Anonymous wrote:+1 for Switzerland. You could do Geneva + Zermatt or Zurich + Lucerne if you wanted to try to combine a little nature and history. If you really only want to stay in one place, you could do Lucerne and do a couple of day trips from there? The train system in Switzerland is amazing and so are the roads if you wanted to rent a car.

I like Interlaken as a base for exploring the Bernese Oberland. Annecy is also nice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the French Alps? You can fly non-stop to Geneva and then drive to Chamonix, Annecy, etc. Lots of varied things to do around there.

Yeah was thinking the same- or the Italian lakes for the same. Some nice little towns to stay in, and then do activities around the area. Parents could do some things or just stay in the town a day or two and enjoy the lake, etc.

Could combine Dolomites (say Ortisei) with Lake Garda but I’d still probably lean towards Switzerland.

just one heads up about switzerland- hiking there is very.. vertical. you need proper hiking shoes, sticks and do some inclines to train for them. i did seealpse and was so so slow!

Anonymous wrote:What about the French Alps? You can fly non-stop to Geneva and then drive to Chamonix, Annecy, etc. Lots of varied things to do around there.

Yeah was thinking the same- or the Italian lakes for the same. Some nice little towns to stay in, and then do activities around the area. Parents could do some things or just stay in the town a day or two and enjoy the lake, etc.

What about the French Alps? You can fly non-stop to Geneva and then drive to Chamonix, Annecy, etc. Lots of varied things to do around there.

OP here. Talking about travel plans with my parents this weekend! Thanks very much for all of the ideas. I'm not sure why my parents selected these two countries as possibilities -- I think they just have them in their minds as pretty countries that would be fun. (This is a very hard decision! I want to experience both!) The rain and cold do not both us at all in regards to Scotland. I suppose I will just have to present all the ideas on both sides. Though, I think my parents will want me to choose and plan everything.

For a summer vacation a few years back we found a ski resort town, Lenk, and spent several days there. There are numerous buses and lifts that take you up the mountain, and then you can hike downhill back to the town. The scenery is stunning! There are many such towns.
Someone upthread mentioned the Italian alps. I've never been, but that reminds me of the one downside we found to the Swiss alps: The food was very heavy, pork, cheese, that kind of thing. Maybe they do better in the Italian alps.
Oh, and Switzerland tends to be very expensive.

Haven’t been to Switzerland. We went to Scotland a couple summers ago for a week, and it was a charming trip but…. It was mid July and it rained (snowed?) for most of the trip and was frigid cold. Like hovering around freezing for most of our time north of Edinburgh. We had a nice time, but it would have been disappointing if it was our “big” trip of the year.