I have looked at a number of options for getting to Riomaggiore to Lucerne and, while I have found routes, I am far from sure I have found the best way! Suggestions on this? Also, we'll be using our Swiss Pass for the Switzerland portion of the travel, so will we be buying tickets to Chiasso for the Italy portion of the trip? Thank you!
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16385 posts
If I were doing this I would take the regional train from Riomaggiore a little after 11 am to connect with the 11:53 ES train that goes to Milano Centrale with no changes. Then you take the 15:10 from Milan on the Gotthard Pass route, with a change at Arth-Goldau. Instead of just buying a ticket to Chiasso, use your Swiss Pass to get the ticket to Arth-Goldau. You can do this either at any train station in Italy; show the pass and they will take that into account. Or you can buy on Trenitalia using the Fare button. Choose " GA Switzerland" and that will take the pass into account. The fare is 15,90 euros that way. But you have a reserved seat the whole way to Arth-Goldau. If you just bought a ticket to Chiasso, they could in theory sell that seat to someone else boarding there.
Posted by
OP
TX, USA
4169 posts
Lola, Thank you - that is a lot of very useful information and I had not thought about the seat aspect. If I am looking at this correctly, Riomaggiore-La Spezia tickets will have to be purchased there, as that is a Regional. It looks like La Spezia-Milan and Riomaggiore-Arth-Goldau will both require seat reservation. Do you think I can purchase these at the Riomaggiore station or should I go ahead with them online (as I am doing for a couple of other legs of our trip)? We will also be in Venice and Florence during the preceding week. Gwynn
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16385 posts
You are correct-the train from Riomaggiore to La Spezia is a Regional train ( the trip only takes a few minutes) so you cannot buy tickets until a weeK ahead. You can just buy them in Riomaggiore. I like to buy tickets the day before travel,to avoid last-minute stress. The seat reservations for La Spezia to Milano and Milano to Arth-Goldau are included in the price of the ticket. If you buy 2 tickets they will assign you 2 seats together. You do not need a reservation for the train from Arth-Goldau to Luzern. The Gotthard Pass route is quite scenic. There are a few tunnels but they are pretty short compared to the other main route into Switzerland from Italy, the Simplon route from Milan to Brig. The Gottard route even has a couple of spiral tunnels, although you would not know that unless you looked at a map. You can't feel the train going in a spiral.
Posted by
OP
TX, USA
4169 posts
Thank you, Lola! I have had occasion to use your input (made to others) for other parts of my trip, as well! It's much appreciated!