Everything that Rick says is true and...

• Planning using a spreadsheet: I love spreadsheets and created one for this trip because we were staying at some hotels on either end of the RS tour. It helped us make sure to reserve the right dates and estimate the cost of the extra travel. I primarily used Google Docs so it can be easily shared and accessed. 

• Train Travel: I love traveling by train! 

  • Get the App: There are different apps that help with finding the train schedule and purchasing tickets. I have used Trainline and found it very helpful.  A young 20-something gal at our hotel in Varenna recommended it, so you know it's a good one.  It is good to reserve your train ticket at least the day before.  It saves money and helps you plan.

  • Stairs: most train stations have stairs that you will need to use to get from one track to the other, underneath.  This is when packing light pays off! 

  • Bring food: Food is not always available on trains.  The nice ones like the Glacier Express have wonderful dining, but others will have vending machines, or nothing.  If you have a long train ride, stop by a grocery store and grab some snacks and drinks.  On a girls trip to Switzerland, we stopped at a COOP and bought wine and bread and cheese for some of our long trips! It was fabulous!

• Dinner Reservations: It is considered appropriate to make dinner reservations in many places. It's a good idea to ask a host if you should make a reservation and not assume that they can seat you right then, especially if there are more than 2 of you.  

• Cell Phone: We had no issues accessing GPS and emails and internet with our phone service.  European countries seem have wifi at most hotels and you can easily use your phone to find your way around. There are ways to swap out your SIM card physically and virtually, but we just paid our cellular provider a daily rate for unlimited data.  We used it for buying train tickets, finding hotels, taking photos, following a Rick Steve's audio tour and just about everything!

• Packing Light: This is our 3rd RS trip and this time I packed too much. In my defense, I prepared for hot and cold weather, which turned out to be good since we experienced highs around 98F (Bolzano) and lows around freezing (Aguille di Midi).  I brought a packable duffle that I used for dirty laundry, but it became a bit unruly when rushing up and down stairs to catch a train. During the tour, it was not a problem, just when we were on our own.

Hotels and Restaurants We Loved!

• The hotels we booked on our own turned out to be great, although sometimes the room we thought we booked, was not the one we got.

  • Hotel Olivedo, Varenna, Italy is a lovely hotel with friendly staff, right on Lake Como.  It is right by the ferry landing which is a little busy in the summer. Ask for the modern rooms that are above the restaurant if you want one that has an amazing view and patio and very updated amenities.  They are a bit more pricey than the others that were a bit on the rustic side, but still clean and comfortable with beautiful views. Making reservations via email became a matter of trust.  They believed that we were coming and would pay them since I had stayed there a few months before.  Otherwise you will need to call to give them your credit card information to hold a room.

  • Cavallo, Varenna, Italy is the restaurant next to the hotel and the food is delicious!  Reservations highly recommended.

  • Rifugio Frara, Dolomites, Italy has an amazing location! You really feel like you are in a national park or the mountains here since you are surrounded by mountains and there are hikers everywhere. Oh and a few bikers! We enjoyed our view, the food, the rustic atmosphere, and the proximity to nature and beauty! They are online but booking was through Expedia. There were no hiccups with the reservation.  The room exceeded our expectations!

  • Base Camp, Zermatt, Switzerland is a hotel I stayed at on a girls trip, so I knew it would be good, but it actually was better than I remembered.  The rooms have been modernized and are very spacious, but the best rooms have the view of the Matterhorn! We booked through their website and it was very smooth. The owner is a mountaineer, Richard Lehner who has been to the top of the matterhorn 230 times - 3 times by the North face and has participated in more than 360 rescue operations as part of the Alpine Rescue Foundation.  He's kind of a big deal, but very approachable and hospitable. The included breakfast is hearty and a great start to a day of hiking!

  • Chalet Hotel Schönegg in Zermatt has a wonderful restaurant with the view of the Matterhhorn and really delicious food.  A bit on the fancy side, the order of raclette was served on individual baby potatoes all in a line! 

  • Eden Palace du Lac, Montreux, Switzerland was a wonderful location with it's own restaurant of wonderful food.  We booked online through their website and when we arrived, we were given a street view room rather than a lake view.  When I looked up the reservation, I saw that I reserved a standard room, which apparently did not mean lake view. We were able to upgrade our room to one with a lake view for a few more euros, and it was worth it!  It also had air conditioning, which we used since it was so hot! Word to the wise: make sure you understand what kind of room you are reserving and document it.