Thanks for the info.
On SBB website yesterday it was not showing a schedule from A-G to Lucerne on that Sunday.
It kept going back to Saturday, which was basis of my question.
We plan to arrive in A-G around 2pm.
Based on what your advice, we should have no trouble getting to Lucerne by 4pm or so?

GIJOE said:

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Thanks for the info.
On SBB website yesterday it was not showing a schedule from A-G to Lucerne on that Sunday.
It kept going back to Saturday, which was basis of my question.
We plan to arrive in A-G around 2pm.
Based on what your advice, we should have no trouble getting to Lucerne by 4pm or so?

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No problem whatsoever!! If you get lost, I'll pick you up. ;-)

GIJOE very interested to hear your trip report. I have been on the fence about scheduling a tour or booking myself through Europeandestinations.com for a trip to Italy. Planning to do Rome, Florence and Venice with spouse and our teen son. I'm a little intimidated doing it on my own having never traveled to Europe before. Also interested in advice for what you should do upon arrival as far as acclimating to the time change/jet lag. Any advice based on your experience would be greatly appreciated.

Fire_Aggie said:

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GIJOE very interested to hear your trip report. I have been on the fence about scheduling a tour or booking myself through Europeandestinations.com for a trip to Italy. Planning to do Rome, Florence and Venice with spouse and our teen son. I'm a little intimidated doing it on my own having never traveled to Europe before. Also interested in advice for what you should do upon arrival as far as acclimating to the time change/jet lag. Any advice based on your experience would be greatly appreciated.

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get the rick steves Italy book. I think you'll be surprised how non-scary it is.

Was laughing reading this (in a good way). Nothing to worry about. Much easier to travel to Europe than US destinations in my experience. Their public transit system is far superior to ours. If you can count to ten and recite the ABCs you can do it, that's as smart as you have to be to get it done. You can get the guide books as suggested but really you don't even need that. It's super simple and common sense stuff. If it looks like a cool place to eat, do so, if it looks like an awesome big church from the outside, go in and check it out, if it looks like it's a 1000 year old building converted into a museum it probably is so go on in and check it out. Nothing to it, it really is that simple. The first few times I travelled to Europe I did so with rick Steve's and the recommended packing list etc. totally unnecessary and ED is as easy and reliable of a service I have used. I can't believe the prices people pay to go to a travel agent to get the exact same thing. Now I take a few dress short sleeve shorts and shirts on a carry on and head across the pond. Simple stuff.

We plan to leave July 12 and return July 30.
Will be happy to provide trip report and answer any questions you have about our experience.

Right now we (my wife mostly) are deciding which things we want to see/do in each location and reading online about how much time to allocate for each.
Then looking at travel schedules, hotel locations etc just to see if it fits on paper. We realize that life happens and we will probably have some delays or change plans ourselves, etc., so we do not plan to be rigid with our schedule, and realize we will have to be flexible to some degree.

So far ED has been a good site to work on and plan our travel/hotel schedule as we try to firm up our plans.
The one thing that has some uncertainty is that some train schedules only give option of "morning departure" or "afternoon departure", so have tried to go to train websites to find those schedules.

We are trying to take the pack light advice to heart. We have historically over packed and will be difficult to break that habit.

Pack light, and if you end up needing something, just but it there.

Fire_Aggie said:

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GIJOE very interested to hear your trip report. I have been on the fence about scheduling a tour or booking myself through Europeandestinations.com for a trip to Italy. Planning to do Rome, Florence and Venice with spouse and our teen son. I'm a little intimidated doing it on my own having never traveled to Europe before. Also interested in advice for what you should do upon arrival as far as acclimating to the time change/jet lag. Any advice based on your experience would be greatly appreciated.

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Jetlag is one of those things that I have not mastered after 18 years. Supposedly, you

should land, drink coffee/tea or whatever, and only go to bed at a time locally.

I have lived in Europe for 18 years, and I have really enjoyed the public transport.

It is mostly hassle free.

Fire_Aggie said:

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GIJOE very interested to hear your trip report. I have been on the fence about scheduling a tour or booking myself through Europeandestinations.com for a trip to Italy. Planning to do Rome, Florence and Venice with spouse and our teen son. I'm a little intimidated doing it on my own having never traveled to Europe before. Also interested in advice for what you should do upon arrival as far as acclimating to the time change/jet lag. Any advice based on your experience would be greatly appreciated.

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For jetlag, try to book a flight that gets to your destination in the evening. If you get a flight that arrives earlier in the day, force yourself to stay up until a respectable bed time. If you feel sleepy during waking hours exercise or at least go for a walk and get some fresh air.

Chiroos said:

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<!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}-->Soon we are going to travel to Germany. It is not the first time we are visiting this country. I have chosen the date and in September we will be watching those so adorable places mainly that atmosphere in the mountains, discovering and enjoying the beauty of nature and wildlife in this gorgeous Alpine region. Follow the link https://rove.me/to/germany and choose a date.

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Looks like a bot infiltrated Texags to get clicks to
Their website!

Check out Traveling Aggies.

ontherocks said:

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Looks like a bot infiltrated Texags to get clicks to
Their website!

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That was my thought as well

We leave tomorrow. Thanks for all the advice. Will give a post visit report.

Got back home last night. Had a wonderful trip. Thanks for all the advice.
We booked air travel and most hotels thru European Destinations.
Booked a few hotels on our own thru Hotels.com.
Booked all rail travel on our own.
We were mostly self guided, but my wife did book some of the more popular tours (Vatican) ahead of time.
Will be happy to share our experience if interested.

GIJOE said:

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Got back home last night. Had a wonderful trip. Thanks for all the advice.
We booked air travel and most hotels thru European Destinations.
Booked a few hotels on our own thru Hotels.com.
Booked all rail travel on our own.
We were mostly self guided, but my wife did book some of the more popular tours (Vatican) ahead of time.
Will be happy to share our experience if interested.

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Did you make it here to Switzerland with the Arth-Goldau -> Luzern connection?

Yes, we made it fine.
We were able to book tickets from Venice to Milan, and from Milan to Lucerne.
Did not have to change trains at Arth-Goldau.

Lucerne was one of our favorite destinations of the trip (Capri was other).
Thanks for your advice and help.

Would like to hear about your experience even though my family has overruled my interest in Italy in favor of London and Paris.

sent pm to you

GIJOE said:

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Yes, we made it fine.
We were able to book tickets from Venice to Milan, and from Milan to Lucerne.
Did not have to change trains at Arth-Goldau.

Lucerne was one of our favorite destinations of the trip (Capri was other).
Thanks for your advice and help.

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I am glad you liked Lucerne. It is nice in the summer. I worked just outside of there for 2.5 years.

Fire_Aggie said:

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Would like to hear about your experience even though my family has overruled my interest in Italy in favor of London and Paris.

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I LOVED London. I was only in Italy for a short time, and Paris for a day, (London only 2 days), but I loved London. I really want to go back to Switzerland but it is more expensive.

JMac03 said:

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Fire_Aggie said:

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Would like to hear about your experience even though my family has overruled my interest in Italy in favor of London and Paris.

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I LOVED London. I was only in Italy for a short time, and Paris for a day, (London only 2 days), but I loved London. I really want to go back to Switzerland but it is more expensive.

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It is expensive here, but it is a really unique experience.

You want to come in Summer or Winter?