I guess it depends what part of Switzerland you’ll be in.

I spent a week in the French-speaking part a while back. It’s all pretty nice. Lausanne is a good medium sized, but not very touristy city. Slightly more touristy (but still not too bad) is Gruyeres, which has a nice castle and is famous for their cheese and thick, rich cream. I think there’s some nice hiking in that area as well.

In my experience, Swiss people were among the nicest in Europe and there’s plenty of great terrain, so I’m sure you can’t go wrong.

Thank you!! That’s very helpful.

We’ll fly in to Zurich and then we have a week in Switzerland and a week in Italy. So, we’ll either go down on the west side to hit Lausanne and Geneva or go down the eastern route via Lugano. It’s hard to chose since it all seems so nice. One week just isn’t long enough! If you recommend Lausanne, we may head that way.

Did you go as far as Geneva? Do you know if Bern is worth a stop on the way?

I speak French fairly well, so we’d be OK on the western side, but I’m curious – Is it common for people to speak/understand English throughout Switzerland?

Thanks again!

I remember Lausanne being nice, but I don’t know how much there actually is to DO there. I only spent a few hours in Geneva (essentially just after arrival and just before departure), and so can’t recommend much. And I didn’t make it outside the French-speaking parts (it was a high school French trip).

Most of the activities I did with my host family were outdoors… hiking, biking, skiing, horseback riding. I don’t really remember any tourist attractions, but it sounds like that’s not what you’re looking for any way. Even the castle in Gruyeres had a lot of hiking nearby, if I recall correctly.

Language-wise, with decent French you’ll be very well prepared. I remember the French in Switzerland being far easier to understand than in France. And I believe most, but not all, of the people there also speak/understand some English. So communication shouldn’t be a problem (at least compared to other places in Europe).

Glad to help, and let me know if you have questions about Italy… I’ve been there more recently.

Thank you so much! After reading your comments, I’m pretty sure we’ll be heading down on the French side…

Advice on Italy would be very much appreciated! I was there years ago, but only went to Venice, Rome, Naples and Pisa on that trip. This time we are going to the northern part that I missed last time – Tuscany, Florence and maybe Milan. Have you been to any of those areas? Any suggestions on places to go/places to stay would be great!

Also, in terms of language – is English prevalent at all now? When I was there, I was on a family trip and my parents speak Italian, so I didn’t have to muddle through any language barriers on my own. I plan to take some lessons in Italian before we go, but I’m wondering how much I need to know to get by if we aren’t in major tourist areas…

Thanks! :)

Italy… I didn’t go to Milan, but I’ve heard that it’s not great as a travel destination, very modern, very business. I was underwhelmed by Florence. It’s beautiful, but very very very touristy. Those types of cities are not my cup of tea, they just feel fake, like everything is for sale. If you’re interested in some of the specific attractions though, it’s definitely worth it.

Now the good… Cinque Terre was lots of fun! Gorgeous views and hiking trails and easy to get to/from using the trains. I also really enjoyed some of the smaller Tuscan towns… Lucca, Siena, Cortona (maybe that’s not in Tuscany exactly, I’m not sure). Those are great places to just wander around. Hang out in the city center with a loaf of bread and hunk of cheese and people watch. If you’re looking for museums and attractions, they may not be ideal, but for a real Italian experience I think they’re better than Florence, etc. I stayed with my aunt who lives between Pisa and Lucca and found it unfortunate that people waste their time in Pisa to see the leaning tower when it’s an otherwise dirty, uninteresting city. Lucca, a short distance away, was so much more friendly and aesthetically pleasing.

As far as places to stay, I spent most of my Italy time with my aunt (as I mentioned), but near Cortona, in Farneta, stayed at an Agriturismo that wasn’t yet open to the public (through a friend’s connection). It was a great experience and something I’d definitely do again, kind of like a bed & breakfast, but I think there’s a pretty big variety of them out there.

I don’t remember a lot of English-speaking Italians, but if you’re familiar with the international language of slow-English-with-hand-gestures and you have a simple Italian phrase book, you should be fine. Now that I think about it… my brother was just in Tuscany last summer and got stuck in a situation where he needed help dialing a phone number (turned out he had written the number down incorrectly) and there were no English-speakers around. I think it spooked him a little. So you might have a little more trouble in Italy than in Switzerland, but if you’re taking a class, I’m sure you’ll be fine. As with traveling anywhere, preparation and adaptation are key.

When’s your trip? How long? I get immediately jealous (in a good way) of anybody that can travel, especially in Europe. Enjoy it!

After spending two weeks in Italy, i took the train from Milan to Bern. It’s a gorgeous train ride and well worth the time and money. We spent a few days in Florence, and like Pete said, it’s very touristy but beautiful. We spent a lot of time outside the downtown area, just walking around the residential parts. We also were camping at a site directly across from the city on the other side of the river. It was great because we were up on a hill and could see the whole city. Milan isn’t worth it in my opinion unless you are really into fashion or have lots of money to blow. It’s industrial and very commercial. (I think pete pointed this out also). Bern was cool, but not a whole lot to do there. Although there is a statue of an ogre eating the kids. It’s a really nice city to just walk around in though and eat fondue.

I haven’t been there but i’ve heard Tuscany is incredible. All the small towns are well worth the trip. We spent the majority of our time in the South. 1 week in Sicily a few days in Rome then up to Florence. Sicily is great because life there still seems very old world and the food is amazing.

Thank you both for your advice! Very helpful.

We are planning to go at the end of summer/beginning of fall. I haven’t booked the flights yet though… But, I think that will be a nice time of year for the trip. Hopefully it will still be warm everywhere in Switzerland…

I was planning to take a train to get to/from most places, but wanted to rent a car for a few days to explore Tuscany and be able to easily get to the smaller towns. It is unbelievable how expensive an automatic transmission car is there! You can get a manual Fiat for a reasonable price, but the only auto trans cars they have are BMWs or Mercedes at a cost of about $700 – $1,000 for 5 days! Insane! For over $100/day I can probably pay someone to drive us around. I guess I’ll have to get around another way!

We’re actually considering splitting this up into 2 trips. It seems like there is a lot we’d like to see/do in both countries. So, we might do 2 weeks in Switzerland this year and then another 2 week trip to Italy next year. I don’t want to rush through any of it. Vacation time is precious, it should be savored! :)