Hi all,
I will be traveling in June of 2025 and staying in Zurich for two weeks before hiking for five days in the Dolomites. I need to train from Zurich to Bolzano which is 6-7 hours on the train with a few changes. Does anyone have an opinion on a nice city to stop along the way and spend the afternoon and evening and then hop back on the train in the morning?
Thank you!
Innsbruck
It depends on whether you wish to go via Austria or via Italy.
If through Austria, then Innsbruck is the logical overnight stop. We did that once, 20 years ago.
On two more recent trips (2022 and 2023) we have taken the route through Italy. We will be going that route again next summer. The necessary change points are Milano Centrale and Verona, but we like to break up the journey at a stop on Lago di Garda at Desenzano del Garda, where some (but not all) of the fast Frecciarossa trains between Milan and Verona stop. (The others top at Peschiera del Garda, closer to Verona).
For example, you can depart Zurich at 9:05 for Lugano, change there for a train to Milano, and board the Frecciarossa there for the short journey to Desenzano, arriving there at 13:36, with the whole afternoon to expolore the oldtown and castle, walk the waterfront, take a swim, or even ride the ferry 20 minutes to Sirmione and explore there before returning to Desenzano for the evening.
Thank you for both responses. I was already imagining my best option was Innsbruck but I didn't know about the Italian way. Thank you so much Lola! This is exactly what I was looking for.
Seven hours is not that long. I would not break the journey, but just go to my next destination and spend time there.
Funny, that’s my wife’s opinion. She might just win out on this one.
My husband and I like to be active, and get in lots of walking each day. We have no choice but to sit in one place for the 10+ hours on the plane from the US to Europe, but once on the ground we limit train travel time to 4.5 hours maximum, so we can spend the rest of the day walking and exploring. That has been effective in helping stave off the back problems that used to plague him on our travels. Plus we get to discover and explore new places we might otherwise not visit. And we have had some great experiences along the way.
On our most recent trip this past September-October, I booked 2 nights in Locarno to break up the journey between our last base in Switzerland and our first stop at Lago di Garda. This allowed us to (a) take the scenic train over the Gotthard Pass route rather than the fast train through the Gotthard Basistunnel, and (b) take a nice 8-mile hike in Val Verzasca, which I have always wanted to do. We really enjoyed that hike, and my husband fell in love with Locarno, saying it offers the ideal combination of Swiss orderliness and efficiency with Italian language and cuisine. He asked if we could stay there again on our way home and I changed our travel plans to make that happen. We returned to the same hotel and the same little Osteria nearby, hidden in a small cobbled alleyway, and enjoyed it all just as much the second time. Plus we got in a nice 5-mile walk on the lakeside promenade.
When we went to Puglia 2 years ago, we flew into Rome and broke up our train travel to Lecce with an overnight in Barletta, a small town on the train line but off the tourist radar screen. So far off that as we gathered our luggage and went to stand by the door ready to leave the train, a local man who was also getting off looked at us with curiosity and said “This is Barletta, not Bari. You don’t want to get off here”. My husband (who speaks pretty good Italian), responded that this was indeed our stop, and the man asked “Why?” Hubby said “It’s my wife’s idea” and they both chuckled. The guy was actually surprised to learn there is even a nice little boutique hotel in his town.
We enjoyed the little hotel with a huge and bright room, and the charming owner Antonella and her little dog. In the evening we joined the locals in a very nice passegiata, stopping in a small mens’ shop for my husband to purchase a leather belt, since he forgot to pack his and his pants were falling down. The salesman in the shop went to great lengths to find one that fit, and ended up punching an extra hole in the belt my husband liked to size it down, trimming off the extra length, and giving the cut end a professional finish. All for 30€. And then we went to dinner at a lovely wine bar I had discovered through my research, and enjoyed one of the finest dinner experiences of our 14 years of travel in Italy.
So I feel we have greatly benefitted from our habit of breaking up long train journeys with an overnight stop along the way. If you want to give it a try, maybe show this to your wife and she will change her mind.
I see that the single train change option, Zurich to Innsbruck, then Innsbruck to Bolzano, has over a 1 hour layover in Innsbruck, enough time for a quick lunch/snack and you arrive 6 hours and 47 minutes after departing Zurich. Or with the same departure from Zurich you could take an additional change at Brennero on regional trains and arrive an hour earlier.
The extra change at Brennero shortens the Zurich to Bolzano time on the Innsbruck route from 6h 47 minutes to 6h 19 minutes.
But is Bolzano your final destination that day? Or are you going to transfer to the bus into the mountain village (like Ortesei, etc) where you will be actually staying for your Dolomites hiking? That adds another hour or so to your day’s travel time.
Lola, that is the way it is now but not in June 2025. But if the OP is going to Ortisei, the regional train stops at Chiusa/Klausen and they can take the 351 bus to Ortisei. That saves a bit of time.
Just add that the Zurich-Innsbruck train is incredibly scenic.
