We are going on the RS Villages of Italy tour. What ways have people used to get from Lake Orta hotel to Milan train station and how much did it cost? The train from Orta-Miasino train station to Milan Centrale is currently 9 euro/person. The final hotel is only about 1.5 miles from the train station. The cost for a taxi or car runs about 135 euro for up to 4 people. I'm thinking that the train may be better. However, my wife was worried about the need to transfer and carrying luggage on and off the trains. What have others done. Thanks
Posted by
San Francisco area
1888 posts
When I took the tour a few years ago, there were about 6 of us headed to the train station including our guide. She arranged a taxi to get us to the train station. It was a quick 10 to 15 minute ride. The train trip involved one train transfer. I don't recall what station this was at but it did involve carrying your bag down into a tunnel which connects the various platforms. We picked up our tickets in Levanto a day or two earlier. Sorry I can't remember how much it cost but I don't think it was very expensive.
Enjoy the tour it's great!
Posted by
Green Bay
21159 posts
I guess if you travel Rick Steves style, aka light, carrying luggage on and off trains should not be a problem. I've never been on a Rick Steves tour, and carrying luggage on and off trains for my wife and I is second nature. Did I ever tell about the time we once did a trip through Germany with 7 train changes in one day? OK, some other time.
You may also find some people on the trip who will go in with you on a cab. 35 EUR per person is not too bad.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
Yes, other posts have indicated that on the last night of this tour, the guide helps people form groups to split taxis to various destinations (Malpensa airport and Milano Centrale being the top ones).
Posted by
Freedonia
16285 posts
I took the tour last month and as stated your guide will help arrange transportation for you. You will not be the only one going to the train station and shared cabs will be arranged.
We had them going to the train station, Malpensa and Linate.
You can do the train if you want to save a few bucks or just take the cab for door to door service. The cost is split among the passengers. There were six of us going to Malpensa so it was like $20-25 person.
Posted by
Mesquite, NV
37 posts
Take a taxi to the train station. It's aboutt 5-10 Euro. 8:04 train has a change in Novara. Buy your ticket on the train, about 9 euro. You will have about 20 minutes to switch platforms. There are elevators available. Pretty easy. If for some reason you miss your connection, there are more trains.
Check out Loco2 for train info.
Posted by
SF Bay Area-East Bay
116 posts
I just came off the VIT tour in June (May 22- June 4th), Our guide Trina about a week into the trip started arranging travel from Lake Orto to the various destination our tour group had planned. We had folks going to Lake Como for a their wedding, others heading to Rome and we were going back to Venice for a post trip stay. We booked a 7 passenger taxi for a cost of 140 Euro 20 Euro each for the trip to the Milan train station. We had friends going to the smaller Milan airport and the cost was going to be around 80-100 just for them but Tina was able to get group together that cut the cost. She arranged the taxi departures from as early as 4:00AM to those leaving the next day. I hope this helps. The Milan train station was very nice, easy to navigate. We were able to buy our tickets online via the Iphone App and the hotel in Levanto printed them out for us. The folks at the Hotel Primavera were fantastic and very helpful.
Hope this helps!