We're traveling from Noli on the Ligurian coast up to Como on April 30, a Sunday.
We can take a taxi or local train to Savona, then I see an IC that runs to Milano, then an EC to Como S. Giovanni.
However, when I look on www.lefrecce.it, it shows that a lot of the trains are sold out already?
a) Am I reading the schedule correctly?
b) Is there a better way to get from Noli to Lezzeno?
c) Should I buy tickets now for whatever we can get?
Thanks for any help!
No, the site says:
Seats sold out on the train XYZ. Solution not saleable
Travel solution temporarily not available for the selected date.
Trenitalia haa been blocking the sales on the Intercity trains From Liguria to Milan for weeks now, I can't member why. You can book the ICs from Savona to Turin, so it must be something depending on Lombardy.
Would you recommend that I book one of the trains that are available, or should I wait for the schedule to free up or something?
I'd wait, what are you afraid of? This week I couldn't find a single sold out train on that route, and the Intercity trains to Milan are all bookable.
Since the trains that are available now do not sell out, why not wait? What's the benefit of buying now a ticket you don't really want and that you can always get in the coming weeks?
Our plans are pretty fixed for that date, so my fear is that the other trains will sell out and then we'll have a tough time getting to where we need to be.
It seems like all of the EC trains are both "sold out" and "temporarily not available" for that date, and dates around there. If you think they'll open up, I'll wait.
Do what makes you feel better. No reason to anxiously wait for weeks checking the site when you have an alternative. The EC is 12 minutes faster than the Regionale to Como S. Giovanni, but costs twice. Regionale trains can't sell out, so you know for sure you won't remain stuck in Milan.
Same for the Savona-Milan leg, since you can choose from 4 direct Regionale and 6 Intercity trains as a possible alternative to the Intercity you want, you know you will get to Milan in some way or another. Again, Regionale trains can't sell out, so what's the the downside of waiting for the IC train you want? Make a separate Savona-Milan search and see what pops up.
The site is not saying that those trains are both both "sold out" and "temporarily not available". It's saying you can't book now all the trains from Noli to Milan via Savona.
As I said There isn't a single sold out train on that route among those running in the next few days. None of the Intercity trains from Savona to Milan and for sure none of the expensive EC trains to Como, that local commuters avoid on such a short route.
In case anyone wonders how our train journeys went… This is from memory, so I may have gotten a couple of details wrong.
For the leg of our trip that was from Noli to Lezzeno:
We took a taxi to Savona. In Savona, we were told that there was a Trenord strike and that no trains were running north of Milano. Also, the last two tickets sold out on the IC or EC, so we took the regional train to Milano, then a taxi to Como.
We apparently found the one taxi driver that didn't have a smartphone. He drove to near Como, then began stopping and asking people for directions. We managed to find our way to the train station, where we parted ways with that taxi.
Finding another taxi was tough, so we walked into the Palace Hotel and they very nicely helped us by calling a taxi that would take us the remaining way to Lezzeno.
For the leg of our trip from Malcesine on Lake Garda to Venice:
We took a taxi to Pescheria del Garda, where we were told there was work on the tracks to Verona, so no trains were running that direction. I used the Trenitalia app to see that we could "backtrack" to Desenzano del Garda and then to Verona, but all the trains were sold out on that route.
We found our taxi driver getting a coffee, and he then drove us to Verona, where we caught a train to Venice.
These made for some long days, and I made a note to arrange for a taxi or car service ahead of time when possible, since taxis are more scarce than I expected, especially around the lakes. This trip was challenging because we had the kids with us for part of it, and our hotel stays were locked in, so our schedule wasn't as flexible as I might have liked, in order to roll with transportation delays.
