italdesign

This is for early July. I was hoping to do it in one day, though it sounds packed. So far, I'm seeing an early departure out of Zurich, getting into Milan same day at 5:40pm. The problem is the onward ride to Venice, which doesn't start until 9pm, arriving after midnight, a bit late. I could spend the night in Milan, but the earliest departure next day would be noon, so it would waste half a day (we want to maximize our limited time in Venice). I'm wondering if the best way is to do it all in one day, have a late arrival in Venice (we can stay at Hilton Garden Inn Mestre) but have an earlier start the following day. Thoughts?

Could the time table change between now and July?

I'm already taking an extra day to overnight at Zurich first. If this becomes apparently too painful, I'll look into the shorter and less scenic Paris-Venice route.

ToGo

there is a small unofficial timetable chance in juni/ juli the could chance something but the most trains operate on the same time.maybe you look for an city outside of ch you will see the price in ch are much higher than in IT, AT, DE.
And i can recommend to book only 1Class Tickets. That will be less stressfull and you can relax.
Before you book an Train the are some ways to get it cheaper.
1) Book non flex tickets
2) use an "via" function to stay + / - 24h and get an long route on one ticket!
3) Book one Ticket for the hole Journey you will do on one day. The reason for is if something unexpected happened with the Train you are crewed. (If you have an 1Class Ticket it will help to!)

Twickenham

Hey, I did Salzburg-Milan via the Bernina Express in a day (although to do this we had to pick up the actual Bernina Express in St. Moritz). Compared to that, your little Zurich-Venice journey is a piece of cake.

I'm not sure where you're searching, but looking at Bahn.com for the Zurich-Tirano part, and Trenitalia for the Italy trains, I'm seeing trains that could easily get you to Venice that evening:

-7:07 train out of Zurich arring in Chur at 8:22;
-8:32 Bernina Express arriving in Tirano at 12:45;
-13:10 Regionale train from Tirano arriving in Milan at 15:40;
-16:05 Frecciabianca from Milan to Venice, arriving in Venice at 18:40.

Having done all of these connections, the times are quite doable. Of course, this means you don't have time for meals, but they're way overrated anyways. (top tip: you can survive on a bag of Mini-Babybels)

nrr

In the RailCity shopping area of Zurich HBF, there is a Migros Supermarket, you can buy all sorts of "goodies" to last you through the day: fruit, sandwiches, soft drinks and juices (Migros doesn't sell alcoholic bev.), breads, chocolate, cheeses [Migros is reasonably (for Switz.) priced]. Next door is a Migros Take-Away shop...more expensive than the supermarket.

italdesign

Huh. I can indeed reproduce your results and it is much preferred. I'm not sure which website I looked on before, but I'm glad there are better alternatives. Many thanks!

How far in advance should I book these? I'm traveling on July 9-ish.

Also, seat61 says you can buy a Germany-originating ticket that travels on Bernina Express to Tirano, and just skip the first segment (Germany to Chur). Reverse hidden city ticketing for rail Any experience with that?

ToGo

The must staped from a German Conductor to make it Valid.
The same with Austrian Train Tickets or you Print in on an Austrian Ticket Machine.
If you want i can Prind and send the Tickets from an Austrian Ticket Machine to you.

Nico40

Which day is it ?
You normally have departures from Milan at 6:05pm (only to Venezia Mestre as this train continues Trieste but there is a connection to Santa Lucia), and then 7:05pm and 8:05pm.
Maybe those services were not yet in sale when you've checked.

UrbanDweller

I suppose I shouldn't question your routing, I'm sure you have a reason for it, but I am compelled to ask ... why are you travelling through Milan? You arrive in Milan at 5:40pm but then need to leave at 9pm for Venice. The Bernina Express ends in Tirano, why not just take a train from Tirano to Venice?

KQ321

I don't have my European rail map to hand, and bahn.de (which I normally use for timetable information) doesn't seem to include some of the relevant trains in Italy. However, as far as I can tell, the only way to get from Tirano to Venice by train is via Milan - there is no quicker or more direct route. This is certainly what the Trenitalia journey planner indicates...

That said, this thread was started in March, so the OP has probably already completed their journey...

ToGo

here is an easy map: http://de.interrail.eu/plan-your-tri...il-railway-map
a private map: http://www.bueker.net/trainspotting/maps.php

zkzkz

So... I'm considering booking the same thing. Are you sure about that? Seat61 doesn't say anything about that and I can't find any rule requiring it. Have you heard or witnessed Swiss conductors complaining about the lack of a German conductor stamp?

Does it make any difference if you have an overnight stopover in Zurich which is what seat61 recommends?

ToGo

About what?i say 1000x times dont trust that site... The talk often rubbish.I Can recommend an Sightseen Stop in Zürich to.If you tell me "From" "to" "via" i can search for an cheap connection.

zkzkz

We're starting in Bern and ending in Lecco. I'm trying to choose between a few routes:

1) Using the seat61 trick to book a cheap ticket with a stopover in Zurich and going to Tirano. Then a separate ticket from Bern to Zurich. This would catch the panoramic Bernina Express (BEX) train from St Moritz to Tirano.

2) Book a much more expensive ticket through Brig catching the panoramic Glacier Express (GEX) to Chur then regular regional trains from Chur down to Tirano. Afaict the cheapest way to do this is to buy a regular full fare ticket which would cost about five times as much as the seat61 trick above.

3) Book the same above but leave Bern earlier and take regional trains to Chur and St Moritz catch the panoramic Bernina Express train to Tirano. This would be the same price though I think the seat reservation for the BEX is slightly less than the GEX.

Options 2 and 3 would be quite long trips. They would be on the order of 12 hours of train to Tirano and then another two hours from there to Lecco. I'm tempted to say the 9 hours through Zurich is enough train time and cheaper to boot.

Would I regret passing up the opportunity to do the GEX route or is the BEX and saving 3 hours of train time (not to mention a lot of money) enough of a reward?

ToGo

do you check how much a ticket in Switzerland cost...?
that is insane....
I would play on the ticketing.oebb.at website (via Bregenz) or on the DB Site for a Bookable Route. You can choose "via" and take enter a Time for Stopover (like 24h).

Do you have an European Train Discount Card?
How many People Travel with you?

So i can highly recommend booking a 1Class Ticket!
I can tell tousand of storrys why a 1Class Ticket saved my life and let me feel relaxed.

EDIT: PLEASE IGNORE seat61!!!!!
Maybe the make for UK a good Job but for Austria i swear the talk a lot of ....!

jt82

Can you please stop with your anti-seat61 diatribe, it's becoming quite tiresome. If you've got specific suggestions as to where you believe him to be wrong, then email him and tell him, rather than just telling everyone on FT that he's useless which in my experience is clearly not the case.