Trains from Milan to Lake Como

For some reason, the DB website does not show these trains. You can use this website or Trenitalia to see the schedules.

Trenord has 5 trains a day from Milano Centrale to Varenna click here to see the timetable.

We just did this 2 weeks ago. I used trenitalia website and left from Milano centrale to varenna-esino for the 1 hour trip. We walked down the hill, around the bend and were in beautiful Varenna. Very easy and I had never been to Milano centrale before that day. Since it is a regionale train, you must validate your ticket prior to boarding. If you want to check the schedule, just use tomorrow's date as the regional train schedules are for a week at a time. Have fun

Wow, thanks so much for the good information. I tried the train site, http://www.trenord.it, and found exactly what I wanted.

pat,

For some reason, the bahn.de website doesn't show routes operated by TreNord, however the Trenitalia website does. Trenitalia is the best resource to use for rail information in Italy (although it may not show the smaller private lines such as the Circumvesuviana).

The trip from Milano Centrale to Varenna is an easy 1H:03M. You didn't say whether you're going there directly after arriving in Italy, but you can easily buy tickets in Milan either at a Kiosk or staffed ticket office. I'd recommend the Kiosk as there's usually a sizable queue at the ticket office. That train is a Regionale so you MUST validate your tickets prior to boarding the train on the day of travel, or risk a hefty fine which will be collected on the spot!

You might want to buy your return tickets from Varenna at the same time. They don't become valid until they're stamped in the machine, so it's not a problem to buy them a few days before you'll actually be travelling.

Ken, maybe you can help me on this...is TrenNord a part of Trenitalia or another competitor to Trenitalia?

thanks

Marie,

Trenitalia is the National Italian Railway Company & TreNord is a railway company that operates regional passenger trains in Lombardy.

Trenitalia used to operate the Milan-Varenna-Tirano route and it was my understanding from just brief news reports that they "subcontracted" the operation of it to TreNord a few years ago. Terminology might not be exact.

marie,

My understanding of TreNord is the same as Priscilla and Laura mentioned. They cover not only the routes to Varenna (and others) but also the Malpensa Express.

Thank you all!

My husband and I just did this exact train route from Milan Central to Varenna. At first we made a mistake of going to the wrong train station in Milan - Milan Central is what you want.

Also, be prepared for the ladies squat toilet at the Varenna train station. I would have preferred to miss it.

inside the train station to the left of the bar (as you enter) is a modern bathroom! fyi

Trenord is a joint venture between Trenitalia and Ferrovie Nord Milano, operating regional trains in Lombardy. Equipment and personnel can come from any of the parent companies; the joint effort makes possible some routes (like the Malpensa Express to Milano Centrale) covering the previously separate networks of Trenitalia and Ferrovie Nord.