Travel to Venice using Swiss Pass

Hi Susan,

Well, theoretically you are correct: the Swiss Pass covers the ride to Domodossola for free, and you need to pay for the rest of the trip. But this train does require a seat reservation as soon as you board, which will be in Brig. So you need to order a ticket from Brig to Venice for Swiss Pass holders. That way, you will have seats from Brig, but you will only pay for the leg Domodossola - Venice.

Such tickets are available through the link on our seat reservation page, or you can go to www.raileurope.com.au/ book-now/article/book-a-point-to-point-ticket?re_reservation=yes directly since you're from Australia. You can order along your Swiss Pass there, and possibly get a discount on the entire order.

Thanks for your reply. Are timetables available for January on this route yet. I can only see a few trains and none end at venice santa lucia (only mestre). I was wanting the one train per day which is direct Brig to Venice S. Lucia without change in Milan. Thanks for your advice.

Hi Susanb,

The timetables are being updated around this time. For Switzerland this process seems to be completed, for Italy not yet. But you can't book seats yet anyway. You can do so from 2 months before the travel date.

The direct train to Venice stops at both the Mestre and S. Lucia station. If you enter "Venezia S Lucia" (exactly like this, no dots) as your destination at the page Annika gave you, you will get the desired train and tickets.

Thanks Arno, The train I want (Brig - Venezia S Lucia, 9.44am) is not coming up on Rail Europe though it is listed on other train websites for the date that I want to book. I am having difficulty contacting Rail Europe to clarify. Does rail Europe normally offer all the trains and connections available?Thanks.

You're welcome Susan! Don't worry about the train, you just need to wait until 2 (perhaps 3) months before departure. We're in a transition period now because of the new timetable as of December 14. So trains may show up on some sites and not on others yet. Even if your train is listed, that does not mean you can already book seats for it if it's not within the booking window yet. Both Rail Europe and the Swiss Railways site list your train up to mid December but not for January yet. They will include the train in their schedules soon, and you can book it from 2-3 months before your trip.

This booking window is standard procedure for trains in Europe. There are exceptions for a few trains, which can be booked 4 months ahead of time, but 2-3 months is standard. I think 2 months applies to your train, but it might be 3 (so you can book it soon). Just wait a bit and it will be fine. Of course you're always welcome to get back here in case of questions!

Thanks again Arno. Your help is very much appreciated.