Ortisei to Milan in July

You need to go from Ortesei to Bolzano by bus. Then train from there to Milan, with one change at Verona on the way. The time is 3 hours 15 minutes to 4 hours, depending on the connection.

Right now Trenitalia is showing prices for July. I looked at 10 July and saw prices ranging from 22 to 29 euros for the train journey. These are Super Economy fares so they will go up.

I don’t have the website for the Sur Tyrol Autodienst bus, but as I recall the fares are not bad. You will need to check that schedule before committing to a particular train, as the SuperEconomy fares are for the booked train only.

Is this just one person? I am getting prices of 47.55 EUR leaving tomorrow. 7 EUR to Bolzano by bus to Waidbruck and train to Bolzano. Then regional train to Verona Porta Nuova, then a Freccia train to Milano Centrale. That is 4 hours and 44 minutes, leaving at 9:01 and arriving at 14:45. If you take a regional train from Verona Porta Nuova, you get in a 15:35 and costs 31.65 EUR.

Use the Sued Tirol Mobil website for the Ortisei to Bolzano price, www.sii.bz.it/en and www.trenitalia.com for the price and schedule from Bolzano to Milano Centrale.

The cheaper price is always the same using all regional transport. The fast connection can be bought in advance for savings for the Freccia leg, about 11 EUR off for an advance ticket.

Thanks to you both.

Sam, there will be two of us travelling, but the prices I mentioned were for one person. However, my prices were solely from Trenitalia for the entire journey.

I took your suggestion of doing the first leg of the trip via sii.bz.it. I have found your route but not your exact times. On March 30th, I see Bolzano Bozen 10:31 > Milano Centrale 14:35 (4h 04 1 change).

So to confirm, I needn't book in advance, unless I want to make savings on the fast train?

Like I said, you can use slower trains and the price is always the same. There are a few Freccia trains on the Bolzano-Verona line, but mostly EC and regionals. When you travel on regionals, the make more stops, so take longer, but the price is always the same. With Freccia and EC trains, they cost more full fare, but you can get discounts by booking nonrefundable tickets well in advance.

Right now, they have not loaded the regional schedules for dates after June 8. That scares people, but Italians all know that it will happen, even if it comes down to the wire. Freccia schedules are loaded now.

Long story short, you can always get tickets at the last minute, it will just cost a little more than buying ahead.

And yes, Sunday schedules are often reduced for regional trains and buses.

If you are staying in Ortisei, your host lodging will give you a bus pass which is also good for your return to Bolzano. Once there, the freccia fast train is your best bet for comfort with a reserved seat and very reasonable in price if you buy tickets in advance. If you schedule a late morning or early afternoon departure, you have plenty of time to take the bus from Ortisei and maybe grab a sandwich to eat on the train. I would not take Regional “slow” trains for this transfer. You might end up in a coach lacking air conditioning and you may end up without seats. Not a chance I would take and we do this route often.

Thank you, Laurel. I will be staying in Ortisei. Does the bus take you the whole way to Bolzano? All options on the the sii.bz website have a change to a regional train...

Some of the 350 buses go all the way to Bolzano. You can find the timetable on the www.sii.bz.it/en site.
http://www.sii.bz.it/en/siipdfOldtimetables

I did this last summer in early July. Picked up the bus in Ortisei (and used the pass that I had from my hotel). It did go all the way to Bolzano - don't remember the number but I think someone has already posted the site to access schedules so you can find it. Your hotel will also be able to tell you which bus is best. Bus station in Bolzano is a short walk from the train station through a small park. You can get off right at the train station on at least some routes. Then I took the train the rest of the way. Very easy. Enjoy your trip - the Dolomites have become one of those places I just must return to!

For July from Bolzano to Milano Central, there is a 07:16 Freccia train and then the next one is not until 13:16.

Is the Db-Oebb Eurocity 81 train okay? There is one at 11:31 that starts on this and then changes to the Freccia. Or should I stick to Freccia the whole way? The option with Eurocity is cheaper and only takes 15 mins more than the Freccia only itinerary.

The EC 81 is perfectly fine. It does, like Freccia trains, require a seat reservation (included in the price). It goes exactly the same speed and making the same stops as the Frecciargento, and it has a restaurant car.

PS. The difference in travel time between the two routings is simply a matter of the connection time at Verona Port Nuovo. The EC connection has 15 more minutes of wait time in Verona. Time to grab an expresso at the bar.

Hi Tyler. For dates after mid June, only a partial schedule is loaded / shown now. Instead, look at a day next week; it shows trains at 7:16, 7:31, 7:36, 8:36, 11:31, 11:36, 12:31, 13:16, etc. The schedule in July will be very similar, it's just not shown in the system yet. Enjoy your trip!

Thanks, everyone. I booked my fast trains in July (no booking changes or cancellations):

Bolzano to Verona (DB-OEBB EuroCity 81): 19.80 €
Verona to Milan (FRECCIAROSSA 9730): 33.80 €