I want to take a train from Venice to Zurich. Any ideas on the best way to do this? I know you can buy a ticket either with trenitalia or sbb. Which is better to use? I think the train going from Venice to Zurich with sbb leaves from the Santa Lucia station, which is more accessable for me. We will be getting off a cruise and going directly to catch a train to Zurich. Any help/advice? Thank you!
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
What time does your cruise ship dock in Venice? If it's late in the day, you might want to take the EuroNight train to Munich and a Eurocity train from there to Zurich. There are several daytime routes with a differing number of changes required. The best train timetable site is www.bahn.de. Click on "Internat. Guests" to view the site in English.
Posted by
San Jose, CA, USA
424 posts
There's a EuroCity train - 174 Cisalpino Canaletto that is direct and leaves at 10:51am arriving Zurich at 6:51pm.
If you are flying back to the states from Zurich, you can stay near the train station and take the train to the airport (they leave every 15 minutes or so and it's only a 10 minute train ride).
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
Anna, we did this 3 weeks ago with the exception that we stopped in Berner Oberland for 3 days. I'm away from my travel info at the moment and will sign on later and give you some precise info on our tickets. Your going to want the Zurich Airport stop. The train stop in under the airport. As above, you can stay nearby if necessary. The Cisalpino trains do go from Venezia Santa Lucia to Zurich. These are higher speed international trains. Cisalpino also has a higher-speed "tilting" train with limited departure out of Venice. I believe one run goes out of Venezia Mestre earlier in the day and one goes out later in the day from Venezia Santa Lucia. We wanted to ride on the higher-speed train but it didn't match our schedule. So, we took other Cisalpino trains. You can buy the tickets from Trenitalia but the staff on the trains all wear Cisalpino uniforms. You can check out schedules on www.cisalpino.com. The information above is very good. I'll add to it when I get home this evening.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
Anna, I checked the www.cisalpino.com site. They have two Cisalpino trains out of Venice. The first is at 8.42 am out of Venezia Mestre. This is not Venezia Santa Lucia. You will have to leave S.L. about 7:30 to make Mestre in time. This is the high-speed "Tilting" train. The 10th stop is Zurich HB (airport) and the trip takes 6hr 10min. It costs about 10% more. The second train leaves Venezia Santa Lucia at 10:51. This train is a bit slower and has more stops. This trip takes about 8 hours.
What time does your cruise ship get in? If late morning, you won't make these Cisalpino trains. You'll then need to take a train from Venezia S.L. to Milan and transfer there. Cisalpino has numerous trains to Zurich HB from there. Again, go to www.cisalpino.com. Select "Timetables". Scroll down and select Milano as your departing city and then Zurich HB as your arriving city. Get the train number you want as the site will not sell you tickets. You'll need to buy on another site.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
6 posts
Hi all!
I too will be departing from Zurich on May 7.
We start in Paris April 25, for 4-5 days(I have been before), then we may visit a friend in Nancy (maybe 2 nights, then I want to see a little of Northern Italy before getting ourselves to Zurich. I am thinking Venice/Lakes area as there is not time enough for Florence, Milan etc.
Any thoughts??
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32350 posts
Anna,
It would help to know what time your Cruise Ship docks, in order to estimate which train would be best. Also, will you be staying in Zurich for a few days or going directly to the airport?
The cruise line should be able to recommend the quickest method to get from the dock to Venezia Santa Lucia (the main station in Venice). There are posts here on that subject, so a search should provide further details.
I suggested Venezia SL rather than Mestre, as it's larger and has good ticket offices, etc. You didn't say what time of year you would be travelling? In the "off seasons", I'd probably be inclined just to buy the rail tickets at Venezia SL. Some of the rail experts here on the HelpLine may have other suggestions.
Depending on which train you choose, there will be 1-4 changes and the trip will be a minimum of about 6.5 hours. One of the easiest methods would be via EuroStar Italia from Venice to Milan and then change to the Cisalpino to Zurich. Both trains require compulsory reservations. I don't believe there are any direct trains (no changes) between Venice and Zurich; at least one change will be required.
Happy travels!