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Venice to Milan and Lake Como...In One Day (and Question re Trains)

Posted by (Los Angeles, CA, USA) on

Typing out that topic line...am I trying to squeeze too much into one day? My friends and I really wanted to see Lake Como, and the way our itinerary is set up, we are planning on taking the train from Venice to Milan early as we can (from what I understand is about a 2 1/2 hour trip), dump off our stuff in the hotel (which is only 3 minutes from the central station), and take the train to Lake Como (and return in the evening to our hotel in Milan). Is this too much? Am I going to have to tell my friends that no, we wont be able to see the same beautiful lake view that George Clooney looks out upon from his villa? (I'm kidding) Any suggestions to make this possible would be greatly appreciated!

Additionally, while on the Trenitalia website, I've become confused as to the various types of "Train Categories" - can anybody explain all the fine differences between ES, ES City, CIS, etc etc? (beyond "some are faster" and "some are slower") We will be taking a lot of trains as we make our way down the boot to Rome.

Thanks!

Posted by
6898 posts

It's doable. The train ride from Milan to Varenna-Esino takes 1hr-3min. I suggest that you purchase a round trip ticket in Milan. The train stops for 1 minute. Varenna is usually the next stop after Lecco so get prepared to get off. Count off 21 minutes as you depart Lecco.

As for train categories, ES is the Eurostar Italia. This is one of the fastest trains. EScity and ESfast are similar. The ES Alta Velocita is the newest and fastest Eurostar train. CIS is the Cisalpino train system. It is a separate train system that runs on the same tracks as the Italian and Swiss trains. Some of their trains are similar to the EC trains. But, some are faster. All of these trains can be considered high-speeds. These trains also make fewer stops. The train that you will be taking to Lake Como is a Regionale train. This is the local. An R train stops at every stop. That makes the travel time longer. It's also the cheapest train to ride. From Venice, you might also see the IC train and the ICPlus train. These trains are in the middle. They are fast but they make fewer stops than the R train but make more than the ES trains.

Posted by
32352 posts

Peggy,

As Larry mentioned, this should easily be possible. I'd suggest paying the extra cost for a EuroStar Italia direct train (no changes) in order to minimize your travel times. Depending on how early you want to get started, there should be a train departing Venezia S.L. at about 07:05, arriving Milano Centrale about 09:30. You may not be able to check into your Hotel that early, but I'm sure they would be willing to store the bags for you.

At Miilano Centrale you can buy tickets from machines or at the ticket office which is two floors below track level (use the moving sidewalks). The ticket machines downstairs accept Euro cash, while the ones on the main floor only credit cards (at least that was the situation when I was there at the end of June). For tickets to Varenna-Esino, the machine would only issue two separate tickets. Be sure to validate! Since Varenna is an intermediate stop on one of the other lines, you'll have to check the departures chart to determine which track no. you'll be departing from.

When I was there recently, I planned a late return to Milan (about 21:00) so that I could enjoy a nice dinner at Albergo Olivedo (not inexpensive but very good!). The Ferry dock is right in front of Albergo Olivedo, so if you want to take a quick side trip to Bellagio (about 20 min. each way), that's certainly possible.

There's lots of suggestions in the Italy book on things to see in Varenna. The gardens at Villa Monastero & Villa Cipressi are one suggestion. The walk along the lakefront promenade in really nice, and there are some great Gelato shops and small restaurants along there.

Happy travels!

Posted by
17 posts

Thanks you two! That was very helpful information!

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