Draff

Please help! We leave in a few days and have a silly basic train ticket question! We want to go from Varenna (Lake Como) to Tirano then up the Bernina express line (on normal trains) then onwards from Chur to Lucerne. We have the timetables and have found the trains we want to go on. The question is: can we buy the tickets in Varenna for the whole trip? or just the Italian part then we have to buy the Switzerland part in Tirano? The timetables only give us 6 mins to change in Tirano and we are worried this won't be enough time if we have to buy tickets there? Please help!

greg

First, I think Varenna station has no manned ticket window, just ticket machines.

My experience buying tickets at a Trenitalia ticket window is that I could buy tickets for trips starting in Italy but could not buy tickets starting and ending outside Italy.

Rick Steves talks about buying tickets at a travel agency in the town of Varenna. I have never done this as the agency was always closed when I was in the neighborhood.

I have never bought tickets from a Trenitalia vending machine not originating from that station, so I don't know if such capability exists especially when the departure station is outside Italy.

KayF

I don't know the exact answer, having never done what you are doing, but these two things may help:

My sister recently bought tickets in Switzerland for a train trip originating in Switzerland but ending in Italy. She did this at a train station ticket window with no problems, though separate tickets were issued (Swiss bit and Italian bit).

Also if you can't find a ticket window in Varenna, we have previously bought train tickets at a travel agent in town (it can be any town, doesn't have to be Varenna), just look for the train symbol on their window. It doesn't cost any extra and they should be able to give you the tickets all the way through to Switzerland.

Unless your spoken Italian is good, we found it helpful to write down your itinerary, times, dates, number of adults,children, etc, and show the travel agent.

Hope this helps.
Kay

kleeblatt

You should be able to buy your tickets all the way through Switzerland.

I just rode on the Bernina Express last week. I bought second class seats with no seat reservations. Many people do this. Unfortunately, in Pontresina, there was a huge morning crowd of people like us who made a mad dash to the Bernina Express train. There were more people than seats. Luckily, people were getting off on each stop on the way to the top of the Bernina so there was plenty of room after 45 minutes into the journey.

On our return leg to starting in Poschiavo, our car was literally empty.

Six minutes is not enough time to buy tickets unless you are a whiz with the ticket machines and you don't have to queue up.

Take your timetable and destinations and buy your tickets for the whole trip in Varenna.

Draff

Thank you all for your quick helpful replies - we will allow ourselves plenty of time before the trip in Varenna to buy the tickets.

Thanks again! Draff