Hi. We are traveling from Lake Como to Austria this summer. We can either take train from Varenna to Venice eat dinner then take night train (have to book the seats that go down bc others are sold out) and arrive 8 am for $600 OR fly for $30 pp in an hour. I hate to miss the night train bc I’ve done before and wanted kids to do it but seems like it might be better to fly this time. Any thoughts? We will be taking trains in Switzerland and France later in the trip. TIA!
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6970 posts
If it's a question about money, keep in mind that you need to add airport transportation and an extra hotel night to the cost of flying.
And if you're travelling from Como to Vienna, it's much easier to take the night train from Milan.
Posted by
Chicago
8164 posts
I would only do it if this was a sleeper car and not a regular chair that just reclines or I couldn't afford the flight and your lodging will be available when you arrive in the morning so you can checkin and take a shower. Most folks I know can't sleep on the trains with all the stops and are miserable if they have to walk around until checkin in the afternoon after a sleepless night on the train.
Posted by
OP
7 posts
Oh they have stops on the other car? I Didht realize that. I didn’t see a night train from Milan, I’ll have to look into that thank you. Yeah my kids will likely not slept well even in a couchette. But it did say you can call if there are no private compartments left so I’ll try that too. It is $500 for couchettes but said might have other people and I don’t want the kids alone w a stranger. Thank you!!!!!
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6970 posts
I'm not sure what you mean by stops on the other car, but ÖBB has a daily night train from La Spezia to Vienna that stops in Milan on the way. How many of you are there in total? A sleeper can be a good option to a couchette.
If you have the time you can also have a look at the day train. Takes a bit of time but gives you great views of the Alps!
Posted by
Wengen
2494 posts
On my last trip to Vienna I did take a night train, but I booked a comfortable sleeping berth all to myself, so had a reasonable sleep. And I then went to my hotel and to my surprise could already get in to my room (at 8 in the morning) and used that to get refreshed.
If you go by night train try to do this as well. I found out that if you are really early often the hotel does have rooms ready because they are not booked out, and you can then take advantage of that.