Swisstalia: Zurich, Lucerne & the Alps into Venice, Florence & Rome

Swisstalia does what the name says: ten days that move from the Swiss Alps into northern Italy and then south to Rome. The logic is sound — both countries share a border and a shared history of mountain passes and Renaissance trade routes, and the transition from the lake shores of Lucerne to the canals of Venice to the cobblestones of the Roman Forum happens over nine days of coach, train and waterbus without a single flight. The Swiss section covers three days. Day two is Lucerne and the Pilatus Mountain cable car — 2,128 metres above the lake with a panorama of 73 Alpine peaks. Day three takes a day trip into the Bernese Oberland: Iseltwald on Lake Brienz (the jetty from Crash Landing on You), Interlaken, and the Lauterbrunnen valley with the Staubbach Falls. Day four covers Zurich — the old town, the Grossmünster, the Rhine Falls at Schaffhausen on the way — before the coach crosses into Italy and Milan. The Italian section runs five days south. Milan on Day five: the Duomo, the Galleria, La Scala and the Sforza Castle. Day six is Venice by waterbus — San Marco, Murano, the gondola through the back canals. Day seven is Florence: the Pierotucci leather workshop, Piazzale Michelangelo, Ponte Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria and the Duomo. Day eight stops at Pisa for the Campo dei Miracoli before reaching Rome. Day nine is Rome and Vatican with a local guide: Colosseum, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and St Peter’s Basilica. This is a ground-only tour. Flights are arranged independently: arrive Zurich, depart Rome. Halal meals are included at every included dinner. This tour is for you if you want Switzerland’s mountains and Italy’s five great cities covered properly in a single ten-day circuit.

• ◆Pilatus Mountain — cable car to 2,128m above Lucerne with 73 Alpine peaks in view
• ◆Lauterbrunnen — Staubbach Falls and the valley between vertical Alpine rock walls
• ◆Iseltwald on Lake Brienz — the Crash Landing on You jetty on the water
• ◆Venice gondola and Murano glassblowers — by waterbus from Tronchetto Pier
• ◆Pierotucci Leather Workshop — Florentine hand-craft leather in Florence
• ◆Pisa — the Leaning Tower and Piazza dei Miracoli (UNESCO World Heritage)
• ◆Rome & Vatican — Colosseum, Trevi Fountain and St Peter’s with a local guide
• ◆Rhine Falls at Schaffhausen — Europe’s largest waterfall by volume

Day-by-Day