Itinerary

Kevin & Susan’s Adventure 2008

Italy & Switzerland

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Agenda: Fly to Geneva, Switzerland. This will take all day; when we arrive in Geneva it will be Thursday morning. We have a long layover in Newark, but since we are flying BusinessFirst class we will have access to the Continental Presidents Club.

Flight 1:
Austin to Newark
Continental Flight 852 on a 737-300
Dep 6:35am
Arr: 11:15am

Flight 2:
Newark to Geneva
Continental Flight 80 on a 767-400
Dep: 5:55pm
Arr: 7:45am (Thursday)
(go thru customs after this flight)

Newark Continental President’s Club locations:

  • C1 Concourse, across from Gate 74
  • Between Concourses C-2 and C-3, near Gates 102 and 120 (with showers)

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Agenda: Arrive at Geneva Airport, rent car, and take a 10-minute drive to CERN. After touring the exhibitions, drive along Lake Geneva to Montreux, stopping in Lausanne for lunch. We should be in Montreux by 2pm. In Montreux, we will walk along the scenic lakeside promenade to visit Castle Chillon. This is a 45-minute walk, but we will need the exercise to ward off jet lag after the long flight. We may take public transportation on the way back.

Car Rental:

May 1 - May 6, Geneva to Lugano
Hertz via AutoEurope
Pickup at Geneva Airport at 9am
Peugeot 307 Convertible (manual)

Driving Detail:

Two options, either autostrada or lake shore:

Autostrada (lake view):

  • Leave airport, get on A1 all the way to Montreux
  • 55.7 miles (55 mins)

Route 1 & 9 (lake shore):

  • Leave airport, head to Route 1
  • Past Lausanne, turn onto Route 9 towards Montreux
  • 52.1 miles (1 hour 47 mins)

Hotel:

Hotel Royal Plaza Montreux
Grand Rue 97, Montreux, Switzerland
Telephone: 41-21-962-5050
http://www.royalplaza.ch/en/index.html

This is a large five-star hotel right on Lake Geneva (formerly a Hyatt property). In case of rain, we can always go to the Montreux Casino close to the hotel.

Dining Ideas:

Lunch :
La Bossette
Phone: +41 21 320 1585
4, Place du Nord, Lausanne, VD 1005
Driving Directions

“Without a doubt one of the bistros with the best atmosphere in Lausanne. The waitresses and waiters are always in a good mood, which is infectious and has spread to many regulars. From the terrace, customers will warn you if your car is parked in a way which may make it an easy target for traffic wardens. The atmosphere is quiet at first, but warms up as the evening progresses, fuelled by a wide range of beers. The food is simple but excellent and well priced. Approximate prices: Dishes from Sfr8 to Sfr27.”

Sights:

  • CERN - “Discover the excitement of fundamental research and take a look behind the scenes of the world’s largest particle physics laboratory. More than 25000 visitors come every year from all over Europe. From the tiniest constituents of matter to the immensity of the cosmos, discover the wonders of science and technology at CERN. Explore the mysteries of the universe and find out about the gigantic equipment used by physicists at CERN - particle accelerators and detectors.”
  • Lake Geneva
  • Lausanne
  • Montreux
  • Castle Chillon - ticket office is open 9am-6pm, doors close at 7pm. 12CHF per adult. Accepts Visa.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Agenda: After breakfast, check out of the hotel and load up the car for a drive across Switzerland to the Bernese Oberland area. This is a leisurely drive with plenty of time for stops to sample cheese, chocolate, and scenic panoramas. We will be staying in Lauterbrunnen, in the valley below ski resorts of Murren, Wengen, etc and between the tall peaks of the Eiger and Jungfrau.

Drive Details:

Leave about 11am from Montreux, stop for lunch about 11:45 in Chateau d’Oex, stop in Gstaad for pictures, arrive in Lauterbrunnen at 2:15.

Montreux to Lauterbrunnen is 85.7 miles (2 hrs 33 mins)

  • Hwy 9 South to Aigle
  • Hwy 11 to Interlaken

Our drive will be taking a similar route to the famous Golden Panorama train.

Hotel:

Hotel Staubbach
3822 Lauterbrunnen
Phone: 41-33-855-5454
http://www.staubbach.ch/en/index.htm

This is a small hotel with a direct view of the Staubbach Falls (5-minute walk) and overlooks the town. We have a room with a balcony.

Sights:

  • Château-d’Oex - pronounced Chateau Day - “A beautiful pre-Alpine walking area lies south of Château-d’Oex: La Pierreuse, the largest nature conservation area in western Switzerland contains rock areas, forests, abundant flora and flat moors.”
  • Zweissimen
  • Gstaad

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Agenda: Spend the day enjoying the Lauterbrunnen Valley and the Alps. In the Spring, there are major waterfalls within a few minutes of the hotel; we will hike to these and take lots of pictures. One of the waterfalls is located inside of the mountain. As other travelers here have stated, the area is so beautiful we may just want to spend the afternoon sitting on the hotel balcony staring at nature.

Sights:

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Agenda: Drive across Switzerland, over (under?) the Alps, to Bellinzona, which is very close to the Swiss/Italian border. If the weather is good and the passes are open, we will take some very scenic roads over the Alps. If not, we will drive on the Autostrada through tunnels, notably the Gotthard Tunnel which is the longest in the world. Arrive in Bellinzona by early afternoon so that we may tour at least one of the three major castles overlooking the Ticino Valley. After dinner, drive on to Lugano to our hotel.

Drive Details:

If passes are closed, this drive is all freeway and is the fastest route regardless of weather:

  • Lauterbrunnen to Bellinzona
    • Autostrada A8 to A2 via Lake Luzern
    • 2 hrs 39 mins (126 miles)
  • Bellinzona to Lugano
    • Autostrada A2
    • 25 mins (17.7 miles)

If passes are open, this route is much more scenic and exciting:

  • Lauterbrunnen to Wassen
    • Autostrada A8 to Hwy 11 (Sustenstrasse) via Gadmen is 52 mins (35 miles)
    • Gadmen, over the Sustenpasse, en route to Steingletscher drive time is unknown, but approx 15 mins
    • Steingletscher to Wassen 19 mins (14 miles)
  • Wassen to Bellinzona
    At Wassen, either:

    • Take A2 to Bellinzona going thru the Gotthard Tunnel (49.6 miles in 53 mins), or
    • Take Gotthardstrasse Hwy 2; go over the Gotthard Pass en route to Airolo. At Airolo, get on A2 to Bellinzona

Past Wassen there is no other entrance to A2. If the Gotthard Pass is not open then we have to get on in Wassen; we cannot drive partway on Hwy 2 then get on later.

  • Bellinzona to Lugano (see above - take the A2)

Hotel:

Montarina Hotel & Hostel
Via Montarina 1, CH-6900 Lugano
Phone: 41-91-966-7272
http://www.montarina.ch

This is an inexpensive place with a great reputation in an otherwise expensive locale. It is half hotel, with a bunk room hostel. We will stay on the hotel side in a private room.

Sights:

  • Sustenpass - “The road to the Sustenpass is one of the Bernese Oberland’s most scenic excursion trips. From Innertkirchen, near Meiringen, it twists and turns to an elevation of 7,412 feet (2259m) on its journey of 29 miles (46 km) to Wassen. The Susten road is open from mid-June until late September. Driving is easy enough if you don’t mind hairpin curves and grades of up to 9%.”
  • St. Gotthard Pass or Gotthard road tunnel - “The Gotthard road tunnel, completed in 1980 after eleven years of construction, is - at 16.3km - the longest road tunnel in the world, and although prone to hideous kilometres-long jams on both approaches, it remains open year-round, while the pass road above is impassable in winter.”
  • Bellinzona UNESCO World Heritage Site: “Bellinzona’s castles are considered amongst the finest examples of medieval fortification architecture in Switzerland. As they appear today, the fortifications, whose origins actually go much further back to a prehistoric settlement on Castelgrande hill, are mainly the result of intensive and complex building activity instigated by the Dukes of Milan in 1511.”

Monday, May 5, 2008

Agenda: Using Lugano as our base, we will take a day to explore the lakes region. Drive to the beautiful Lake Como area and ogle the huge estates. Take the ferry from Menaggio to be awed by the “most beautiful city in Europe,” Bellagio. Return to Lugano for the night.

Driving Details:

Map Link - 90.8 mi - about 3 hours 55 mins

Lugano to Menaggio to Varenna via Ferry to Lecco to Bellagio to Griante via Ferry to Lenno to see peninsula estate (Star Wars, Bourne) to Laglio to see George Clooney’s villa to Cernobio to Lugano

Sights:

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Agenda: After dropping off our rental car, take the train to Florence (4hr). Have lunch on the train. Take a taxi from train station to hotel with luggage. Spend the afternoon walking around Florence.

Rental Car Return:

9:00am at Lugano Downtown, 13 Via San Gottardo. This is very close to the train station.

Train:

Dep 10:36am from Lugano (Platform 2) on CIS153
Arr 14:32pm at Firenze SMN
Reservation required. Direct train with stops: Como, Milan, Parma, Modena, Bologna, Firenze. When the train stops in Lugano, we have only 1 minute to board.

Hotel:

Relais Piazza Signoria
Via Vacchereccia 3 , 50122, Florence, Italy
Fax : +39 (055) 286306, Phone : +39 (055)3987239
http://www.relaispiazzasignoria.com/en/index.htm

This small ten room hotel is located on the Piazza Signoria with a view of the Palazzo Vecchio. Completely restored in 2006 with modern furnishings set against stone walls and wood beams. We are in a Studio Executive room with a view of the piazza and palazzo.

Dining:

gelato gelato gelato!

Sights:

  • Duomo
  • Baptistery
  • Palazzo Vecchio

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Agenda: Our anniversary! Sleep in, be lazy. Be nostalgic. Have lunch on the Piazza just below the hotel (same place as our wedding lunch), eat Tiramisu (our wedding cake), then tour the Palazzo Vecchio (our wedding location). Try to get into the Palazzo Vecchio’s Sala Rossa (the place where we were married), if possible, to take pictures. Have dinner at the same restaurant as ten years ago. If we feel like it, we’ll also visit the Pitti Palace or Palazzo Davanzati.

Dining:

Acqua al 2 (dinner)
Via della Vigna Vecchia, 40r, Florence, 50121
Phone: +39 55 28 4170
http://www.acquaal2.it/restyle/ing/indexing.html

Sights:

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Agenda: Rent a car, then leave Florence heading south along the Chianti Road. This is a day for a slow, relaxing drive through the vineyards, wineries, and rolling hills of the Chianti region en route to Siena. We will stop for wine-tasting at a local winery, and have our first truly Tuscan lunch together. Actual drive time is about two hours.

Hotel:

Castello delle Quattro Torra
Str.di Pieve al Bozzone 36, 53100 Siena
Phone: 3394977999
www.quattrotorra.it

This is a medieval castle built on a hill overlooking Siena. It has four tall towers, one on each corner of the castle. The owners live in the castle, and rent two rooms as a bed-n-breakfast. We will be staying in a two-level room in a tower, up at the top, with windows looking out over the countryside in all four directions. This will be our home base for three nights.

Sights:

Friday, May 9, 2008

Agenda: Explore the town of Siena. We’ll hope for a nice sunny day to sit out on the il Campo and drink wine from a local café. Siena is a city where all the medieval red brick buildings are a sight to see and alleys dead-end at panoramic views over the countryside. The Duomo is astounding in its black-white stripes and gothic style on the exterior and carved marble and art on the interior.

Sights:

  • Siena - “This is one of the great medieval cities of Europe, almost perfectly preserved, and with superb works of art in its religious and secular buildings.”
  • Duomo - “Siena’s cathedral is a rich treasure house of Tuscan art. Despite being an overwhelmingly Gothic building, the Duomo has one eye-popping Romanesque holdover: its 1313 campanile with its mighty black-and-white banding.”
  • Museo Civico - Siena’s revered museum.
  • Piazza del Campo - “arguably the most beautiful piazza in all Italy. Crafted like a sloping scallop shell, the Campo was first laid out in the 1100s on the site of the Roman forum. The herringbone Siena brick pavement is divided by white marble lines into nine sections representing the city’s medieval ruling body, the Council of Nine. The Campo’s tilt, fan shape, and structure are all a calibrated part of the city’s ancient water system and underground canal network.”

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Agenda: Take a short drive to explore the towns of San Gimignano and Volterra.

Sights:

  • San Gimignano
  • Volterra

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Agenda: Early in the morning, we will leave Siena, head south, and start a driving tour in the Val d’Orcia area, home to many classic hill towns, cypress tree-lined roads, and excellent wine. After the drive we will check into a new hotel at the top of the hill town of Montepulciano. Our hotel will give us a pass allowing us to drive and park in the old town, with narrow cobblestone streets meant for horses and carriages.

Hotel:

Meublè Il Riccio
Via di Talosa, 21 - 53045 Montepulciano
Phone & Fax +39/0578/757713 - email info@ilriccio.net

Sights:

Monday, May 12, 2008

Agenda: We can either relax around the hotel, catch up on reading, email, and laundry before hitting Rome, or spend the day exploring Montepulciano.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Agenda: Today we head for the finale of the trip: Rome. We’ll return the rental car in Chuisi, a small town on the main train line with Rome. After lunch in Chuisi, we’ll take the train to Statione Termini in central Rome. After checking into our hotel that directly faces the Coloseum, we will visit the nearby Imperial Rome sites.

Train:

Dep 13:35pm from Chiusi-Chianciano Terme on IC703
Arr 15:03pm at Roma Termini

Reservation required. Direct train with stops: Orvieto, Orte, Rome Termini. When the train stops in Chiusi, we have only 2 minutes to board.

Hotel:

Royal Art House Hotel
1 Piazza del Colloseo, Roma, IT 00184
Phone: 39-06-775-90270
http://www.royalartcafe.it/uk_index.php

This location is famous for its cafe, but it recently opened six rooms for travelers. Rooms are large, modern, and all have a direct view of the Coloseum. There is a roof-top deck for dining (breakfast is included).

Sights:

  • Colosseum
  • Imperial Forum
  • Palatine Hill
  • Capitoline Hill

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Agenda: This is our day to see the big sights of Rome. Spend the morning on the Appian Way, then after lunch and a rest go to the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, etc.

Sights:

  • Appian Way - “South of the tourist-crushed Trevi Fountain, past the scooter-clogged streets of Centro Storico and just outside the city’s 1,700-year-old walls is a miles-long stretch of ancient landmarks, quaint restaurants and serenity known as Appia Antica.”
  • Spanish Steps
  • Trevi Fountain
  • Pantheon

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Agenda: This is “Vatican Day.” In the morning we’ll take the metro over to the Vatican and see St. Peters. If we are up for it, we’ll take the stair climb up through the roof to the top of the dome for a terrific view of all Rome. We’ll have a late lunch, then go back to the hotel to rest. At 7pm, we will meet up with our guide for a private, after-hours tour of the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel. The tour is 2 hours, and we’ll have dinner after.

Sights:

  • Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel
  • St. Peter’s Basilica

Tour Details:

After Hours: Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel Tour by Italy With Us, €250 pp ($400 pp), only available on select dates.

  • “Taking a private tour through the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel when they are closed to the general public is considered by many as one of the top ten things you should do before your die. Certainly even those who have visited the museums many times long for a chance to go around at a leisurely pace and really get the opportunity to appreciate all the treasures on display. Another great advantage of our after hours private tour is that there is no waiting in line. No hassle. No Crowds. You get to see the Vatican in the peace and quiet it deserves. Take your time looking at all the detail and drink in the experience. This is an opportunity of a life time! I have organised a series of private tours for small, select groups of people. Each group will be accompanied by a guide and they will have the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel virtually to themselves for 2 hours.”
  • Tour includes: * Upper Galleries * Candelabra * Tapestries * Maps * Raphael’s Rooms * Sistine Chapel
  • Meet at the ItalyWithUs offices beside the Vatican - Via Vespasiano 16/18 (just a few doors down from the Blues Cafè in Piazza del Risorgimento). About 30 minutes in advance would be best to be introduced to your guide.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Agenda: Take the Angels & Demons Tour of Rome in the morning. As this is the final day, spend the afternoon doing last minute shopping, shipping home excess stuff, and packing.

Tour Details:

Angels & Demons Tour by Viator.com, $84.71/pp, only offered Tu-Fr-Sa-Su

  • “By joining our Angels and Demons Tour, you will follow the Path of Illumination and understand how to solve the many puzzles and enigmas that await. Discover the Altars of Science and decode the secret messages hidden in Bernini sculptures and Galileo texts. Enter the Church of Illumination for a glimpse of “il Passetto”, the secret passage connecting the Vatican to notorious Castel Sant’ Angelo. A unique experience that will let you visit the most beautiful piazzas in Rome as well as the unexplored sites where pagan symbolism and Christianity intermix to reveal a disturbing ancient truth.”
  • Meet at 9:15am at the front of the church Santa Maria del Popolo in Piazza del Popolo (it’s the church located next to the big Roman arches)
  • Tour duration is 4 hours, concludes at Castel Sant’Angelo.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Agenda: Fly home to Austin. Have an early breakfast, check out of hotel, take Metro to Termini station, then train to Rome Fiuminco Airport.

Flight 1:
Rome to Newark
Continental Flight 41 on a 777-200
Dep 9:55am
Arr: 1:35pm
(go thru customs after this flight)

Flight 2:
Newark to Austin
Continental Flight 450 on a 737-500
Dep: 4:40pm
Arr: 7:54pm

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Agenda: Relax and re-adjust before going back to work on Monday. :-(

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