We're travelling from Grindelwald to La Spezia. I thought we could do it in one day, but looking at train schedules, we wouldn't get in until quite late, which we don't want to do. Any suggestions for a nice stopover place in between the two? A smaller place would be ideal. I thought about Lugano but that's over 6 hours just to get there as the train goes north to Lucerne first. Thanks!
Posted by
Kenmore, WA
194 posts
Check out Stresa. Pretty town on Lake Maggiore. We did essentially the same route, traveling from Basel to Monterosso a few years ago. Milan might have made more sense, but like you, we wanted a smaller place.
It's a fairly direct route once you get from the Grindelwald to the main north/south train line, easy to hop off the train at Stresa, enjoy the town for the afternoon, stay overnight, and leave the next morning. (Or stay longer, we needed to keep moving, but wish we could have stayed longer).
Posted by
OP
8 posts
Thanks for the great suggestion Hubestur. I just booked a hotel in Stresa - looks perfect.
Posted by
not here anymore
631 posts
if you have a Swiss rail pass it's valid as far as Domodossola, not just the national border.
Scenery tip, the SBB website will route you by the fastest options unless you tell it something different. This mean from Spiez the recommended trains use the new tunnel which runs almost all the way to Visp and you see nothing! Add via Kandersteg to the query and it will route you via the old line - this has the views, sit on the right. Takes a while longer but worth doing and still well within your day.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
If you're not actually staying in La Spezia, then you don't go through that town when approaching the Cinque Terre from the north. You will usually connect at Monterosso if going to Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, or Riomaggiore. Request a train schedule to your final destination and let the computer suggest the connection points.
Posted by
OP
8 posts
Thank you Steve. Great advice about Kandersteg!