Getting to Bolzano

In 2015 we flew into Munich, stayed 2 nights, and then took the train to Bolzano to pick up a car for our Dolomites time.

Last September we went from Milan to Lago di Garda (Desanzano) to Verona, with a night or 2 in each place (and opera in the Roman arena at Verona), and then the train to Bolzano from Verona.

Next September, we will reach Bolzano from Verona again, but for our flight home we will take the train from Bolzano to Bologna and fly home from there. It is a nice little airport, very easy to navigate, and British Airways flies there at least in the summer season. Others in our party are flying home from Venice and from Munich.

They are all good options, depending on your preferences.

As for hotels, we avoid spending a night in Bolzano as it is a “spa town” and the hotels seem relatively expensive. It can also be hot and humid in mid-summer. Last time we actually spent a night in Bolzano was 20 years ago, in a budget place that I would not recommend ( and probably does not exist any more).

Not having done this but looking at the options it seems like Venice airport to Bolzano is the most straightforward solution.
1) Bus from the airport to Venice Mestre (mainland station 15min) with everyone else taking a train
2) Train from Venice Mestre to Verona Porta Nuova (~1 hour Frecciarossa fast train, ~2 hours Regionale slow train)
3) Train from Verona Porta Nuova to Bolzano (~1.5 hour fast train, ~2.5 hours Regionale slow train)

It looks like from Munich you need to change trains 4 times to get to Bolzano. The train changes I outlined above are really pretty straightforward and should not be a challenging.
Milan is about the same but will take a bit longer because the airports are outside the city. So it adds an hour on the train to get from Malpensa MXP airport into Milan itself and then onto Milan to Verona.
Verona also has a small airport that is close to the city but doesn't have anywhere near the options - especially internationally - as Milan and Venice but would get you very close.

If you want to investigate yourself try using Rome2Rio.com as a starting point for investigating routes and connections but always follow up with the actual providers before actually choosing an agenda.

Some notes:
-Fast train tickets come with specific trains, classes and seats assigned while slower Regionale tend to be "just get on train" class general tickets.
-Tickets for July will not be available yet - usually about 3 months out is the earliest.
-If you take Italian trains use the Trenitalia app to book tickets and track trains and stops

Have a great trip!
=Tod

Bahn.com suggests that Munich main station to Bolzano is about 4 hours (of lovely scenery). When I lived in Germany I did the Munich to Bolzano trip several times and it is easy enough, if there are other advantages to you to fly into Munich. The Munich airport is substantially out of town and requires connecting at Munchen Ost (usually). The trip takes about 30 minutes, so allowing for the train's schedules, Munchen Airport to Bolzano will be 5 hours or so. Venice's Marco Polo airport is a relatively short bus ride from Venezia Mestre station and Venice to Bolzano is less than 3 hours. I have not been there in several years but the Hotel Figl was comfortable and very convenient in the center of town.

Milan -> Bolzano train is about 3 hours fyi!

There are direct EC trains from Munich HB to Bolzano, taking just under 4 hours.

They depart at 9:34, 11:34, 13:34, and so on. It is a scenic train, especially in the Brenner Pass area and south down to Bolzano. We bought our tickets well in advance on bahn.de and got a very good price on “Sparpreis Europa” tickets for the cross-border trip. I believe it was around 30€ each but it will be more now.

If you are going to spend a night in the city you fly into before traveling to Bolzano, I recommend Munich over Venice. As much as we love Venice, we do not go in summertime. Also hotels there are very expensive these days, and getting into the city from the airport can be expensive, or slow, and possibly confusing.

Milan is also easy. To me it comes down to which city and country you would rather visit on your way to Bolzano.

FWIW, I find Rome2Rio to often be inaccurate, as it apparently was here with the “need to change 4 times from Munich Bolzano”.

In September, I flew to Munich airport, and after a train to the train station, took the fast train to Innsbruck, and after a few days continued on to the fast train to Bolzano, All very easy, and great scenery. In Bolzano, I stayed at the Citta hotel on the main square, a lovely hotel with ac and nice breakfast, with friendly and helpful employees, and reasonable rates.

Where does your trip start? The closest larger airport to Bolzano/Bozen is Innsbruck. But it is not a huge hub and you will need to change somewhere in Europe. So getting a direct flight to a major airport and then continue by train can be a better idea. Milan, Venice and Munich both work great. An advantage with flying to Munich is that the scenery between Munich and Bozen is excellent!

Thank you all for your replies in December. We have decided to fly into Geneva then travel by train to visit Lugano, continue on to Bolzano to meet up with our hut to hut hiking excursion in late June. Now, we face the hard choice of 3 nights in Lugano and one in Bolzano or 2 nights at each. We read that Lugano is more Italian and very beautiful. It sounds like Bolzano is more of "a city." We will have 5+ days up in the mountains once our hike begins, do for that aspect of Bolzano, I think we have it covered. Happy to hear perspective.