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train and tickets from Varenna to Pontresina

Posted by on

Hello,
we are planning to travel at the end of June from Varenna via Tirano to Pontresina, then continue the next day from there to Zuerich.
After researching this for hours on the 3 train website (IT, Swiss, DE), I figured it would be best, to just buy a ticket at the Varenna train station once we arrive there - However, I read a post that said that there is no train station, some posts say there is not even a train! Trenitalia web site does not show results, but google search shows several trains.
My questions:
1. Can I buy tickets to Pontresina at Varenna? -

2. Or do I need to split it up, buy one to Tirano, then get the second one once we arrive in Tirano? -

3. Is it better to buy the tickets from Pontresina to Zuerich once we are ready to catch the train from Pontresina, or is it better to buy it a day ahead of time in Tirano? - (We will take the regionale/"slow" train to Pontresina, but will need to get on some faster trains going to Zuerich).

thank you so much for any information, experience you might have had with this!
Claudia

Posted by
8889 posts

You will be travelling on Italian railways (Trenitalia) from Varenna to Tirano, and Swiss railways (Rhätische Bahn and SBB) from Tirano to Pontresina and Pontresina to Zürich. It makes a difference.

Yes, there are trains from Varenna to Tirano, but Italian railways are notoriously bad for not publishing times far in advance. it depends on when you searched for. These are "regional" trains, no discount for advance purchase, but I am not sure where you buy the tickets in Varenna. Maybe you buy these tickets before you get to Varenna (at Milan?)

Swiss tickets you can just buy on the day at the station. Again no discount for advance purchase, and also no price difference for slow or fast trains. Here the times and prices are available (up to Dec, 2016) on: www.sbb.ch Just enter Pontresina to Zürich (Zürich HB or Flughafen, whichever you want) and it will show you the quickest option.

Posted by
23666 posts

With doing some train research myself, let me make a couple of suggestions. I am guessing that you would be using mostly Regionale trains on those routes. The summer train schedules will not be fully posted until around mid June. So your effort look to see what train schedule is available for the same day of the week but use next week or the following week. If you find schedules for those date then you know that the summer has not been posted. If you don't find trains for those dates then there are no trains. And finally, only buy Regionale train in Italy. No advantage to buying on line.

Posted by
9080 posts

BTW, there is no ticket office at the Varenna train station. You can buy tickets at the travel agency around the corner and down the hill from the train station, during business hours.

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