can, it's really worth it to spend two nights there instead of just one. That increases your chances of good weather and thus the oppurtunity to make some hikes. Hiking options and other day trip tips are listed on our Bernese Oberland page.

Please take a look at the Zurich Airport hotel overview too. And have you already checked rail passes? For the Swiss part, you can look into a Swiss Transfer Ticket, a Swiss Transfer Ticket Combi or a Swiss Half Fare Card. You can best first complete your itinerary and then decide which pass suits your needs, as explained here.