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Travel from Switzerland to Milan, Italy

Posted by on

Hello,

I am newer to the forum and after reading other similar posts for clarification, I unfortunately am still confused.

I am planning on buying the Swiss Travel Pass as I did on my last trip to Switzerland but when it comes to crossing borders, it confuses me.

So I want to possibly try Milan and when reading others posts, I read that I would use my Swiss Travel Pass for the Swiss leg of the trip and then buy an Italy train ticket for the other half.

However, for example, I put in traveling from the Leuk train station in Switzerland to Milan and it's just shy of a 3 hr ride but it says I'll change trains in Brig and get on a EuroCity train and get off at Milano Centrale. Is there somewhere where I purchase the train ticket for the EC train or does the travel pass cover it ? I only ask if this is different because I don't see a direct website for EC and this train ride seems objectively faster than most.

I'm also now researching and seeing direct train rides from Zurich, etc straight to Milan. Would those not require an extra ticket for the Italian part?

Just so much information to sort through.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you !

Posted by
21137 posts

With a Swiss Travel Pass, you are only covered within Switzerland, with some exceptions. Going from Leuk to Milan, the STP will cover you as far as Domodossola, Italy. From Zurich to Milan, the STP covers you as far as Chiasso, Switzerland (just before Como, Italy).

So you just show your pass at the ticket desk, and they will charge you for the Italian portion of the journey.

Posted by
16268 posts

Eurocity is a type of train. It is not the train operator. More than likely it's either Swiss Rail or Trenitalia and you can buy your ticket from either.

However, if you are only buying a ticket for the Italy portion, I'd suggest buying the ticket from Trenitalia who operates the train. But double check that they are operating the train.

You buy the ticket anytime prior to travel. It doesn't have to be from the last train station coverred on your rail pass. You could even buy it online.

Posted by
2488 posts

What you can do is this:

Select the train on www.sbb.ch, and start the purchase process. Enter that you have a "GA" as a reduction. GA stands for "Generalabonnement", and it is a pass that offers pretty much the same free travel as the STP. This is what Swiss commuters get.
(GA is for locals, STP for tourists, get it?)
The system will then issue a ticket only for the part that is not covered by the pass, and will give you the needed reservations for the EC trains. Doing like this ensures you have a reservation starting in Brig.

The EC trains on that route are operated by SBB till Domodossola, and by Trenitalia beyond that. You will notice that the crews change there. The actual train used can be either an SBB owned set, or a Trenitalia set. The only difference between them is the colour...

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