Switzerland & Italian Alps

Welcome to Switzerland. Arrive Zürich Airport (ZRH), transfer to the Old Town. Walk the Bahnhofstrasse, the Limmat riverfront, and the Lindenhof viewpoint.

Guided Old Town walking tour — Grossmünster, Fraumünster (Chagall windows). Welcome dinner.

Train to Lucerne (45 min). Chapel Bridge (1333), Lion Monument, painted-façade Old Town on the lake ringed by mountains.

Afternoon at leisure. Evening: lakeside dinner with mountain views.

Golden Round Trip to Mt Pilatus (2,132m) — boat, cogwheel railway, cable car circuit. 73 Alpine peaks visible.

Lake Lucerne paddle steamer cruise (Swiss Travel Pass). Evening at leisure.

Train via Brünig Pass (2 hrs). Interlaken between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, gateway to the Jungfrau region.

Lauterbrunnen valley — 72 waterfalls, Staubbach Falls (297m). Check in. Dinner with Alpine backdrop.

Jungfraujoch (3,454m) — Europe’s highest railway station. Cogwheel train through the Eiger. Sphinx terrace, Aletsch Glacier UNESCO.

Return late afternoon. Optional: paragliding from Beatenberg. Evening at leisure.

Train via Spiez and Visp (2.5 hrs) into the high Valais. Zermatt is car-free. First Matterhorn view from the village.

Explore the village — Bahnhofstrasse, Matterhorn Museum. Fondue dinner with Matterhorn through the window.

Gornergrat railway (3,089m) — Matterhorn reflected in Riffelsee. 29 four-thousand-metre peaks, Gorner Glacier.

Five Lakes Trail hike (4 hrs, moderate) or Klein Matterhorn cable car (3,883m, ice palace). Final Swiss evening.

The border crossing. Train from Zermatt to Milan via the Simplon route (approximately 3.5 hours). The landscape shifts from Swiss granite to Italian Mediterranean — the Alps flatten into the Po Valley, the language changes, the coffee improves.

Arrive Milan early afternoon. The Duomo di Milano — the largest Gothic cathedral in Italy, 135 spires, rooftop terrace with views over the city to the Alps. The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (the 19th-century glass-vaulted arcade). Check in. Evening: aperitivo in the Navigli canal district — Milan’s Spritz culture.

Morning: The Last Supper (Leonardo da Vinci’s fresco at Santa Maria delle Grazie — pre-booked timed entry, 15-minute viewing slots, your specialist has the reservation months in advance). Then transfer to Lake Como (approximately 1 hour north).

Arrive Como. Ferry to Bellagio — the ‘Pearl of Lake Como,’ on the promontory where the lake’s three branches meet. Villa Melzi gardens. Check in to your lakeside hotel. Evening: dinner on the Bellagio waterfront with the lake and mountains illuminated.

Morning: Villa Balbianello — the 18th-century villa on a wooded promontory (Star Wars and James Bond filming location), accessible by boat. Then Varenna — the quieter, more authentic village on the eastern shore with Villa Monastero’s botanical gardens cascading to the water.

Afternoon: at leisure on the lake — private boat hire, swimming from the hotel jetty, or simply sitting on a terrace watching the ferries cross. Lake Como rewards stillness. Evening: farewell lakeside dinner.

The drive east. Private transfer from Lake Como to Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Dolomites (approximately 4 hours via Bergamo and the A4/A22 through the Brenner corridor). The landscape transforms from the soft lakeshore to the vertical limestone towers of the Dolomites — the most dramatic mountain scenery in Europe.

Arrive Cortina d’Ampezzo late afternoon — the ‘Queen of the Dolomites,’ host of the 1956 Winter Olympics and co-host of the 2026 Games. Check in. Evening: first Dolomite dinner — canederli (bread dumplings), speck, and a glass of Lagrein from Alto Adige.

Morning: Tre Cime di Lavaredo — the three iconic limestone towers that are the single most photographed image in the Dolomites (approximately 1 hour drive from Cortina, then a moderate 2-hour loop hike around the base). Or Lago di Braies — the turquoise Alpine lake surrounded by forest and Dolomite walls (the rowboat on the lake is the postcard).

Afternoon: transfer to Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE, approximately 2 hours) or Innsbruck Airport (INN, approximately 2.5 hours) for your departure flight. Twelve days from Zurich to the Dolomites — Swiss precision to Italian soul, granite to limestone, fondue to risotto. Your specialist remains reachable throughout. Safe travels home.