Switzerland is snow-covered tops, green hills, valleys that stop you talking, and the best chocolate and cheese in the world. Italy is going back to a time where the past and the present meet over pasta. Doing both in twelve days gets you two countries that share a border and almost nothing else — different language, different customs, different food, different history. And the best part happens in between: as you move south you feel the heat come up, the people change, the customs change, and the mountains slowly give way to farmland and open country. You can’t get that from a flight.

Luzern, Switzerland

How the twelve days break up

Days 1–5 · Switzerland

Zürich, Luzern, Interlaken

Start at the top and work down. Zürich to land and adjust, Luzern as the base you’ll wish you’d given longer, Interlaken for the valleys and the mountain days.

What most people missThe lakes. Everyone comes for the peaks and books their days around going up. The water down at the bottom of those valleys is the part I’d go back for — and it costs you nothing but an afternoon.

Day 6 · The crossing

Luzern to Lake Como by train

The scenic route south, which is the trip and not the transfer. You watch the Alps hand over to Italy through the window. There’s more than one way to do this — Luzern into Como, or another Swiss city down to Milan — and which one I put you on depends on your dates and how much of the day you want to spend looking out.

[One line about this ride.]

What most people missEverything about this day, honestly. Trains leave from stations that aren’t always the one you assume, and platforms change. Carriages are divided into sections and the good seats go early — reserve online or at the booth, not on the day. Luggage needs paying for and storing ahead if you’ve got real bags. And a Swiss rail pass is worth it if you’re moving a lot on long legs, and a waste if you’re not. Working out which is which is most of what you’re paying me for.

Days 7–11 · Italy

Lake Como, Cinque Terre, Florence

Two nights on Como, then down to La Spezia for the Cinque Terre coast, a day in Florence, and back up to Milan to fly home.

[Manarola, sit down and take it in]

What most people missThe beaches. People come to Italy for churches and food and go home without once getting in the water. The coast is half the country and it’s the half that gets left out of the itinerary.

• Full custom itinerary, day by day
• All hotel research, with direct booking links
• Rail routing, and which pass is actually worth buying
• Seat reservations flagged before they sell out
• Luggage and transfer logistics between cities
• A contingency plan for missed connections
• Your agent discount where available
• Three rounds of revisions
• A destination brief before you fly

$550 for the full twelve-day build

Flat fee for the whole trip, not per person. No markup on anything you book — you pay the same rate you’d pay booking direct, and often less.