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Advice on Varenna to Zurich, or back to Milan?

Posted by on

I'll be traveling for a few days on my own and have booked one night in Varenna and am wondering which way to go after that for 3-4 days. I'm trying to decide whether to go up through Alps and leave from Zurich, via St. Moritz or Chur on the train. Or, to go back to Milan and environs or head somewhere else. I like to be active and am not sure I can handle 10 hrs. plus on the train. I haven't booked my return flight yet, but major airports (Milan, Zurich) seem my best bet with fewest connections. I'll have just come off a 2 week vacation with my family touring much of Italy, including Venice, Florence, Cinque Terra, Rome and Pompeii. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Posted by
21384 posts

"Advice" is a pretty strong word. How about, "if it is a nice day, a train ride from Varenna to Chur over the Bernina Pass would be wonderful and relaxing." Chur is a nice town to poke around in as well. I'd prefer it to St Moritz.

Posted by
16895 posts

Varenna-St. Moritz-Zurich "only" takes 7 or 8 hours on the train. I enjoyed that route as a single-day train ride (Varenna-Appenzell), not stopping to visit the mountains around St. Moritz and Pontresina. The connections are very smooth, as is typical in Switzerland. But you have enough time to stop, and don't have any other mountains in your trip plan. You could also take the same route but end at Luzern for a couple of days (8 or 9 hours total), then just go to Zurich for your flight.

Posted by
1054 posts

Go into the Alps, leave Milan alone. Just be prepared for increased prices in Switzerland. Those 8 euro items in Italy will be 12 Swiss Franc in Switzerland.

Posted by
3 posts

Thanks for all the comments. I've decided to head to Lucerne, then fly out of Zurich.

Based on that itinerary, I have one more question (for now). I have a choice of spending two nights in Lucerne, one night in Zurich, or one night in Lucerne, two nights in Zurich. Thoughts?

Again, thank you in advance.

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