Small town between Wengen and Venice

When in June? The usual route via Domodossola is going to be blocked on some days in June, so you would have to travel via the Gotthard.

On the Simplon route Stresa would be a nice place, on the Gotthard route you could go for Como.

However, I would just go all the way in one day. You are not reducing the time you will spend on train, you will just be reducing the time you spend in Venice.

Thanks for the heads up on the train! We would be traveling June 9.

So you will be here when the Simplon line is closed. So you better exit via the Gotthard route.

In that case, if you want a stopover Como would be a good choice.

I’d say Lugano is an easier stop. The train station is close to the center and offers an already impressive view from the top. For Como, you’d need to change trains, as your route to Venice doesn’t go directly through Como.

The route to Venice does go directly through Como, but stops at Como S. Giovanni station on the side of the hill above town, so a taxi or bus down to Como lakefront.

Another alternative is to take a scenic route via Luzern and Goeschenen and stop in Bellinzona. 5 3/4 hours to Bellinzona, then 5 hours to Venice.

I can only tell you what we did for our journey from Murren (near Wengen) to Venice. We overnighted in Chur, Switzerland, and took the Bernina Express the next morning. Chur is a really nice, overlooked town, on the slopes of the Swiss wine country (such as it is). Its in the area where they speak Romansch, although we only heard German and a bit of Italian. The Bernina Express was one of the best things we ever did in Europe. It takes you across the Alps to Tirano, Italy, from where you get a train to Milan and on to Venice. It seems like a lot but both days were reasonably long, gave us the afternoon to explore, and got us there via a route we'll never forget.

Day 1: We actually drove, but you can do it by train in 4 hours: Wengen > Lauterbrunnen > Interlaken Ost > Bern > Zurich > Chur.

Day 2: Chur > Tirano > Milan (via the beautiful Lake Como) > Venice.

Chur to Venice with the Bernina Express is a 10 hour trip, longer than the fastest way from Wengen to Venice. Just so you know.

Sam, you're right, it seems trains don't use the railway tunnel that bypasses Como anymore. I found this explanation: "The new Caravaggio-type trains, which are designed for regional transport in Lombardy, are too tall to pass through the Monte Olimpino 2 tunnel."

But I still maintain my opinion that it's less hassle to get off at Lugano than at Como San Giovanni. After all, it depends on whether OP wants to see a Swiss or an Italian town.

If find that explanation about the double deck trains in the Monte Olympio II tunnel odd. Firstly, that tunnel is used for freight, and as far As I know has been cleared to P400, so any double decker would fit. And it does not make sense for a regional train to bypass Como...

Both Como and Lugano stations are a bit above the town, but both have a daily direct train to Venice. So I guess it depends a bit on preference.

Yes, for a regional train, it doesn’t make sense, but for an IC/EC, I guess it would. After all, why invest $$$$ in digging the longest train tunnel in the world under the Alps, followed by the Ceneri Base Tunnel, only to avoid using a 7 km tunnel to bypass a stop in a town that most people fast commuting from Zurich to Milan probably aren’t interested in?

I'm not an expert - just throwing this out there for discussion.

Small town between Wengen and Venice

Soave, as in the wine. Nice walls. Very nice walls. Really cool walls.

Use the station San Bonifacio out of town.

Thank you all for your replies!! We would prefer a town in Switzerland if possible but we're not picky. How can I find the train routes that we need to take? When I use Rome2rio, I get the route that goes through Milan.

@abus00 there are good reasons for the EC trains on Zurich - Milano to stop in Como. That place does generate quite a bit of traffic. Trains are good at serving multiple places. I doubt even a majority of people that board the ECs in Zurich go all the way to Milano...

Verona is nice and you can use the Frecciarossa trains.

Have you tried “Rome2Rio” to see what various options are between Wengen and. Venice? It’s a great tool for finding transportation options between any two places, whether trains, planes, or whatever. Fun to see options. For finding just train route options, the German site is best for finding all possibilities. See here in Rick Steves recommendations under Transportation.

@WengenK Thanks for the explanation, it makes sense.

@kmlange249 For train schedules, simply use the Swiss National Railway website: https://www.sbb.ch/en

Chur to Venice with the Bernina Express is a 10 hour trip, longer than the fastest way from Wengen to Venice. Just so you know.

Yeah, but it was the most scenic 10 hours of my life.