Switzerland or Austria for first Europe visit?

JasonWx wrote

Going to Rome in June then driving around to various towns and cities..Should be interesting..

Don't drive in Rome. Be forewarned. Rent at the airport.

I did that a few years ago. Rome to Tuscany, Asssi, beck to Chianti, over the mountains to Maranello to see the Ferrari museums and drive Ferraris (that was way cool), Venice, over to Lake Como, Milan (after dropping the car off at Malpensa airport. Don't drive in Milan.) I've been to Italy three times in the past six years, just recently for five weeks in November. If you need some help, just ask. Best advice I can give is that the Rick Steves books are worth every penny. Not necessarily for lodging and food, (although he doesn't steer you wrong there) because other internet tools are good for that, like Tripadvisor (very big in Europe) and Booking.com, but, he gets into the little details that make day trips in certain places so much easier.
One tool I found invaluable is a navigation app called HERE, or, HERE Now. Works great on my Android phone. Does not need data to navigate, and it's very good. Don't rent a GPS for the car, get this app. Added bonus is that you can use it walking around towns and cities. Buy a spare battery, though, it kills batteries fast. Worth it. Download the Italy map after downloading the app. All free.

Plan is to go  up to Florence, train or drive to Venice then to Como or Garda..I need to drop my daughter in Milan. I have no plan on driving in Rome..

we are also going to Cinque Terre..

If you road bike, there's a nice bike hotel just steps from the train station on the bottom of Garda. https://www.gardabikehotel.com/en/  I stopped in to check it out. Nice place, nice bikes.

If you're going to do just the place you mention, trains would be easier than driving. But, if you really want to see Tuscany and other places in the country, you gotta have a car. Keep it small, those old towns are tight.

I just recently saw a Rick Steves on my TV all about Cinque Terre. Maybe you have it on your On Demand. Lots of walking. Then again, everywhere else will be too. Wear comfortable shoes.

Mountain Biking is my thing...Would love to MTB for a day..

Well, if you can figure it out, try to get up into the Dolomites, specifically around Arraba and Cortina. You could do it moving from Venice to Como, or, even Garda, not far from there. I was up there for a few days on this last trip. Unreal scenery. Prettiest mountains I've ever been in. MTB isn't my thing, but, there's plenty of it there, and it must be really cool. I'm pretty sure there's rentals, too.

There's an event in June, I think, called The Hero, which is, basically a weekend long mtb festival with a 65 mile race/ride as a centerpiece.

http://www.herodolomites.bike/en/race/sellaronda-hero-marathon

Alas, no.  

Did get this picture of the Matterhorn this morning.



The morning started out ok, at least on the Gornergrat side.....







......but a front was moving through and by 10:30, when we planned to meet up with my wife, the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise and entire Cervinia ski area were shut down.  So, our plan to head up top and ski over to Rifugio Guide del Cervino went out the window.  It was time to rejigger the plans, but not too much was open.  A couple of Gondola rides got us up to Riffelberg and the train up to Gornergrat.  Unfortunately, the clouds had rolled in, the wind was howling, and it all combined into somewhat of a vertigo inducing mess.  I even got a little disoriented.  My wife only made it back down to Rotenboden and a train ride back down to Zermatt.  I did make it with the kids to Riffelberg for some tasty Swiss grub, but no outdoor seating with views.  It was a good lunch.

Great photos!

It seems like JTG places equal (or more) focus on the culture around the skiing.

You bet your ass!

A shame about the bad visibility, welcome to the Alps. I've had plenty of days where I had to sit down for half an hour to get my head to stop spinning.

This was yesterday in Kitzbuhel:
http://www.alpinforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&p=5158409

You go to some of the most majestic mountains on the planet and it’s to be expected, I guess.  There were a few times after lunch up on Gornergrat when the wind really kicked up and for a few minutes it was the most extreme, white out conditions I’ve ever been in.

It’s all good, though.  Hell of an experience.  We could complain about much of the mountain being closed and the conditions being difficult (to put it lightly).....but we were so blessed and fortunate to even be there for that to happen.

To keep this on trip planning topic....word of caution.  It was snowing this morning in Zermatt.  Our daughter met us yesterday in Zermatt and skied with us.  Her PLAN was to take the Glacier Express to Chur.  Shortly after the train left Zermatt they were informed that the train was being cancelled due to Avalanche conditions in the mountain passes.  Skunked on the Glacier Express!  She was able to continue her journey using regional and inter-city trains that don’t go through the same mountains.

You were hosed two days in a row? That's not fair. Oh well, at least you got a small taste of what it's like.

Just a little feedback from my daughter, who has spent the past two days in Chur (pron: Kur) and St. Moritz.

She loved Chur!  While the area around the train station is NYC modern, she stayed in Old Town.  From 4:00pm to 11pm was enough time to see all the historic sights of Old Town and beyond and to have dinner for less than $30us at a Michelin star rated Swiss-German restaurant.  The town and people alike are friendly and adorable.

This morning she took the cable way out of the valley up to see the Chur ski region.  The cable car led to a Gondola, that led to the most adorable red Tsu Tsu (Choo Choo) Train, that led to a veritable winter wonderland of sledding and skiing families having cocoa and coffee around a huge fire pit, with my daughter beckoned by the most friendly Swiss server into an Easter buffet where she ordered a delightful piece of carrot cake and some coffee....and was subsequently given the cutest bag of Swiss Easter chocolates that everyone got!  It truly sounds adorable.  

More choices and decisions!   Stop!    Umm ok keep it coming...great stuff!

Nope, Chur was already part of my recommendation!  Just even more so now.  If we are able to plan a family ski trip I’m even more convinced it will be 3 days skiing Zermatt, with a Glacier Express/Chur exploring rest day, followed by 3 days skiing Chur.  Maybe substitute one of those Chur ski days for a day exploring Zurich.  Train travel from Zurich to Zermatt and then Chur to Zurich.  Seen and heard enough this week to know that is a winner of a ski vacation!

JasonWx wrote

Plan is to go  up to Florence, train or drive to Venice then to Como or Garda..I need to drop my daughter in Milan. I have no plan on driving in Rome..

we are also going to Cinque Terre..

Found it, a lot of his shows are on YouTube.


https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/season-8/italys-riviera-cinque-terre

JTG4eva! wrote

Just a little feedback from my daughter, who has spent the past two days in Chur (pron: Kur) and St. Moritz. She loved Chur!

I drove through Chur during both Switzerland trips this season on my way to nearby Lenzerheide in December and Tschiertschen (<-- a great local's mountain not even 15 minutes from Chur) in March. Didn't bother to stop and check out the old town because, as you know, I'm all about the skiing and not so much about the cultural stuff.

Lol.

Yes, even along the train route from Chur to St. Moritz my daughter saw several ski areas.  

You can get direct buses to both of those ski areas from Chur, be there in less than 30 minutes.

Benny Profane wrote

JasonWx wrote

Plan is to go  up to Florence, train or drive to Venice then to Como or Garda..I need to drop my daughter in Milan. I have no plan on driving in Rome..

we are also going to Cinque Terre..

Found it, a lot of his shows are on YouTube.


https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/season-8/italys-riviera-cinque-terre

thanks for the link

After my daughter visited Chur I’m convinced it’s adorable and must be visited when (if) we plan a ski week.  However, Brambruesch looks relatively small as a ski region and may not be worthy of multiple days skiing.  As mentioned, you can quickly bus to a couple of the nearby ski areas James visited.  Something else I’ll look into is perhaps a stopover in Andermatt for a day skiing.  Maybe from there the Apres Ski (or other) train to Disentus Sedrun for another ski day?  On to Chur.  Point being, using the Swiss trains it’s possible to hit a variety of different ski areas as you traverse across the Alps!