Lucerne, Florence & Rome...

[LesClaypool]

Taking my 17-year old daughter (no pics) on a 10-Day trip from Dec 6 - Dec 15. Here's what I'm committed to so far:

• Day 1: Overnight flight to Zurich

• Days 2-4: Three nights in Lucerne. Flight lands at ZRH on Day 2 at 9:40am. Go through customs, get bags, and hop on a 1-hour train to Lucerne and get in around lunch time. Grab a bit and hopefully check-in to hotel early and nap and shower. Plan here is to go easy on Day 2, then have two full days of activities on Days 3 and 4. One of those days I'm thinking we'll take a day-long side trip to Interlaken & Grinedwald. From what I've researched, both should be spectacular (as should all of Switzerland really) at Christmas-time. The other day I want to take a tour of the city and then possibly Mt. Pilatus or Mt. Rigi.

• Days 5-7: Three nights in Florence. First day is a 6-hour train ride from Lucerne to Florence from 12:00-6:00. This appears to be the earliest train you can get, which seems odd to me, but that's what all of the schedules are showing. As such, Day 5 is pretty much shot on the train. So basically two full days in Florence on Days 6 and 7. I'm thinking one day to see all of the sites in Florence, and another day to do a side trip to some combination of Siena and/or Pisa.

• Days 8-9: Two nights in Rome. We'll take an early train (8:00 - 9:30) from Florence to Rome so we'll basically have 2 full days there. I know that's arguably not enough time, but I've been to Rome once before and I feel like if we're focused, we can see all of the main sites in 2 days. To me, those are (more or less in order): The Colesseum, The Roman Forum, The Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, Castel Sant'Angelo, Trajan's Column, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps...the last 3-4 being the least important if we have to cut things from the itinerary.

• Day 10: Fly home from Rome.

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Questions...

I have a hotel in Florence already. Where should we stay in Lucerne? Same question for Rome?

The day trip from Lucerne to Interlaken & Grindewald is loooong. Bus leaves at 8 am and doesn't get back to Lucerne until 8pm or later. Am I biting off more than I can chew there? Is it worth it? Is it too little time in each place (a couple hours in each location)?

Open to suggestions on the side trip in Florence. I know there are so many great places in Tuscany that are worth seeing that are pretty close to Florence. Will be hard to decide on which one(s).

In Rome, how did you decide on which tour to do for the Vatican/St. Peter's? There are so many to choose from.

 

[ncnole1975]

I stayed at a St Regis in Rome that was spectacular.

 

[ATLNole1]

Why are you taking a bus to Interlaken? Take the SBB train and then you can leave and return anytime you want. The trip is under 2 hours if you hit the direct route.
I stayed in the Radisson Blu years ago while in Lucerne for work. It was fairly nice then and right by the train station but have not been back in a while.

 

[LesClaypool]

Why are you taking a bus to Interlaken? Take the SBB train and then you can leave and return anytime you want. The trip is under 2 hours if you hit the direct route.
I stayed in the Radisson Blu years ago while in Lucerne for work. It was fairly nice then and right by the train station but have not been back in a while.

I'm looking to stay near the train station in Lucerne, so thanks for the suggestion. I'll check out the Radisson Blu. RE: The bus...I was going to take a day long group tour. So the bus would be a tour bus that picks you up in Lucerne, has a knowledgeable tour guide, etc.

Also considering a half-day (5.5 hour) trip to Mt Titlus instead. Anyone done that?

 

[ReliableOstrich]

You’re traveling w a 17 year old.
Get in the hostel scene.

 

[LesClaypool]

Yeah, I think I'll be skipping the hostels.

 

[maddog69]

Seems like way too much. I have been all over the world and Switzerland is by far my most favorite country. I would just stay in Switzerland/Interlaken. So much to do and see in Switzerland. JUNGFRAUJOCH and SCHILTHORN – PIZ GLORIA were my favorite excursions. Not sure if those are possible in December.

I understand the appeal/history of Italy but I would go back another time for just Italy.

 

[cfbfan23]

Sounds like a fun trip. Make sure you pack some warm clothes.

 

[LesClaypool]

Seems like way too much. I have been all over the world and Switzerland is by far my most favorite country. I would just stay in Switzerland/Interlaken. So much to do and see in Switzerland. JUNGFRAUJOCH and SCHILTHORN – PIZ GLORIA were my favorite excursions. Not sure if those are possible in December.

I understand the appeal/history of Italy but I would go back another time for just Italy.

That's interesting. I actually thought the opposite. We're spending 3 days in Lucerne and I think it's possibly too much time, even w/excursions. Guess we'll see. I hope I'm not (too) wrong.

As far as doing too much though, I've been to Florence and Rome. We're (now) spending 2 days in Florence and 3 in Rome. That's definitely just right. Any more time than that is overkill, IMO.

Italy is where she wanted to go when I asked her. I only added Switzerland b/c I'd never been there myself and didn't want to go all the way to Europe and just see places I'd been to before.

As for future trips, she's a senior in high school now. This is likely the last year (for a while) where there will be father/daughter trips to Europe, since most of my travel budget will soon be switched to college costs for the foreseeable future. I don't want to count on her "some day" going to Italy and then possibly some day never comes.

 

[TripTych]

Not sure why I'm helping my mortal enemy, but...Switzerland is amazing, just expensive. Lucerne is nice, but I'm not sure I would rank it close to the top Why don't you just stay in Grindenwald or Murren (I prefer Murren). It would save you a good amount of day-trip travel to just stay in the best location. Have you looked into Zermatt? The Matterhorn is pretty amazing... Since that's essentially on the way to Italy and there is plenty to do their for three days, especially if you want to get some winter sports in...

From there you can get to Italy via Brig I believe and it should be a great train ride. Otherwise, you are going to be in a tunnel most of the time if you are coming from Lucerne.

But I agree with the others, fly into Rome if you want to go to Italy, fly into Zurich if you want to go to Switzerland, 9 days just is not enough time to do two countries.

 

[GamedayNole]

We booked tours of the Colosseum and Vatican through the Viator website. They were both excellent. The Colosseum tour was 3 hours through the Colosseum, Forum, and the Palatine Hill. Booking the tour was huge because we didn't wait in line at the Colosseum. The Vatican was a 4.5 hour tour that included the Museums and Sistine but also a few additional upgrades (Bramante Staircase for one). Both tour guides were fantastic, the groups were small (15 or so people max), and they give you headphones to listen to the tour guide speak as you go through otherwise very loud areas.

I've used Viator tours in 4 different cities in Europe and have never been disappointed. Might look up any tours in Florence and Lucerne also.

 

[FishinNole247]

I was literally talking to my dad about this on the drive back from the game yesterday. If you don't mind, how much is it all in for both of you to go? My dads always wanted to go to Italy and I mentioned going to Switzerland and doing the train to Rome. Similar 10 days timeline. If you can mention the overall budget I can give him an idea of what itll cost. He's hoping to do it this summer for 40th anniversary gift with my mom. Much appreciated!

 

[LesClaypool]

I was literally talking to my dad about this on the drive back from the game yesterday. If you don't mind, how much is it all in for both of you to go? My dads always wanted to go to Italy and I mentioned going to Switzerland and doing the train to Rome. Similar 10 days timeline. If you can mention the overall budget I can give him an idea of what itll cost. He's hoping to do it this summer for 40th anniversary gift with my mom. Much appreciated!

No problem. The whole 10-day trip should run us about $5,000.

That's for flights, hotels, trains, excursions, tours, taxis, travel insurance and tips. (Doesn't count meals though.)

The flights & hotels portion is $3,162 total for 2 people flying Economy Comfort w/Delta out of Tallahassee. Would've been ~$2,700 for both of us in Coach. (Business class would've made the trip ~$10,000. A little too rich for my blood...but I was tempted.)

I used Delta Vacations to book the flights and hotels. They were great. Originally we were going to drive to Orlando but it was actually cheaper to fly Economy Comfort out of Tallahassee, than it was to fly Coach out of Orlando. How this is true I have no idea, but it is. This is the 2nd time I've used them for a European trip and both times I was able to fly out of Tally for super cheap vs having to drive to Orlando or Atlanta. Can't say enough good things about their service.

If you're interested I'll send you my breakdown on everything. I'd put it here but it's in columns on a spreadsheet and it doesn't copy-and-paste well. Just send me your email address.

 

[Formerly Rockymtnole]

Sounds fun - never been to Lucerne but have been to Switzerland a few times.

It will be interesting to experience the punctuality and orderliness of the Swiss and the relative chaos and disarray of Italy in the same trip.

We didn’t take a tour of the Vatican museum; just walked through on our own. Makes you realize how much the church stole from people over the hundreds of years! The Sistine Chapel was by far my favorite part of The Vatican.

 

[FishinNole247]

Awesome, no worries on sending it but that gives us a ton of insight on costs. Hoping it would be around that. We live in West Palm so maybe flights would be even less doing PBI or Miami.

 

[gonolesgg]

I used bbplanet.com for Rome. Also has other cities listed. Mainly bed and breakfast type places. I stayed closer to Vatican City near the castle.

Didn’t book any tours because i didn’t want to be tied down for couple of hours. Vatican museum and St. Peter’s get there early. I really liked St. Peter’s square at sundown.

Coloseum line was really long so that’s one I would probably get a tour for if you can skip line.

I know this will sound cheesy but I did the on and off bus last day to cut down on some of the walking. Basically hopped on near Vatican City and got off at coloseum. Then I walked back through the city to see a lot of the other sights.

 

[Fijimn]

Sounds like a fun trip. Make sure you pack some warm clothes.

And if you get hungry, eat something