Florence to Wengen and back to Lake Como

Hi

We will be visiting Italy in August, but also want to spend 3 nights in Wengen. We will be in Tuscany before we go to Switzerland, so I'm thinking it would be easiest to take a train from Florence to Wengen. What would be best options?

When we return from Wengen we need to go to Varenna on Lake Como. Would it be best to travel to Milan from Wengen and then take train from Milan to Varenna, or rather trave from Wengen to Lugano and then travel from Lugano to Varenna?

Once we're in Wengen we'll stay in that area, so not much travelling around to other parts of Switzerland. Would it be better to buy the Swiss pass or the half fare card?

Thank you

Hi Annemi!

Traveling via Milan is the quickest and most obvious route. Do note that trains on this route may be crowded due to the Expo in Milan. That's no problem if you reserve seats Florence-Milan and Milan-Brig well in advance though. Please consult the timetable for details; just enter your departure and arrival stations and your travel date, and all options will be displayed.

When traveling to Varenna, the route via Milan is again the quickest solution. Traveling via Lugano is an option too. It would be a beautiful scenic ride, but it's more complicated since you'll travel in regional trains and will have to change trains more often.

If your entire stay in Switzerland, including the inbound and outbound trips, lasts 4 days, I'd personally prefer a 4 day Swiss Travel Pass as it's the most convenient solution, without the need to buy additional discounted tickets for most of your trips. The Swiss Half Fare Card would be an alternative. I think Arno already provided you with the right information to calculate which pass is best, in your previous topic.

Thank you, Annika.

We will buy the Swiss travel pass, but for the Italy leg, where must we buy to? Florence to Milano centrale and then where to from Milan? Brig? Or Domodossola?

Hi Annemi,

The Swiss Travel Pass is valid from Domodossola, so you only need to pay for a ticket from Milan to Domodossola. You can get all products from the same website, the South African one in your case. Here's what you need to do:

• www.raileurope.co.za/ pass/swiss-pass: Swiss Travel Pass
• www.raileurope.co.za/ train/italian-international-trains: tickets from Florence to Milano Centrale
• www.raileurope.co.za#t ab3: here's where you can get a ticket from Milano Centrale to Spiez, but you will only pay to Domodossola if you select that you will travel with a Swiss Travel Pass. That will secure your seat to Spiez without paying for the Swiss leg. Alternatively you can buy a ticket from Milano Centrale to Domodossola from the previous link, but then you will only have a guaranteed seat to Domodossola.
• www.raileurope.co.za/d eals/great-deals-to-tour-Europe: coupon codes to get a discount on all of this.

Do let us know if you have further questions. Enjoy your trips!

Thank you, Arno.

I have another question. After our visit to Switzerland we are going back to Italy to Lake Como, where we will be staying in Varenna for four days. I've heard that the Bernina Express is a beautiful ride, so we're thinking of also doing that while we're in Varenna.

It looks as if I must buy tickets from Varenna to Tirano because the Bernina Express starts there. Is that correct?

And then, which routes would you recommend for a day trip on the Bernina Express? We will go back to Varenna at the end of the day.

I also need to figure out whether I must only buy a Swiss Pass for our initial 4 days in Switzerland and then buy a ticket for the Bernina Express when we do it later, or whether I must buy an 8-day pass to cover the Bernina Express trip as well.

Thank you

Annemi

Hi Annemi,

The full Bernina Express ride (Tirano to Chur) is probably to much for a day trip from Varenna. I think you can do the southern leg, Tirano to St. Moritz like this:

• Train from Varenna-Esino to Tirano
• Bernina Express to St. Moritz
• Bus to Chiavenna, Stazione (very nice ride along the lakes and down the Maloja Pass)
• Train back to Varenna-Esino, with a change in Colico

Be sure to double check this in the Swiss timetable and the one for Italy at www.trenitalia.com.

The Swiss Travel Pass and Swiss Half Fare Card cover the Swiss part of this trip, and the bus until Chiavenna in Italy. See the pass pages Annika gave you, and click "Where it's valid" to download the maps. Which pass is the best choice (price wise) can be calculated.

Hi Arno

I've bought the Swiss pass, and the ticket from Florence to Milan. However, when I tried to buy the ticket from Milan to Spiez, it didn't give me the price for only to Domodossola, but instead charged me the full price of the journey. So I bought a ticket from Milan to Domodossola.

1. How do I travel from Domodossola to Wengen? I've put that in the timetable, but it didn't render any results.
2. Also, it gives me Domodossola (I) or Domodossola STazione as options - which do I choose?
3. When arriving from Milan - where do I arrive in Domodossola? At the (I) or the Stazione?

In Annika's reply she made reference to Brig - how does this fit in with the travelling?

KInd regards

Annemi

Hi Annemi,

I'm not sure why you didn't get the correct price, but a ticket to Domodossola is fine too, as that's where the Swiss Travel Pass takes over.

1. Please be sure to use the Swiss timetable, not another one, see my previous post. I just tried and it works for me. Please let me know your travel date and time if you still can't get the information.
2. Those are different names for the same rail station. (I) means Italy. Stazione means rail station.
3. It's the same place, but you don't need to get off the train. Most trains proceed to Switzerland, so you stay seated.

Annika mentioned Brig as that's the Swiss border station (Domodossola is the Italian border station) and it's where you mostly change trains, unless you use one of the few trains that continue to Spiez.