I'll be on a group tour of the Italian Lakes Region that ends in Zurich. They're planning to go to Zurich by bus but a few of us were thinking we'd like to take a train instead.
Is this something you'd recommend? Would it just be Swiss Rail or should we try Gotthard Panorama or is there something else entirely that we should look into?
Thanks so much!
Where would you leave the tour group? Different lakes and towns are on different north-bound train lines. You can find similar topics using the Search field for this site.
From the east side of Lake Como, such as Varenna, you can take regular, local trains through Tirano and continue along the route of the Bernina Express.
The Gotthard Panorama train departs from Lugano on Monday-Friday only, late April - mid-Oct. You can also find schedules for a similar route by requesting "stopovers" (midpoints) in Airolo and Goeshenen, to avoid the longer Gotthard Base Tunnel.
From Stresa, trains run north via Domodossola and Brig.
Looking Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the Deutsche Bahn train schedule link and tips for using it.
It would help if we knew exactly where in the "Italian Lakes Region" you will be starting from. It is a big area.
Well, that was just ridiculously silly of me to miss mentioning, wasn't it? My apologies.
We'll be in Lake Como at the Barchetta Excelsior.
I did google it, but most of the travelers just want to get from one area to the other and I couldn't figure out which would be best for people looking at it as an experience rather than a mode of travel.
Thank you so much!
That hotel is in the town of Como itself, so the Gotthard Panorama Train would be a good choice.
"Barchetta Excelsior" - that sounds like the name of an hotel. Which town or village is that in?
As Laura says, Como is a big lake, depending on which town or village you are staying in the options to get to Zürich are different.
I WOULD NOT go to Zürich by bus, that will be slow and uncomfortable. A train will be a lot more comfortable. And, there are very limited long distance international bus services to Switzerland, train is the normal method of Public Transport.
Swiss Rail or should we try Gotthard Panorama
"Gotthard Panorama" is not a railway company, it is a named tourist train operated by SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) in additional to their normal service.
Once you have decided where you are staying on Lake Como, and where the nearest station is, you can look up trains from there to Zürich on the SBB website: https://www.sbb.ch/en
Or you can look at this rail map of Switzerland: https://www.sbb.ch/content/dam/infrastruktur/trafimage/karten/karte-sts-pass-gueltigkeit.pdf
All Swiss rail routes (shown in red on the map) have at least one train per hour.. On the bottom right of the map you can see lake Como (like an upside-down Y). The rail lines in Italy are shown in grey.
Finally, why are you going to Zürich? It is not normally a place tourists go on their first visit to Switzerland, it is not in the mountains. Unless you are actually heading for Zürich airport, and not the city.
P.S. Lola has just written that the "Barchetta Excelsior" is in Como town. Como town is large, and not a very touristy places. Most people stay in smaller places around the lake.
Take a taxi or bus to Como San Giovanni station. You can can see the connections at https://www.sbb.ch/en
From Como S. Giovanni to Zurich Hbf (or airport if that is where you are headed), and via Goeschenen. That will show you all the train connections that go up and through the old Gotthard Tunnel. Can get there in 4 to 4 1/2 hours.
Before our upcoming stay in Varenna on Lake Como, we decided to take the Bernina Express from Chur Switzerland to Tirano, Italy. You can watch a YouTube video HERE. From there we plan to take a local train on to Varenna-Ersino immediately after. Since the Bernina Express departs early in the morning we will be staying the night before in Chur. Something similar might be an option for you.
