Break up journey for travel from Zurich to Venice

  • drrpkesav
    Participant
    8 posts
    6 May 2017 at 2:54:48 #811697

    I have a Swiss travel pass and I plan to travel from Zurich to Lugano by “IC 879” and proceed from Lugano to Venice in “RegioExpress 4333” & “ES 9759”. This seems inevitable since direct trains from Zurich to Venice on my travel date 25.5.17 are already fully booked.

    My query is that,

    The direct train from Zurich to Venice mestre says that the Arth-Goldau to Milan leg of the train is fully booked but still the booking process continues if I proceed. Will I be allowed to travel this part if I book the single ticket or should I actually split up the journey upto Lugano and then book the train from Lugano to Venice, which is available.

    Is it necessary to book for the train “IC 879” from Zurich to Lugano?

    For my return journey from Venice to Lucerne I tried booking is Trenitalia with the GA 2kl category for the Swiss travel pass I have. But it needs a pass number which is not mentioned in my swiss travel pass. How can I get a pass number?

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    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    6 May 2017 at 6:52:49 #862857

    Welcome to MySwissAlps drrpkesav!

    There are no direct trains from Zurich to Venice that I know of. You’d normally have to change once, in Milan.

    The occupancy rate of these trains might be high but I don’t think they’re fully booked. Did you try to book this from the SBB website? That’s the domestic site (Trenitalia too, for Italy), that’s why you don’t see the tourist passes. You don’t need a pass number to book a ticket. Please have a look at the ticket retailers listed at myswissalps.com/traint ickets/italy/price. I just tried http://www.raileurope.co.in/t rain/italian-international-trains as you live in India. They still sell tickets for the 15h09 connection to Venice with only one change in Milan (EuroCity 21 train from Zurich to Milan, then Frecciarossa 9755 to Venice).

    Apart from a ticket for the whole journey you can also try to book from Chiasso (the border) to Venice. Your Swiss Travel Pass covers Zurich to Chiasso. Seat reservations are not required for the Swiss leg, worst case there is no seat but you will be able to board.

    drrpkesav
    Participant
    8 posts
    6 May 2017 at 10:57:56 #862858

    Thanks Arno.

    I have reserved a seat from Zurich to Lugano in the 15:32 train with my swiss travel pass in the SBB site. I was trying to book my onward journey in the Lugano to Venice mestre section. I was wondering, if while reserving, I use the GA 2kl category and book, since I have a swiss travel pass, will I be penalised or that’s how am actually supposed to book?

    And while I was booking the Lugano to venice leg of my journey, the Lugano-Milan centrale section shows that reservations cannot be made. Does this mean there are no tickets available or I should go ahead and book? I am attaching a pdf of the issue am facing in booking this ticket.

    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    6 May 2017 at 12:02:59 #862859

    You’re most welcome! Note that you are trying to book on the domestic site. It apparently has issues as the websites geared to tourists have the ticket for the direct train to Milan available (see my previous post). You should be able to pick GA while actually traveling with a Swiss Travel Pass, but there is no need to do so. You don’t need to book from Lugano. You only need to book from Chiasso.

    In your example the Lugano to Milan section is done by a regional train with no option to reserve a seat. All you need there is your Swiss Travel Pass, and for the section from Chiasso to Milan you need a regular full priced ticket. You can get it from any of the websites listed on the page I linked to in my previous post. I just checked another one, http://www.trainline.eu/searc h, and they sell Chiasso to Venice tickets from € 35.40, which is cheaper than the CHF 56 you found on the SBB site. The train departs from Chiasso at 19:08, but of course you can board it in Lugano at 18:42 if you want.

    By the way, you don’t need to book seats for trains within Switzerland, apart from a few panoramic trains. The 15:32 train from Zurich is a regular InterCity train with normal occupancy. You will always find a seat. But you have a reservation now so I guess your seat is 100% guaranteed 😉

    Does this solve it for you?

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