We are trying to figure out the best way to travel from Varenna to Meiringen. We will get to Varenna by taking the bus from Lugano to Menaggio then the ferry to Varenna. We could go back this way to Lugano and then take the train to Meiringen. Just checking to see if others may have suggestions that would be more direct. Thanks, Rob
Hard to get more direct than that. I expect that taking the boat to Como would be slower but I haven't looked it up.
If looking at a purely train route from Varenna to Meiringen, you have to choose between shorter time and fewer connections; they're not usually one and the same. This is one of the better options proposed at www.sbb.ch (shows trains to/from Varenna, which the German DB site doesn't).
Varenna-Esino dep 08:37 Regio 2561, Direction: Milano Centrale
Monza arr 09:26
Monza dep 10:07 EuroCity 310, Direction: Basel, Reservation compulsory
Luzern arr 13:41
Luzern dep 14:05 InterRegio 2928, Direction: Interlaken Ost
Meiringen arr 15:16
Duration: 6:39; runs daily