private transfer from Varenna to Milan Centrale

My hotel found good drivers for us to and from Ravenna. On Monday we’re using daytrip.com.

Hi Pat,
Because I had read that the regional train from Varenna to Milan Centrale can be standing room only, we have hired a private driver to pick us up at our hotel in Varenna and drive us to our hotel in Milan. We are leaving for Italy tomorrow so I don't have firsthand experience with this company. But someone on this forum recommended them. The company is Airports Taxi Transfers. The rate is 165 euros.
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On June 2 we are taking the train from Verona to Milan (reserved seats) and then the regional train to Varenna. And June 2 is a holiday. UGH! I hope we don't encounter the same problem you did. I think someone told me that Milan to Varenna is not as crowded as Varenna to Milan. But now I am worried after reading about your experience.

Good luck!
Karen

Wow Karen, thank you for posting that. We are heading to Varenna soon and this post, plus the experience of taking a regional train to Pompeii, has me spooked for sure! I think we'll try to use that service too. It's really expensive compared to the train, but I think it's worth the splurge in this case. Trying to get onto the circumvesuviana in Naples was a nightmare, we were packed in like sardines! And getting to Varenna's one thing, but like Pat we have a transfer in Milan on the way out and it would really mess things up if we were to miss it.

Hi Mae,
I am glad that I can help you out. I also just read somewhere, I think it was yesterday, that some hotel owners/staff have reported seeing people running across the tracks in Varenna to catch the regional train in hopes of getting a seat. Is Italy unusually crowded this spring? Perhaps because of the Jubilee Year??? We would like to return in a couple years to visit southern Italy and Sicily but I am getting nervous about the crowds, and crowds don't usually bother me as much as they do other people.

Crowds are heavy here now, Folks are telling me that spring is turning into high season, and the weather is currently beautiful.
Around 10:00am the line for buying the ferry tickets was about an hour long, winding up along the creek. The line to actually get on the next ferry wasn't too bad, the problem was buying tickets.
Tickets must be purchased the day of, and although there is a website, it doesn't seem
operational .
I know Thursday was a bank holiday, and it looks like the holidaying has expanded into the weekend.
There are lines everywhere, getting into the Varenna gardens and restaurants and parking garage.
This is our third time here, and I've never seen such crowds in the spring.
Thankfully we have a balcony room on the lake to which we can retreat.

Pat, I'm sorry things are so crazy now.

Enjoy your beautiful views from the balcony! It brings back lovely memories of Varenna.

We will be in Varenna June 4-7th. Will be staying near the train station. I have tickets to booked already early the last morning back to Milan and then to Venice. Hopefully we won't have any issues.

Thanks- good luck to all!

Pat, regarding your concern getting back to Milan on the train. I'm wondering if it would be worth your time and effort to actually get a ticket to go one stop in the opposite direction, to Bellano. And then in Bellano wait for the next train to Milan. You'd be getting on the train to Milan before the crowds in Varenna. So you'd need a ticket for the very, very short trip to Bellano, plus a ticket from Bellano to Milano Centrale. Check either the TrenNord app for schedules or with the staff at the travel agency at the train station. They might be able to weigh in on whether or not this "trick" would help you get a seat on the train.

On another note, did you check out Casa du Lac? Is their patio open to the public for aperitivo?

The regional train situation from Varenna to Milan was an exasperating zoo on a May Monday morning. Since we had a high-speed connection in Milan, to Venice, we obviously didn't want to miss it.
We bought regional tickets for the 9:35am train to Milan. That would have given us two hours in Milan Centrale.
First our train was late, then later, then it was completely canceled. So the 10:35 train had to service two train loads of folks, and it was also really late. Yes, folks were running across the tracks. The train board and app were useless, never updated.
We got to Milan Centrale with 15 minutes to spare, instead of two hours. So we waited about 90 + minutes for a train to Milan.
Milan Centrale was packed and we experienced some people gridlock after getting off our train, and moving to our high-speed train.
Regarding going backwards from Varenna, I thought of that, but with frequent train cancelations, didn't think it would work.
We will never go back to Lake Como again. The lack of respect for passengers and general lack of organization/communication regarding regional trains in the area is intolerable.
We are now in the Cannaregio area of Venice, it is overcast and threatening rain, but this area is charming and peaceful.

Regarding Casa Du Lac, reopened, they no longer offer a happy hours. One can have drinks or lunch on the patio, with higher prices. And the room prices have increased significantly.

Pat,
After reading about your experience on the train from varenna to Milano, I am happier than ever that I have hired a private driver to drive us from varenna to our hotel in Milan on June 6. It will be money well spent.

Pat,
Thanks for keeping us updated. I am so sorry about your experience. Do you think the holiday was part of the problem?

We were in Lake Como 18 months ago. We had heard bout the challenges of the train from Varenna to Milan. Since this was the beginning of our trip, we decided to get a private driver from the Milan airport to Varenna, to make our exhausted arrival state easier to manage. Then we got the same driver to take us to the Milan train station to pick up our car rental. I know it is an indulgence, but as senior citizens, we would rather remove that stress and cut back on another aspect of our trip. We traveled with another couple, so we split the $220 cost each way.

I hope you don't give up on Lake Como, but if the train is the only option, I would pass, also. We experienced moderate crowds in the middle of October, but mornings and evenings were delightful. And the water views from our hotel were heavenly. I need to pay attention to holidays and school breaks for future trips, and for us, the peak summer time frame is long gone as a desirable possibility I hope Venice is delightful for you!

Sunny22, thanks.
I think it's the influencers who are ruining Lake Como. Kathy posted links regarding their activities in the area. And Varenna is smaller so the impact is more significant.

While other countries are moving forward and applying more technology towards their public transportation (eg Netherlands, Switzerland) Italy is actually going backwards by doing things the same ways they always have.

I have no idea how this country will move folks efficiently for the Winter 2026 Olympics.

AND- Venice is Fabulous!

The influencers were definitely a problem at Lake Como and later at Cinque Terre. The amount of space they consumed, their lack of awareness of other people and their self absorption was really amazing. I think I might have "accidentally" ruined some of their pictures, oops!

It isn't just the lack of technology that they are lacking for their transportation systems, but also simple fixes like more signs and a single line feed for tickets. There were multiple windows open and if you got in back of someone who had confusion, a complicated order, or had to wait for their husband to bring up his wallet, too bad for you. The ferry situation was a mess. There was a casual line for the actual ferry but once it pulled into the dock, people cut in and scrambled for the seats. It is fun to finally be able to play the old lady card! Haha

hey hey Pat
i can believe how crazy and frustrating it was. i'm betting it will just get worse for months.
read your other post about lake como getting crowded? probably overcrowded with the many posts with so many wanting to go to lake como, AC, CT, venice and stay away from crowds ha ha. with others posts about crowds there, i bet the other lakes will be seeing more travelers. couldn't believe that "tuxedo society" Kathy mentioned, OMG. wondered if they were the influencers on the lamborghini yacht that sunk in miami waters yesterday with massive overload.
saw this article this morning, new york post: thousands of tourists overrun small town in "shocking" video: "Chaos, gridlock and hours of waiting" (sirmione lake garda)
i was shocked a bit but this town has been mentioned on the forum. several years back we went to bardolino on lake garda for their annual wine festival "festa dell uva" end of september. it was great, beautiful, fun and not many americans. we always would travel september/october with kids/families busy with school/work, not anymore. seems to be high season all year long.
staying on the crowds issue but another place is hawaii. i'm from the big island, hilo/hamakua/waimea, which was a sleepy island before, still have family there. oahu/waikiki, maui, & kauai was destination heaven but with the crowds, lahaina fire, restriction on short term rentals, costs, people traveled to big island which is just as busy at the resorts in south kohala, kailua kona with ocean views but not many swimmable beaches, coffee/mac nut farms, then to hilo and volcano to see eruptions, black sand beaches. it's a BIG island with 2 lane roads and the traffic gets so bad bumper to bumper with hardly any public transportation, the costs have skyrocketed like every place in the world and they all looking for cheap/budget/reasonable.
another giggle moment for me is passengers asking how long it will take to get through passport/immigration control at airport, car rentals, trains. wait till they see the lines at activities/attractions.
i'm totally with you about hiring a driver which we've done in several cities (we share the cost) it's all worth it. our motto is "we'll eat rice and beans" when we get back home. stressed spelled backwards is desserts enjoy your gelato or tiramisu
aloha

Hello everyone. I wanted to post an update about my experience with Airport Taxi Transfers today. To be brief, it did not go well at all, and I won't be using the service for my return from Varenna to Milan.

I scheduled a transfer from my hotel in Milan to my hotel in Varenna for 11:00 this morning. It was confirmed and everything seemed fine, but no one showed up at 11:00. At 11:15, I get a message saying that due to an "accident," my driver will be an hour late. I say that's all right and agree to be at the pick-up spot at 12:15. 12:15 comes and goes, and even though I messaged the company two more times, no one responds. At 12:25, I message the company saying to forget it, I'll just take the train, and I get a cab to Milano Centrale.

At 12:44, I get a whatsapp message from someone who says they're my driver and that they'll be at the pick-up spot at 13:03. I tell them I'm already at the station. They say they can pick me up from there. We have some stressful communication back and forth about where near the station they could pick me up (I thought, in the moment, maybe we could still salvage things and I could still get the ride) before I just said to forget it and bought my ticket for the next regional train.

The 13:20 train to Varenna was not packed at all, for what it's worth. I easily got a seat and had a comfortable ride. I'm now planning to take the train back, too; I might regret it, but honestly, I'll take the known quantity of train station chaos over whatever is going on with that transfer service. Besides, if the goal is not to miss my train from Milan to Venice, it's not like I can trust the private transfer anyway, since they would have gotten me to Varenna at least two hours later than I had arranged for.

Now of course I'm worried that the company is going to charge me even though the driver didn't show up at the appointed time (or even the second appointed time) just because they tried to arrange something from the station. What a mess! It was so stressful.

Mae, so sorry , it sure takes away from the relaxation aspect. And now the private driver mode isn't dependable . Can you imagine what it's going to be like when the track work begins soon and buses are being used- nightmarish!
Glad your train worked out. Good luck!

Mae,

I am so sorry about your experience with Airport Taxi Service, We used them 18 months ago and they were there waiting for us at Milan airport and then were early for our hotel pickup in Varenna. They were wonderful. On our way up to Varenna, there was a bad traffic accident that caused traffic to standstill for over an hour, but we did just take a quick nap.

Who knows if they have different drivers now or a different scheduling person or if that was just a bad day, but that certainly doesn't help you. I am so sorry for all of the stress this is causing you. Maybe your hotel can offer some advice. I hope you have great weather and you are enjoying beautiful Varenna.