i will be taking the train from zurich to varenna in october. the bahn de schedule shows a train type i am not familiar with, under product it says cis, is this a fast train similar to EC,IC,and ES?
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
That's the Cisalpine train, the name for the Trenitalia service that joins northern Italian cities with Switzerland. They'd be comfortable enough....some are EC trains, others IC...I don't think you'll be able to tell which is yours. Travel times run 5:10 to about 6:15, so pick the one with the least transfers/fastest times. Eventually, on all these routes, you'll transfer to an Italian regional train for the final leg. Check out all the trains available at http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html , even if you can't purchase :(
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
There are two types of Cisalpino trains. One is the EC-category train and the other is the faster "tilting" train (it actually leans into the turns to go faster). The Italians call this train the Pendolino. The www.bahn.de site may not make a distinction between the two but the Italian Trenitalia site does. Under Train No. you will see a train described as a Cisalpino. In the Train Category column for that run, the EC train is noted as an EC train. The Pendolino is noted as a "cis" train. The Cisalpino trains run from Florence, Milan, Venice, Trieste in Italy up through Switzerland and into part of Germany. There are not many cis runs each day as there are EC runs.
Posted by
dallas, tx, usa
1358 posts
You dont say when you will travel; so I will remind you that August is the month of vacations in Spain and France. Everything changes when we travel in that part of Europe. Train schedules for traveling between countries may be affected.