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Trip Planning Help: Train/driving routes from Germany to Italy? May

Posted by (Philadelphia, PA) on

We are planning to fly into Munich and probably renting a car to drive the Romantic Road and visit various castles.

But then do I keep the car or start using trains or drop at the boarder or back near Munich?

I have no idea what to expect when I am traveling around those countries.

My cities that we would like to get too from Germany are ( please explain travel times complexity of travel or travel options worthy stops) I originally thought travel through Zurich then Como or Innsbruck to Verona might be best. But then I started reading about other routes and ideas.

  1. Lugano, Switzerland
  2. Varenna, Italy or
  3. Verona Italy
  4. Milan, Italy

But if there are other routes that has a stop in a city worth staying for a few days that would be great also.

Is the Bernina Epress route worth doing does that require a lot of travel connections. I have been reading and googling and can't seem to understand if this is a normal journey or complex journey with many connections.

Eventually we want to be on lake Como. Varenna or Bellagio.

Thanks
Greg

Posted by
6664 posts

The "castles" on/near the Romantic Road that are most often visited are south of Munich - Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau near Füssen, and Linderhof, slightly further afield. These are not castles in the German sense of the word - castles are those rustic defensive structures with thick walls that are found here and there around Germany but most heavily clustered in the Middle Rhine Valley - the "Romantic Rhine" northwest of Frankfurt. The ones south of Munich are more modern residential palaces.

If you want to see the genuine castles, it's a longer (but worthwhile) trip from Munich; the palaces OTOH are just to the south. You can reach Füssen easily by train if you wish; the palaces are accessible by local bus from Füssen.

The Romantic Road is a much longer undertaking. It finishes in the north near Frankfurt. A car is convenient if you plan to drive the whole thing, but many places are accessible by train as well.

I would not rent a car in Germany and return it in a different country unless you want to pay drop-off fees.

There are train routes from Garmisch-Partenkirchen (near Füssen) to Innsbruck via Mittenwald; from Innsbruck trains can be used into the Italian Alps and on to Verona, then, Milan, then onward to Como. You can catch a train to Venice as well (a detour from Verona off the route to Como.)

This site does an excellent job of explaining the train options over the Alps.

Posted by
20254 posts

First question: where do you plan to fly home from? Munich, Milan, Zurich?

Posted by
187 posts

We plan to fly home from Venice and plan on 25 days or so.
thanks

Posted by
20254 posts

The Bernina Express is direct from Chur, Switzerland to Tirano, Italy. In Tirano, you walk across a piazza to the other train station and take a train to Varenna.

There are hourly trains that ply the route from Chur to Tirano that do not have panorama cars, require at least one connection in St Moritz, and do not charge a seat reservation fee on top of the ticket price. It is a very scenic train ride.

To get to Chur from Germany, I'd suggest dropping the car in Lindau on the Bodensee and spending a few days there. It sits on a little island in the lake connected to the mainland by a car and train bridge. From there it is a train south to Chur with a couple of changes along the way.

Varenna to venice is a train to Milan, then change to a train to Venice.

Posted by
1234 posts

Hi. From Munich, I have only chosen a variation on your route #3. I have enjoyed stopping off in Innsbruck and Bolzano (and environs) along the route and ending in Venice - via Verona.

Check out the Man in Seat 61. Here is the page on leaving from Munich. Scroll down and see Zurich and other Swiss destinations, and a little farther down, Italy with Venice, etc.

https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Munich.htm

There is a lot of info here to sink your teeth into. Enjoy!

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