In September we will be travelling in Germany, Switzerland and Northern Italy using a railpass. We have an itinerary roughly planned, but I need help with our travel from Chur (Switzerland) to Bellagio (Lake Como). We need to do this in one day. Will either take the Bernina Express or the regular train from Chur (which do you recommend?). . . but to where? How near to Bellagio can we get by train? Can anyone help with the rail route please, and suggest how we might get to Bellagio from the nearest station?
Posted by
San Jose, CA, USA
424 posts
I'm not quite sure where "Chur" is in Switzerland but I checked Trenitalia's website and it appears that you can take a train from Chur to Zurich and then catch another train to Como San Giovanni. From Como, you can walk in to town and then take the boat to Bellagio.
The train trip takes about 5.5 hours and the boat trip another 1.5 hours unless you take a hydrofoil.
In May, I took the reverse route - train in to Como (visited Bellagio for the day) and then took the train to Zurich. The trip through the mountains was magical.
Posted by
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
705 posts
Yes train to Como. I must admit I got a cab to my hotel as it was raining and I'd had enough. However there are buses as well as the ferry. We got the ferry back and I don't remeber it taking as long as 1.5 hours, more like 1/2 hour, but maybe I'm wrong. I't probably the easiest to negotiate, certainly the prettiest.
Posted by
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
705 posts
Boy do I have a bad memory. This is from another website and may help.
Getting There & Getting Around -- By Train -- The closest train station to Bellagio and the
other Central Lake towns is in Como ; from there you can continue by bus or boat.
By Boat -- From Como, boats stop first at Bellagio: by ferry 2 hours; by hydrofoil 35 to 45 minutes. They continue on to Menaggio: by ferry another 15 minutes; by hydrofoil, another 5 minutes. About half the boats then stop in Varenna as well (plus there are about two dozen short-haul ferries each from Bellagio and Menaggio to Varenna): by ferry another 10 minutes; by hydrofoil, another 5 minutes. You can also get day passes good for just the central lake or for the whole lake.
By Bus -- One to three SPT buses (tel. 031-304-744) per hour travel from Como to Bellagio (about 1 1/6 hr.). Hourly buses to Menaggio take 65 minutes. Buses leave Como from in front of the main train station; get tickets at the bar inside.
Posted by
OP
Whangarei, New Zealand
12 posts
Thanks for those ideas. We are actually travelling from Lucerne to Chur the previous day, and leaving from Chur on the Bernina Express for a scenic trip over the mountains. So going via Zurich won't work. I think the Bernina Express ends up at Tirano. Maybe we need to change trains here and continue on to Como? Since we are approaching from the north-east, does anyone know if it's possible to get by train or bus to Varenna from Tirano and then go by ferry across to Bellagio, rather than all the way down to Como and back up?