Walk from Varenna ferry dock to Varenna train station

It will be tight. You'd have to assume the boat would be on time and that you'd be the first off the boat. Will you have your train ticket already?

Also remember it's uphill, which will slow you down. I'm a fast walker on flat surfaces, and I would find it difficult to make that transfer in 7 minutes with luggage.

Unless you are a world class sprinter, you'll never make it with luggage. Even in a cab it will be close. Go to bing.com, click on maps, type in Varanna Italy, and zoom in. You will be able to see the location of the ferry dock and the train station. Use the aerial view and the bird's eye view to get a better prospective. TC

Not enough time, plus you can't buy a ticket at the train station and the travel agency would be closed. Not sure where you could buy a ticket, usually in small towns, a store like a tabac sells train tickets.

Thanks for the insight.

FWIW, you could buy your train ticket in advance at any train station or travel agency. The 7:37 train will be a Regionale train, so that ticket can be used anytime. For that reason, be sure to validate it before getting on (as you have to do with any train ticket that's not for a specific date and time). And who knows? Your boat might be early or the train might be late enough that you could catch it. If not, the next one is at 8:37 which would give you a little time to wander around Varenna.

And don't go to Bing Maps for Varenna. Their images are lousy. Use Google Maps Streetview.

Good luck.

jn,

As the others have said, getting from the Ferry dock to the station in seven minutes is going to be "challenging" at best. The Ferry could be a few minutes late, and once you reach the dock you'll have to disembark quickly and move smartly through the crowd. Since the route is mostly an uphill hike (with luggage), I wouldn't want to try and do it in such a short time. There's also a stairway to reach the level of the station. It would be a really good idea to either take an earlier Ferry or a later train.

I would also suggest getting your outgoing train tickets prior to your arrival in Varenna (BE SURE to validate before boarding the train on the day of travel). You could buy them either at Milan when you transit the station there, or buy them at the small Tivano Tours office just below the station in Varenna.

FYI: ticket validation.
the machine on the train platform stamps but you could barely read the date and time. However, the validation machine in the waiting room worked fine. This is correct as of early July 2014.

agreed/ even with no luggage and 5K training it would be tight. I like the advice that you can always catch the next train.....and enjoy a coffee and croissant in the meantime. fyi, the day I was there in July the waiting room was locked up tight, we used the outside validator, and huddled under the overhang in a driving rain......and our particular train was about 45 minutes late.

Thanks for the help. In light of this, I am going to stay in Varenna rather than Bellagio to avoid the issue.

Varenna is beautiful, spent a week there and had a very relaxing time. Easy to get to other towns by ferry, plenty of restaurants, very peaceful. enjoy!

Since you are going to stay in Varenna, be sure to walk along the promenade at the edge of the water. It starts at the ferry dock and is a lovely stroll. TC

Yep, you just figured out why Rick usually recommends staying in Varenna. It's lovely AND more convenient. And you can easily hop the ferry to Bellagio or somewhere else on the lake for a daytrip.

yup.....Varenna tends to be a little cheaper, too, so you will get more bang for your buck. we rented thru these people, and were very happy. http://www.apartmentsvarenna.com/index.html
we did take the ferry to belagio one day.....and rode the train back into Milan at the end of our stay

jn,

Varenna is a great choice, and will simplify your onward travel. It's also a good home base for exploring other locations in the mid-lake area.

As someone else mentioned, the lakeside promenade is a really nice stroll in the evening after dinner. As I recall, there are some nice Gelato shops and Restaurants along there.

We loved Varenna! Fairytale beautiful and I believe it was with Ken's advice that we made our decision for the daytrip there. Thank you Ken

@Christy,

You're very welcome! It's nice to hear that you had a good time there.