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Overnight trains from Milan to Frankfurt/Trier???

Posted by (South Florida) on

I am pre-touring in Milan and booked a flight from Malpensa to Frankfurt the morning of the tour. I thought I had plenty of time to get from Frankfurt to Trier and I have "spoken" to some amazing people on these boards about this. I might make it, barely...but maybe not. So, I checked with Luftansa and (of course) I booked a flight that can not be changed (even for a fee). So, my options are: take a chance and stick with what I have, 2. forfeit $200 and spend another $250 on an earlier flight, or 3. take a night train from Milan to Trier.

I am here inquiring about #3. Does one even exist? I'm trying to decide if there is an alternate way to get to the tour with less stress. If I take a night train, I could save the hotel charge for that night and arrive in the morning. I just don't want to be changing trains in the middle of the night in a strange place in a foreign country.

So, I guess the question is... does that night train exist? (I can't find it online) or should I just suck it up and stick with the original plan. Thank you!!
Lori

Posted by
8479 posts

Are you on the GAS tour? if so there is:

#4. just arrive a little late. We had people show up a day late due to flight issues. Just contact the Tour dept and let them know you might be late. The tour leaders will know how to deal with it. My two cents.

Posted by
225 posts

Yes, Stan. I am on GAS. Thanks for the 2 cents. I appreciate it. :)

Posted by
32847 posts

It is possible to travel overnight, changing in Basel and Karlsruhe (about an hour in each), neither in the middle of the night, and the trains do keep moving instead of mooring up in the middle, taking around 13 hours. These trains run at night but none of them is a "night train", none of them has any sleeping accommodation so if you are happy sitting in seats all night perhaps it would suit you.

I would have thought that it would be a bit tiring, and that you would want to be fresh as a daisy to start your (most excellent) tour.

Posted by
225 posts

Thank you all for your replies. I emailed my hotel and they told me that Linate is much closer than Malpensa and that the taxi ride to the airport is 1/3 that of the one for Malpensa. So, I bit the bullet, forfeited my later flight and booked an earlier flight from Linate. This saves me a lot on the taxi ride (it offsets some of the loss of the original ticket) and gets me to Frankfurt much earlier. I no longer need to worry about catching trains on time or reducing my carry-on weight to 17 lbs (if I checked a bag on the later flight I was much more likely to miss the train). I am relieved, so it must have been the right choice.
Thank you all again!!

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