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Best way to get from Berner Oberland to Bormio

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Hi all! I would love a little help with the logistics of our upcoming trip! I understand that getting around in Switzerland is best done with trains, but I am confused as to what is the best way to get to Bormio from the Berner Oberlands is (take trains through Milan? Rent cars?) We have three young children (7, 5, and 2) so the shortest way possible is best (I understand there is a gorgeous scenic train ride that takes 8 hours that goes this route, but I don't know if that is the best fit for us with small kids). We are spending a month in switzerland in Italy, and our time in the Berner Overlands and Bormio is flexible and can be interchanged if there is a better way to get from one location to the next. We most likely need a rental car once we are in Bormio so my husband can use it to get to the locations for his bike rides.

Fly into Zurich - train immediately to Lucerne (<1 hour)
Day in Lucerne
Train to Berner Oberlands (Golden Pass route 2 hours)
Train to Milan - rent car drive and drive to Bormio
OR
rent car in Interlaken and drive to Bormio??
Drive rental car back to Milan/Lake Como
Train to Florence
Train to Rome

thanks so much for any help!!!

Posted by
2829 posts

You can take a train all the way to Tirano and rent a car there for the short ride to Bormio, or rent a car in Milano and drive from there via SS36. It is an express drive most of the way. The sectors between Leco and Chiavena, and Tirano and Bormio, are full of tunnels.

Posted by
8889 posts

Renting a car in Switzerland and returning it in Italy will incur a big surcharge for "International drop-off".
Renting and returning to a different location in the same country is usually not a problem.

Suggestion: rent and return the car in Como (the town). This is just over the border in Italy, on the main line from Switzerland to Milan. After returning the car, train Como - Milan - Florence. This would avoid having to drive into or out of Milan.

Posted by
2829 posts

Milano Centrale, despite its name, is not located in the central medieval core of the city, but rather some 2km afar. It is easy to drive out of Milano Centrale straight into the highway, it is really just a matter of making 2 turns on wide streets than taking one single straightish 4/6-lane boulevard all the way out.

I would not recommend, however, renting a car in an office near the Duomo or San Babila; there one might find it trickier to negotiate on-street tramways counter-flow busways and some tight street intersections.

A workable alternative might be to indeed alight from the train from Switzerland in Como, rent a car drive, drive all the way to Bormio, and after all trips from there, drive to Bologna and return the car at Bologna Centrale, taking one short train ride thereafter.

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