Lauterbrunnen to Lake Como to Venice

I'm not sure where to get off near Lake Como and how to get from the train stop to Varenna.

Varenna has a station, its called Varenna-Esino. It is on a rail line that goes from Milan, via Lecco, up the east side of lake Como, ending in Tirano. Map here: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Mappa_ferrovia_Tirano-Lecco.svg

You can look up train times from Lauterbrunnen to Varenna-Esino on the SBB (Swiss Railways) site: https://www.sbb.ch/en/
And from Varenna-Esino to Venice (Venezia Santa Lucia) on the Trenitalia (Italian Railways) site: http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

I just took this trip in July. BTW good choice. Varenna is beautiful and you will want to spend a couple of night there. To get to Varenna from Lauterbrunnen you will first take the 20 minute regional train to Interlaken Ost. Then take the train (20 mins) to Spiez and then onto Brig. Then from Brig to Domodossola (Swiss border). if you have a Swiss pass, this is where it ends. You will need to buy your Italian ticket to Varenna -Esino here at the station. Just go to the ticket counter. However, don't forget to validate your ticket before you get on your Italian train. (It a small box by the platform or just inside the station - just stick your ticket in and it will stamp it). From Domodossola you will need to get the train to Milano Centrale. You will need to change in Milan for Varenna (we had a simple platform change from 5 to 8). The train direction will likely be Tirano. Just get off at Varenna-Esino. I used the SBB app on my iPhone for all my Swiss journeys. It will give you every detail you need for your trains (train direction, platforms etc). From Lauterbrunnen to Varenna it will take you about 6-7 hours in total. We stopped in Stresa for a few days and explored the Borromean Islands which broke the trip up some. There is a small ticket counter at Varenna. We did not go to Venice from here so I will let someone else respond for that leg of your journey. BTW We were three ladies in our 50's and early 60's and we found it very easy. There are a few taxi's sitting outside the train station in Varenna that will take you to your accommodation for 10 euros or you can try to arrange a pick up from your hotel/B&B. have a great trip!

if you have a SwissPass and need to pay from Domodossola onwards, a Swiss station with a proper ticket desk ought to be able to sell you a ticket at least as far as Milano and possibly all the way to Varenna to avoid leaving the fast train as Domodossola. Unless you plan on taking the not quite as fast but worth seeing route from Spiez via Kandersteg on a train which ends at Domodossola.

If you will have a SwissPass and this sounds quite simple then there is a much more interesting (and slower) route to reach Varenna from the north. And almost all of it is covered by the pass. Chris will have guessed what I'm thinking but we won't go into detail unless you are up for a more complicated journey........

Thanks, everyone I really appreciate this information. We're looking at traveling for 6 - 7 weeks and will be in England, France, Switzerland and Italy so we are thinking of getting a three country select rail pass. SteveB - I would be interested in hearing about the route from the north to Varenna...how much slower and more complicated is it?

From Lauterbrunnen -- north to Interlaken - west to Spiez - south to Brig. So far the same as if you are heading to Milan.
Then east to Andermatt - Reichenau. This is the route of the famous Glacier Express.
Then south to Pontresina - Tirano. This is the Bernina Pass route.
Finally south from Tirano to Varenna.

You can trace it out on this map: https://www.sbb.ch/content/dam/infrastruktur/trafimage/karten/karte-sts-pass-gueltigkeit.pdf

This is a big zig-zag but you get the two world famous train routes through the Alps. I wouldn't call it complicated, but definitely long. You may want to break it with a night in Chur or St Moritz, both slightly off the route.

If you have a Swiss pass, you are covered to Tirano, just need to add on the cheap Italian train from Tirano to Varenna.

You mention a "three country select rail pass.". I would double check that would save you money. A Swiss pass or half price card are usually good value for Switzerland. Depending on how miuch train travel you are doing in the UK and France, a pass may or may not be good value.

You also say "next September". If you mean September 2017, that is short notice and you need to get things booked ASAP.

This northern route looks interesting. I'm going to have to give this some thought. Fortunately, the September I was referring to was September of 2018 so I have some time. Thanks, again for your assistance.

I was going to make the northern route more complicated by going via Meiringen and the Grimsel pass Post Bus to Oberwald and get the Andermatt train from there.........

https://www.postauto.ch/en/excursion-tips/grimsel-pass-route

Steve, adding a bus over the Grimselpass is probably a bit too complicated. But a Swiss post bus over one of the high passes is something everybody should do. It appears to be one of those well kept secrets. Even though it is shown on all the rail maps, whenever I have done it the passengers have been vast majority Swiss. So keep it that way and don't tell anyone :-)

If you search YouTube for "Grimselpass" you will find lots of videos.