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transportation options

Posted by on

We are traveling to Italy July 2015, flying to Milan. We will travel by train to Venice upon arrival and have our hotel booked.
What we need help with is travel options to Slovenia and to Munich, then back to Milan.
Option 1: rent a car from Venice airport for 3 days and go to Slovenia and back to Venice - then take night a train to Munich stay for the weekend, then take a night train to Milan.
Option 2, rent a car for the duration of the trip from Venice and return the car to Milan. And have the freedom to drive most of the trip.

Currently we are having issues with the Euro-rail in seeing the night train schedule and pricing. Are there any tips out there to book the Night trains or is it too early to get tickets? We could happily drive, but the train sounds like it could be a fun option and buy us time by traveling at night.

Any suggestions are welcome.
Patty

Posted by
5835 posts

Have you tried Rick's suggestions:
http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/online-schedules

No matter where you’re traveling in Europe, Germany’s Deutsche Bahn
website should be your first stop for timetable information. (While
each country’s national rail company has its own website with
schedules, the German site has schedules for virtually all of Europe.)
I use this site to plan my connections for almost every trip in
Europe. Their DB Navigator app is a boon for train travelers with
smartphones and tablets.

Posted by
5697 posts

Trains change schedules at December 15 and June 15 so if you can't see July schedules/fares yet, try looking at the same trains in June. (Late December trains were bookable as of about October 15)

Posted by
20085 posts

Deutsche Bahn operates the night trains between Munich and both Milan and Venice under the City Night Line brand name. I suggest you do any research and booking through them. www.bahn.com

Maximum booking window is 3 months, so right now, the Jan 19, 2015 is available, but not Jan 20. April will be the time to start shopping.

Euro-rail (or whatever) is a travel agent and does not always have the best information or pricing. When you book with Deutsche Bahn, you are dealing with the operator. You can print your tickets at home.

Posted by
16893 posts

Driving on the Italian autostrada racks up tolls about equal to one 2nd-class train fare and the direct route from around Verona to Milan is not particularly interesting by train or car. With a car, I'd choose slower mountain routes. See also www.viamichelin.com for route planning.

If you did take a night train to Munich, maybe you'd mix it up and fly the next leg. Easy Jet flies from Munich to Milan for about $75; see also www.skyscanner.com.

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