We are travelling by train from Berlin to Italy commencing the 1 September 2020. We will have four days and nights before arriving in Lucca, Italy. We would appreciate suggestions for the most scenic train route and best places for overnight stops throughout this short trip. We understand that there are faster ways we could travel south, however we are interested in 'slow travel' and want to get the most out of this short trip, so that we can stop along the way, and take photographs. Thanks for your advice.
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8319 posts
The train takes about 20 hours total time. It leaves Berlin and there's a medium long run to Wurzburg. Then the train shortly goes thru Nuremburg and Ingolstadt before going into Munich. The train gets to Innsbruck in a couple of hours and then goes thru the Brenner Pass into Northern Italy. It's a fairly long run down to Verona, Bologna and into Florence. You go west of Florence to Lucca.
The question is which of these cities are of interest to you? You could stop along at any of these cities.
Posted by
Green Bay
21166 posts
My proposal:
Day 1. Train from Berlin to Lindau, via Munich. Not so scenic, but gets you to a beautiful city on an island on the Bodensee. 6 3/4 hours
Day 2. Train to St Moritz. Lindau to Bregenz along the lake, to St Margarethen a short way, to Chur scenic, to St Moritz spectacular. 4 hours
Day 3. St Moritz to Varenna. To Tirano on the Bernina Express, extra spectacular. To Varenna, scenic through the Adda Valley then along Lake Como. 4 hours
Day 4. Train to Lucca via Genoa. Scenic first half along Lake Como to Milan, then IC train to La Spezia, scenic through the mountains to Genoa then along the coastal mountains tunnel-bridge-tunnel, train to Lucca, not so scenic. 6 3/4 hours.
Posted by
Berlin
3009 posts
I suggest a stop-over in day 1 in Bamberg which has a very nice old town. It is directly connected to Berlin by ICE train on the way to Munich, no detour.
Posted by
OP
Australia
5 posts
Thank you everyone for your responses. This information is very helpful and we will consider it carefully when planning our trip from Berlin to Italy.
Posted by
Paris
7304 posts
The route via St Moritz is a great suggestion!
Slight improvement : from Lindau there's a ferry to Rorschach (Switzerland), from where you can take direct trains to Chur. It'll be more convenient and more scenic. Possibly quicker, too. Never took that precise ferry, but took the similar one from Friedrichshafen to Romanshorn, which I believe is more frequent.
Also, Genoa is a backtracking move.
Posted by
Green Bay
21166 posts
Yes Genoa is a backtracking move, but it is only 1 hour longer than the logical route going through Florence. That route is hardly scenic. Flat Po valley followed by a virtual tunnel through the Apennines and you're in Florence. And if you can time it to get the Frecciabianca to Viareggio from Milan at 13:10, it is the same amount of time going through Genoa.
Good idea, ferry to Rorschach.
Posted by
OP
Australia
5 posts
Great! your suggestions are helpful. We are creating a scenic trip using these suggestions. Any additional advice is welcome. Many thanks.