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Train from Milan to Varenna

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Does anybody have any experience or advice about traveling from Milan to Varenna at Lake Como? According to RS literature it’s a “short” train ride. I plotted it on Google Maps and it shows about 2 hours and then 7 hours showing the same route. Not sure what to make of it?

We are joining the RS 17 day tour at Varenna on May 20, arriving at the hotel a day early.

Would like to see as much of Milan in the short time we will be there, one night, so need to figure out the train to Varenna.

Thanks fellow travelers.

Lee and Pauline

Posted by
20081 posts

Don't look at Google maps, look at the the train schedule at www.trenitalia.com.

You will see it is a 1 hr train ride and goes just about every hour from Milano Centrale station.

Posted by
47 posts

I took the same train ride about five years ago and it took one hour. Went to see The Last Supper in Milan which was really wonderful. Enjoy your tour - it was my favorite.

Posted by
37 posts

The train ride from Milan central to Varenna is 1 hour and as stated above trains run on the hour.
I’m in Milan now and have used the train recently.
Regarding Milan it’s very full currently…be sure to book a Hotel asap.
I recommend Hotel Spadari near Domo.
You are set for a beautiful trip!

Posted by
150 posts

Hi! I’m taking this tour June 12 so I researched this too. I read that at the :55 minute mark on the train you should have your things ready to exit the train. You go thru a short tunnel then the train stops for ONE minute in Varenna! Your tour docs from RS have more specifics about the walk to the hotel from the station. Hope this helps. Enjoy!!

Posted by
212 posts

My wife and I spent a wonderful day a few years ago touring Lake Como on a roundtrip from Milan. Train from Milan Central to Varenna for a walk-about, boat to Bellagio to tour and have lunch, slow boat down Lake Como (stopping at lakeside villages along the way) to Como to tour and have a drink and snacks, finally the train back to Milan. A beautiful day ... great memories. If you're interested, she photo-blogged our trip at ... https://graciamc.wordpress.com/category/italy/lake-como/

Posted by
1078 posts

Your going to have a great time on your tour, Italy is one of my favorite places in the world!

Posted by
196 posts

I was just in Milan and Varenna last month. It is indeed a one hour train ride from one to the other, and the trains run regularly. I also got to see the Last Supper. What a wonderful experience!

Posted by
27 posts

Did the same trip in 2018. Had a problem buying the tickets from the machines at the train station. We could not find the end of line destination on the list. Turns out there are two different types of ticket machines. Fortunately for us a customer service agent was nearby who helped us with the tickets. Thought you should know about the two different types of ticket machines- they look very similar. Good luck.

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