Trains - reservation needed??

You can easily buy the ticket at the Zurich Flughafen train station (airport) or you should be able to buy this ticket online at www.rail.ch. This is the Swiss train website. Question: Is your destination Como or some other place around the lake?

So when I travel in the US, I know how to shop for a good deal. But looking at European train web sites, I'm getting very confused. (I have no experience with this!)

My plan is to take a train from Zurich airport to Como. Then travel from Como (after a 1 night stay) to Cinque Terre. Then traveling from Cinque Terre to the Milan airport to come home.

And for example, raileurope.com tells me I can get an Economy class ticket from Zurich to Como for $36. But rail.ch just told me the cheapest was $74.

Trying my best to keep costs low!!!

Julie,

Just curious, why are you travelling to Como for only one night? You'll likely have to change trains in Milano and take a different train to get to Como. As you're trying to keep costs as low as possible, eliminating the Como trip would save a bit. There's not as much to see in Como as there is in some of the mid-lake towns such as Varenna or Bellagio.

There are "fast" trains from Zurich Flughafen to Milano (one change at Zurich Hbf, reservations compulsory) with a travel time of only about 4-5 hours. Stay one night in Milano (perhaps in a Hotel close to Milano Centrale) and then head for the Cinque Terre the next morning.

Just a thought.....

Julie, RailEurope is a re-seller of tickets, they don't run the trains. www.rail.ch owns and runs the Swiss trains. RE is almost never less than the official train website. They don't run specials either. I don't know how you got the fares Zurich/Como to show on either website when neither does when I check for fares. RE just doesn't show the trip at all. www.rail.ch is unlikely to show fares when part of the trip is in another country (which this is).

I don't know how you are seeing $36 on RE. I plotted a trip on RE from Zurich airport to Lugano, which is about 60 miles short of Como on the same route and it was $58. Como is further.

If you can get the $36 on RE, book it. As a new person to these train websites, just check your work. You are going across Switzerland and $36 looks way too cheap to do this.

FYI on Ken's comment. You won't go through Milan to get to Como. You would if you went to Varenna-Esino but not Como. You change to an Italian local train at Chiasso coming south for the short ride into Como.

This is amazing, the help I can get here! I had to make a quick decision whether to book a flight to tag along to the end of my husband's conference. Hence the 1 night in Como. I now realize what Raileurope.com is all about. I was so happy that I finally found a price that I didn't fully investigate at the time. I wouldn't be flying into Zurich if I had realized how expensive the train trip really was. This trip is starting to feel stressful!! So my trip is looking like... Day 1: 4 hour morning train ride after overnight flight, spend the afternoon & night in Como. Day 2: 5 hour train ride to Cinque Terre. Day 3: RELAX and hike in CT. Day 4: need to get close to MXP airport by end of day for return flight in morning (ANOTHER long train ride). Day 5: leave early in the morning. I'm definitely feeling like I made a poor choice for the $$ spent. Super bummed, but no going back now.

What would you do on Day 4? 1) Assume we can leave luggage at CT hotel, do more hiking, take late trains and stay right by MXP airport? 2) Get to Milan and spend the evening there? (I'm not so much into museums and churches, much prefer nature.) 3)Anything else worthwhile in between?

I can't figure out how to get from central Milan to MXP easily. Need to be at airport at 8am.

I'm feeling confident that I don't need any advance purchase tickets for Italian train rides, but really??? Don't need it for Zurich to Como??

THANK YOU!!!!

Julie,

Thanks for the clarification on your trip. A few further thoughts.....

• How set are you on the Cinque Terre? As an alternative, you might consider either Varenna (Lago di Como) or Stresa (Lago Maggiore). While in Varenna, you could also visit Bellagio or other locations for day trips. Stresa would be a good choice too as you could do some hiking on Mt. Mottarone as well as touring the Borromeo Islands. The advantage of both locations is that either one is only an hour or so from Milano Centrale.

• Travel from Milano Centrale to MXP: That's very easy, you have two choices. The area your Hotel is located will likely have a bearing on which one you choose.

First, you could take one of the airport shuttle Buses that departs from the side of Milano Centrale. You can pay the Driver. Check www.malpensashuttle.it/e-default.htm for the details (be sure to allow enough time).

You could also take the Malpensa Express (train) which departs from Cadorna station rather than Milano Centrale. If your Hotel is close to that area, take a Taxi to the station. That's the quickest option, and isn't affected by "traffic issues". Check www.malpensaexpress.it/en/ for the details. I took that trip a few weeks ago and it was very easy.

Cheers!