Serious Mountains & Lakes

At A Glance

• 13 total travel days with 11 nights in hotels in Europe
• You’ll travel by train ~ never in a bus group!
• YOU GET hotels, train tickets, Swiss Pass and key private tranfers
• You’re free to get your own air tickets ~ we do not sell airfare

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 Itinerary

Day  1 – Fly from USA or Canada
Day  2 – Arrive Milan ~ Private transfer to Stresa
Day  3 – Stresa
Day  4 – Train to Wengen
Day  5 – Wengen
Day  6 – Wengen
Day  7 – Train to Lucerne
Day  8 – Lucerne
Day  9 – Lucerne
Day 10 – Train to Milan ~ Private transfer to Bellagio
Day 11 – Bellagio
Day 12 – Bellagio
Day 13 – Fly to USA or Canada

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What’s Included

• 2 nights Stresa on Lake Maggiore, 3 nights Wengen, 3 nights Lucerne, 3 nights Bellagio on Lake Como
• First-class hotels in great locations
• Lakeview rooms at Stresa, Lucerne & Tremezzo
• Breakfast daily
• 8-day Swiss pass in first class
• Private transfer from Milan Malpensa airport to Lake Maggiore hotel
• Private transfer from Lugano station to Lake Como hotel at Tremezzo
• Private transfer Tremezzo to Milan Malpensa airport

$4,595 per person, double occupancy
April 1 – October 31* — 2015 and 2016
LAND ONLY (airfare NOT included)
Fly into and out of Milan Malpensa airport

*Prices are for travel which begins and ends within dates shown.

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Candid Comments and Practicalities

This is one of the most dramatic itineraries we offer.

You start by flying into Milan and getting a private transfer to Stresa, on Lake Maggiore, where your hotel will overlook the Borromean Islands. We suggest that you spend your arrival day exploring the islands. For the next day, consider taking the Lago Maggiore Express, a combination of two trains and a boat ride that takes you through the Centovalli area of Italy and Switzerland to Locarno. You can also visit Ascona, one of Switzerland’s best lakefront towns. Then return by boat all the way down Lake Maggiore to Stresa.

Next day, catch the train to Wengen. Our tips will tell you about your options for getting into the high mountains, where you can choose from mountaintop excursions to the Jungfraujoch, the Schilthorn, and Schynigge Platte. An amazing variety of cogwheel trains, gondolas and cable cars offers the best collection of mountain views in Switzerland.

Your next destination is Lucerne, where the best charms of Switzerland — mountains, lakes and medieval character — come together. We suggest you visit Mount Pilatus and Mount Rigi, and ride a boat on Lake Lucerne. Our tips will tell you how. Stroll the old town of Lucerne. Eat at one of the restaurants overlooking the river and Lucerne’s famous covered bridges.

Then you ride the train over the Alps to Lugano, where another transfer driver is waiting to drive you along the shore of Lake Lugano and across the Italian border to nearby Lake Como. You’ll stay at the town of Bellagio, in a lakeview room with balcony. Ride the boat across to Varenna, our favorite town on the lake. Visit Villa Carlotta, the oldest tourist destination on Lake Como. Take the boat to Villa Balbianello, which you may recognize from the last James Bond film. Our tips will tell you how.

Ask us about adding Zermatt ~ For a VERY “Serious Mountains & Lakes” experience, add a 2-night stay in Zermatt to this itinerary. Weather permitting, you choose how to view the Matterhorn: take the cogwheel train up to the Gornergrat, or take a combination of cable car and gondola up to the Kleine Matterhorn. Ask us for a quote on the extra cost of this option.