chamonix - venice

You trying to get there in 1 shot or with stops along the way? First thought is train via Martigny, Brig, and Domodossolo to Stresa on Lake Maggiore, staying there for a couple of days, then train to Milan and changing there to a train to Venice.

Fastest...Fly. Easyjet has flights every day but Saturday. 1H15m.

Less expensive than train.

Train travel is doable in one day, 8-10 hours with 4-5 connections, along the same route Sam described. How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it.

Flying may have 2-3 hour advantage all up, but at much greater expense.
Trains have a downside with so many connections.

1) TER18911 Dep 11:54 CHAMONIX MONT BLANC (France) Arr 12:30 VALLORCINE (France)
2) RE 26211 Dep 12:43 VALLORCINE (France) Arr 13:35 MARTIGNY (Switzerland)
3) TRN 1817 Dep 13:40 MARTIGNY (Switzerland) Arr 14:32 BRIG (Switzerland)
4) EC 57 Dep 14:44 BRIG (Switzerland) Arr 16:37 MILANO CENTRALE (Italy)
5) FB 9739 Dep 17:35 MILANO CENTRALE (Italy) Arr 20:10 VENEZIA S. LUCIA (Italy)

Thank you so much for all the info - the schedule is pretty open right now but we do like the out-of-the-big-city locations so the alps, lakes etc are all great. thinking more off the beaten path adventures with hikes, luge, bikes thru villages kind of stuff between the big city sights. we dont mind flying + love the scenery + experience of train travel but were concerned about time - its hard to "waste" a whole day traveling when theres so much to see! as of now we were thinking:
paris
beaune
chamonix
stressa/lake como area
cinque terre?
rome
barcelona
then...? ireland?
big cities - just for a day or so, mostly for flying purposes. any other suggestions would be great.

wondering if going over to venice area is actually beneficial or if we should just head straight down towards rome - just trying to avoid car travel!