Alright TexAgs, for simplicity let's say we (family of 3) arrive in Zurich (summer trip) the morning of the 1st, we need to be in Rome by midday on the 4th, working on how we make our way there while achieving as many of the goals below:

Must:
1. be in Modena, IT the morning of the 3rd - don't have to wake up there just need to be able to get there fairly early that day - visiting Lamborghini, maybe Pagani

2. Spend at least 1 day/night in a Swiss Alp town - ideally Grindelwald, but could settle for something like Andermatt or another similar town, unless the rec is to "make it to Grindelwald any way you can"

3. Stay somewhere between Modena and Rome in a resort-ish, countryside or small-town hotel, not looking to stay in say, Bologna as we don't see ourselves having much time to actually see local sites on this leg. Would like the trip to Rome on the 4th to not be too lengthy

Like:
Experience Lake Como, don't have to necessarily spend the night there, but perhaps have a lunch overlooking lake in a pretty spot, this is a like and it just might not be doable

Not to have to rent a car and drive. I am prepared to rent one if needed and it might make the most sense in Italy.

See as much of the countryside as reasonably possible, not feel like we spent a whole day traveling/driving

3 current ideas:

Planes:
Arrive in Zurich morning of the 1st, drop large luggage in an airport locker, take trains to Grindelwald.
Grindelwald the afternoon of the 1st and all day of the 2nd, then train back to Zurich late afternoon/evening, possibly airport hotel for simplicity the night of the 2nd, or could do somewhere in Zurich we should see
Morning of 3rd fly Zurich to Bologna, rent car to get to Modena/Sant'Agata area, visit Lambo, then drive to wherever we stay between there and Rome that late afternoon.
Morning of 4th finish drive to Rome

Trains:
Arrive in Zurich morning of the 1st, train to Andermatt and spend night
On the 2nd Train to Milan or beyond (Piacenza?) spend night - get car?
Morning of 3rd drive to Modena, Lambo, then on to hotel/resort on way to Rome
Morning of 4th finish drive to Rome

Automobiles:
Arrive in Zurich morning of the 1st, rent car and drive to Andermatt, spend afternoon there and drive on to Locarno - spend night
On the 2nd drive to Como area for a stop/lunch and then eventually on to somewhere Milan or beyond
Morning of 3rd drive to Modena, Lambo, then on to hotel/resort on way to Rome
Morning of 4th finish drive to Rome

I think at this point im leaning towards option 1, we may miss some countryside and anything Como related but it just feels easier?

Open to any suggestions or feedback, also looking for a rec of places to stay (family of 3) in Grindelwald, Andermatt, and in between Modena and Rome.

Let me know what you think, thanks in advance!

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in between Modena and Rome.

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Check out a place called Frascati and the hotel villas in the hills surrounding that area.

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2. Spend at least 1 day/night in a Swiss Alp town - ideally Grindelwald, but could settle for something like Andermatt or another similar town, unless the rec is to "make it to Grindelwald any way you can"

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Interlaken, Zermatt and St, Moritz also an option.

Is this in summer of winter?

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Experience Lake Como, don't have to necessarily spend the night there, but perhaps have a lunch overlooking lake in a pretty spot, this is a like and it just might not be doable

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Thats doable in transit on the way to Milan. The train stops in Como and the lakefront is a short distance with lunch spots along the lake.

I wouldn't consider driving any of that route. You'll be on the best and most efficient train system in the world. Having driven that area and no real reason to drive anywhere you are talking about going.

I'd think about spending that first night in Zurich though. You get off that morning flight and about 2pm that day you ready for a nap. Would get off that flight and go straight to a hotel.

Thanks for the responses, this will be a summer trip. Was thinking Grindelwald/Andermatt as it looks to be on the more general route towards Modena. My biggest concern with taking trains everywhere is we (we = wife) will have some larger luggage with us - are there reliable large lockers at every train station we could leave the larger pieces at so we aren't lugging those around as we move through towns?

Getting from Modena/Bologna to Sant'Agata Bolognese area, there is a train from Bologna to S'A, but is uber/taxi also an option in the area in between the 2 cities? Pagani is sort of in the middle, in Castelfranco Ameila and there's not really a station nearby.

I'd drive the entire way. Trains are efficient but driving gives you the ultimate flexibility and is generally faster.

You are on a whirlwind tour. We are doing this trip in reverse starting in Milan next spring.

Having just done our honeymoon in Italy and Switzerland I'd definitely recommend trains. If you know the exact dates in advance you can get SBB Saver Passes that let you take just about every form of transit in the country of Switzerland for much cheaper than individual train tickets.

Stay in whichever town you want in Switzerland, if you do Andermatt you can take the Gotthard Panoramic train route and it's a great (beautiful!) ride. We did this in reverse from Como to Basel last month and it took about 4 hours. Make sure you take one that says Gotthardpanoramastrake, not Gottard Bastunnel (The tunnel that bypasses the scenic route and goes under all the alps - faster train but not as pretty of a ride). Anything that goes through Goschenen station should be the panoramic route.

Take a train that stops at the Como San Giovanni station and either spend the night in the town of Como or find a luggage locker and walk around the lakefront for a few hours. It's not nearly as spectacular as going to Bellagio or Varenna but it is still gorgeous and you won't have time to take the ferry to the other towns. Then take the train from Como to Modena. (The SBB passes only work on Swiss trains while they're in Switzerland though, once you cross the border you need new tickets).

I'd recommend renting a car in Modena for the last leg of your trip. We rented in Florence and spent 3 days driving to Rome and it was not a bad drive. Then you can stop in all the little Tuscan towns as you please. My recommendation would be to visit Umbria as it is less touristy than Tuscany and still on the way to Rome, but it may be too far out of your way. (Montefalco is a great town!)

I did not read all the responses, but I took a portion of the Bernini express from Tirano, Italy to Zrich, and it was the most beautiful sites I've ever seen in my life. It started off "fallish" and then it was complete snow capped mountains. I plan on doing it again.

If you are going to Como but don't have the time to get on a ferry to Bellagio or Varenna, I would skip Como. The restaurants in Como don't have a good view of the lake and are a little below the dam. If you have time and can make it to Bellagio and/or Varenna, I would absolutely do it. We went in May and the villas and views of the Lake from Bellagio and Varenna are stunning.

I still thought Como was a worthwhile town to visit but agree going and not seeing Bellagio or Varenna is missing the best part. We stayed in the town of Como for 2 nights (granted our hotel was on the lakefront so we enjoyed the lake view) but we found a couple of restaurants that were actually pretty great even if they didn't have a view.

I'll say that I would rather spend the time in a city like Florence though if I had to choose a city to just spend one day walking around that is easy to access by train.

The trains in Switzerland are a tourist attraction unto themselves.

You can make it from the Jungfrau region (whether that's Grindewald, or, in my opinion, a better choice in Wengen or Murren) to Modena in under six hours by train. I would take the train from Zurich upon arrival to one of those mountain towns, and spend two nights there before taking the train to Modena. You could go up to Spiez on regional trains before catching the fast train that runs between Bern and Milan.

Yes, you will be tired on arrival day, but probably not too tired to make it from Zurich to the Berner Oberland. I did that in 2016, and we didn't even take the most direct route, opting to go through Luzern, where we grabbed lunch on the way. The ride from Luzern to Interlaken, then into the mountains, should be interesting enough to keep you awake. There is some scenery going the other way (through Bern), too, and Bern would be a good place to stretch your legs and grab something to eat.

Good stuff, thanks for the info.

Appreciate all the replies, keep them coming

Thanks, and hadn't looked at Wengen, geeze. Would love to do 2 nights in the Swiss mountains but have to be in Modena fairly early on day 3, so there would be no way with a 6 hour train ride.

I could see a follow up trip in a few years just to hit the Swiss mountain towns and may have to save Wengen and Murren for that.

East Dallas Ag said:

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Thanks, and hadn't looked at Wengen, geeze. Would love to do 2 nights in the Swiss mountains but have to be in Modena fairly early on day 3, so there would be no way with a 6 hour train ride.

I could see a follow up trip in a few years just to hit the Swiss mountain towns and may have to save Wengen and Murren for that.

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I misread your days. Wengen and Murren are just 20-30 minutes further than Grindewald. The view from Grinfewald is nice, but from Wengen and Murren, it's spectacular.

Great little restaurant in Modena

Piccola Osteria Zemian

https://maps.app.goo.gl/CCN8T5TEPXEARhzVA?g_st=ic

Get the Gnocco fritto

Make sure you do Pagani -- it will blow the other factory tours out of the water!

We took the train thru the Alps from Zurich to Milan & enjoyed that.

Thanks we'll try to make it happen

awesome, thanks

Not sure if following this thread still but I'll offer some advice.
Consider your travel time and know you'll hit a point of exhaustion and jet lag. If coming from Dallas or Houston, from door to Door (house to hotel in Zurich) it could be 18-24 hours. If going straight to Grindelwald after you land, you're going to be toast when you get there. If you're older and don't manage flight travel/sleep well, it will be worse

Second point, Summer time is very busy in the Interlaken region. It's the Summer meca… I live in Switzerland and my favorite region is the Appenzell region. The Aescher Gasthaus is rad along with the lake Seealpsee. The town itself of Appenzell is super nice and there are so many little villages within the region. You can easily drive to the region from Zurich.

Perhaps consider staying in Zurich the day you land. Explore the city a bit and then day 2, drive to Appenzeller region. Stay one night and then next day drive to Milan Int. Airport, drop car and take train to Bologna.

Edit - I see you need to be in final location early day 3…if me, I would be in Italy final location night if day 2. I'm trying to think through how best to advise…from Zurich to Engelberg would be doable…only a 2hr train ride. They have some cool attractions there and an ice cave within the glacier on Mt. Titlis. Could then make it back to Zurich and take the Italian train line Trenitalia from Zurich into Italy.

I will throw my $0.02 in here: I have done planes, trains and automobiles from Zurich to Italy.

I have driven from Zurich to lake Como and then on to Milan. I have taken the train from Zurich to Florence, connecting in Milan. I have also flown from Zurich to Florence.

Flying over the Alps is amazing. The train offers some great scenery too.

However, for what you describe, I would drive. Not saying you should, just what I would do.

I would drive to Andermatt upon landing in Zurich. It is only about 90 minutes.

I would then drive to lake Como (pick your village) for lunch and on to Modena. A couple of hours in the car before lunch on the lake, and a couple of hours after.

I might be inclined to drop the car in Bologna and take the train from there. I am not sure where you are going in Rome, but I have found driving in Rome to be, let's say challenging, and I have driven a lot of different places.

This is good advice. I would only change drop the car in Milan and take the train from there. For me, driving in Italy can be frustrating…from tolls, traffic, car wrecks…In the past year over 3 trips within Italy or through Italy, I've lost hours of my life I won't get back sitting on (fully stopped) Italian highways.

Thanks, yes def still following. We fly from Philadelphia, its 8 hours and will feel like 2:00 AM Texas time when we arrive, so tiredness will def be a factor, but we think we are still young enough to push through it and make it on to our destination for that day, assuming it's pretty close which is why Andermatt has looked attractive. I'm thinking there will be another, hopefully multiple, trips to Switzerland in the future, mileage award tix and just an 8 hr flight from the east coast make it feel fairly doable, where we just visit Swiss towns, this will just be a little taste of something that's been on my bucket list. I am def planning to be near Modena for night 2 so we are waking up close to where we need to be that day, which will ultimately help us get on our way towards Rome by the end of day 2.

Thanks for the info, I'm leaning pretty heavy to heading to Andermatt for the 1st night but by train. Will be tired so letting someone else take the wheel sounds attractive so I can take in the scenery/doze off, plus I can have a beer at lunch and not worry about things. Almost all of the trains from Goschenen to Milan stop in Bellinzona or Cadenazza so thinking we get off there and trip over to Lago Maggiore and get lunch on the shore there for a "poor man's" Lake Como experience. Then on to the Milan Rogoredo station on the SE side of the city, there's car rentals there, pick up a car and its a straight shot to Modena area.

So I'm looking for a place to stay around Modena, needing to be at Sant'Agata Bolognese the next morning.

Then will need to find a place to stay in between there and northern Rome for that evening. Won't have to go into actual Rome, but pretty far north along the coast.

If you're looking for somewhere between Modena and Rome then Siena might be a good midway point. Beautiful drive and middle of wine country.