We are on the Best of Italy Tour in October 2023, starts in Varenna. Rather than fly to Milan, we are thinking of flying to Zurich (actually found better flights PDX to ZRH than to Milan). Here's my ideas:
Day 1: Arrive ZRH 1:45 pm, train to Chur. Overnight in Chur
Day 2: 8:28 Bernina Express Chur to Tirano, regional train Tirano to Milan, 2 nights Milan
Day 3: Duomo, Last Supper, etc (RS Milan highlights)
Day 4: Train Milan to Varenna to meet tour.
Does this sound reasonable? I've ben looking at seat61 and myswissalps forums.
Posted by
San Diego, California
4750 posts
I'd suggest you give yourself an extra day at the front end of your trip. Our last two international flights were significantly delayed: one by six hours, and one by 24 hours. ( This was before the Southwest meltdown.) IMHO, your intitial days are scheduled too tightly, and you need to build in a Plan B if things go haywire. If you do add an extra day and everything goes well, you can explore the Pontressina area around Chur- it's beautiful!
Safe travels!
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16321 posts
If you were going straight to Varenna by way of the Bernina Express route, I would endorse that. But since you want to visit Milan first, you are going out of your way to get to Chur for the Bernina Express, then passing right through Varenna on your way to Milan before backtracking to Varenna to meet the tour.
What I suggest instead is to use the Treno Gottardo which goes over the Alps on the Gotthard Pass route to Locarno from either Zurich or Luzern. I would suggest Luzern, a short hop from the Zurich airport after you land (just over an hour). Overnight there and take the Treno Gottardo departing Luzern at 9:18 (on the current schedule). You arrive in Locarno at 12:25. I would spend one night there, in a hotel by the lake (and very close to the train station). Then continue the short distance to Milan the next day, arriving in the morning with plenty of time to see the main sights. That day.
https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/experiences/treno-gottardo/
https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/topics/treno-gottardo.html
If you prefer to spend the two nights in Milan, you can leave the Treno Gottardo at Bellinzona (or other station on the route near there) and pick a train right to Milan.
We took this train on our most recent trip to Italy last September and really liked it. We actually did the straight to Milan option ( changing trains at Bellinzona) because we had only extra one night to spend on our way to the Dolomites. With more time I would have liked to see Locarno.
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8154 posts
The train trip from Zurich Airport to Ravenna is quite difficult. You'd basically have to go on 2 trains to Milan Centrale and then catch another couple of trains north to get to Ravenna. You could get off at Lugano and go cross country, but you'd have to cross a couple of lakes and a small mountain to get to Ravenna.
The alternative is flying into Milan on United Airlines through Chicago. Their time on the ground is sufficient for you to make the connection--but not cutting you too short on time. And their current posted airfares are very reasonable. Other airlines can get you there, but you'd be on the ground too long making connections.
Posted by
OP
15 posts
Great suggestions always from this group. I did realize that we will pass by Varenna on the way, but as it is only about 1.5 hrs from Milan, it seems worthwhile doubling back to do that Bernina route.
The Treno Gottardo looks like a good alternative if we did get delayed and needed to save some time. Maybe not quite as spectacular as the Bernina (at least from my initial reading) but I will definitely check it out!
Have to be careful with the names! Varenna, Ravenna, Verona! So confusing, but we are definitely going to start the tour on Varenna!
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16321 posts
I think David is confused about Ravenna versus Varenna.
Let me tell you more about the Treno Gottardo. In 2010 we flew into Zurich to make our way into Italy. I booked that was then the direct train from Zurich to Milan over the Gotthard Pass route which is very scenic but not a designated “scenic train” because it is not entirely within Switzerland. We saw alpine peaks and hanging glaciers, and the train does a spiral tunnel and some switchbacks, all very nice.
Then they built the Gotthard Basistunnel which goes under the Alps to speed up the journey, the longest tunnel in Europe, with no views at all. To avoid that deep tunnel and travel over the Alps instead of under them, one had to ride certain regional trains with transfers at Andermatt or Göschenen or another station. But now there is the Treno Gottardo which follows the same route, over the Alps instead of under them, one thing Luzern with Locarno without any train changes on the way.
I don’t know why the maninseat61 website doesn’t mention this train (or maybe he does but no one notices). But having taken both routes, I will say that the scenery is not significantly better on the Bernina Pass route, and one should choose based on what makes sense for their itinerary. In other words, I would not go out of my way to take the Bernina Express unless I planned to spend some time in the Engadine area, like 2 nights in Pontresina or nearby, as we did in 2015. Otherwise, the Gotthard pass route to Milan will be involve less time on trains and less expense overall. And will be equally rewarding in terms of scenery, in my opinion.
Posted by
OP
15 posts
Lola that is really helpful! I tried looking it up but I think I initially found the one through the tunnel. Now I found the right one, and yes, I see that is is also a beautiful route. So it looks like we could take it directly from Zurich, although it would be more interesting to spend the night in Lucerne as you suggested. Thanks for clarifying!