Two days to travel from Italy to visit Swiss Alps

We will be visiting Italy and would like to visit a true Swiss town for a few days (two nights). Where would be easiest to get to that would feel like a true Swiss town/village? Would you suggest taking a plane to Zurich and then a train or taking all trains? Suggestions please. This would be in Sept

Hi Steve 1956 -

Welcome to My Swiss Alps.

<<"We will be visiting Italy and would like to visit a true Swiss town for a few days (two nights). Where would be easiest to get to that would feel like a true Swiss town/village? Would you suggest taking a plane to Zurich and then a train or taking all trains?">>

Where will you be in Italy?

There are plenty of villages and towns in the Italian-speaking portion of Switzerland. That is Canton Ticino, but perhaps you mean a German or French or Romansh speaking village ?

Once you are there, are there any specific things that you would like to do....such as hiking? Local scenic train rides? Any specific kinds of sightseeing? Any particular type of lodging?

Perhaps these links will help you with your planning, at least to provide some useful background information:

www.myswissalps.com/pl antrip/doityourself

www.myswissalps.com/ab outswitzerland

www.myswissalps.com/be sttimetovisit

Slowpoke

I am trying to figure out the best itinerary. We will be starting our trip in London. We can then go to Lucerne if that is easiest. In Italy we will be going to Bologna, Venice, Monterosso and Cortona with a short stop in Florence. So we can leave from any of those places to get to Lucerne too. Also, we can leave Lucerne and go to any of those places in Italy too or even go to Paris where are last place to visit will be. So for now I am pretty open and want to make the itinerary choices based on the best way to get to Lucerne. So really to and from Lucerne from any of the places listed above. Thanks so much for the help

Linda

Hi Linda- or Steve-

Play with the timetable.

www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

It certainly will get you by train to Luzern or any other Swiss train/bus/boat stops from Italy, or England, or France for that matter. You can judge travel times that way.

Luzern ( German spelling -it is what you will see on signs in the German-speaking region of Switzerland) is hardly a village, although , as cities go, it is not very large. Do you really mean a Swiss village?

www.myswissalps.com/lu cerne

It is, of course, very Swiss, except for all the tourists. Not sure whether you will see more tourists there or in Florence (Firenze.)

Slowpoke

Hi Linda,

As mentioned through e-mail earlier I'd personally prefer the train over a flight for such relatively sort distances. Even though the train journey will take a couple of hours, a flight (e.g. Milan-Zurich) will too, due to all check-in procedures. Moreover the train ride will be quite scenic, and a lot more environmentally friendly than using a plane. The Wilhelm Tell Express route suggested in my e-mail allows for a very scenic connection towards Lucerne. The timetable mentioned by Slowpoke allows you to search for all connections, including the international trains from Italy to Switzerland. I guess Bologna would be the easiest point of departure. You'd first travel to Milan, then switch to a train towards Arth-Goldau / Lucerne (which is roughly the Wilhelm Tell route I referred to). The total trip from Bologna will take about 6 hours.