Bolzano Bozen to Varenna

Have you already checked the train schedule on trenitalia.com/en.htm ? You are required to enter an arrival station in the TO field and a day of travel before June 11.

It’s easy. Train to Verona, then transfer to Milan bound train. There you catch the train to Varenna. We did it 6 years ago.

Catch bus 170 from 39040 Kastelruth to Bolzano/Bozen (45 minutes) then jump on a train to Verona’s Porta Nuova station (1h 30m). From Verona take a train to Milano’s Centrale station (1h 15m) and from Milan’s Central station to the Varenna Esino station (1h 15m). This trip requires three transfers and will take a full day.

We did the same route described by Richard and Mary Pat. No Problemo

Thank you! I checked Trenitalia and there is only one train leaving Bolzano at 3:31, arriving Milan at 6:55, with no further connections to Varenna that day. So now to look for hotel and travel the next day? Unfortunately all of RS suggested hotels near train station are booked. Glad we have time to plan!

@Dario you said before June 11-is the a reason why? Do they only book out so far? We will be traveling after that date. Thanks!

It’s too early to book trains. The schedule is not out for another month or so.

Keep in mind that train schedules change twice a year; the second weekend of June and December

So if your travel dates fall afterJune 11, you won’t be able to book train tickets until the schedules are uploaded by trenitalia after that weekend.

Since train schedules won’t change that much, you can check train schedules for the same day of the week you plan to travel (choose a date prior to June 11) to get an idea of trains traveling that route.

Consider choosing a time option that involves only one train change at Milano Centrale.

As an example, I chose June 8:
There is a frecciarossa (high speed train) departing Bolzano at 8:45 and arriving at Varenna at 13:24. This involves a 35 minute connection at Milano Centrale.

When is your travel date?

Thanks-I didn’t know about train schedule update. We’ll be traveling on 6/14. Trenitalia let me book the ticket for the 3:31 train on 3/14 (probably a mistake now). I bought in advance thinking that was the only train and didn’t want to get stuck w/o a ride. Hopefully I can cancel and purchase an earlier one after 6/11.

You may be able to receive a refund, or make changes ( date/time) depending on the type of ticket(s) you purchased.

Check here for more detailed information: https://www.trenitalia.com/en/info_contacts/faqs-section.html

Please note for future reference:
You can also book the entire journey (Bolzano to Varenna) when booking your train tickets, and you will receive the appropriate number of tickets required for the journey.

In the example I provided upthread, you’d receive a frecciarossa ticket (Bolzano to Milano Centrale), and a Regionale train ticket for the journey from Milano to Varenna.

One more thing about your train journey to Varenna.
The train only stops for a couple of minutes when it reaches Varenna.

So you must get your luggage and be ready to disembark when the train stops, right after going through the tunnel. You will disembark
onto the train tracks, since the train station is a small building, and usually unstaffed.

Hope this helps!

A travel hack we've used between Verona and Bolzano is to book via the German railway (https://www.bahn.com/en) that comes into Italy from Munich. It's a fine train, goes on the same tracks (and I think faster than) the Trenitalia, and is a fraction of the cost.

Thank you for all of your help!