For scenic routes:
http://www.swisstravelsystem.ch/en/content/experiences/scenic-routes/

Hi Giannetta,

How many days will you have for the Swiss portion before you fly out of Zürich? That will impact our suggestions --

s

Fast route, and scenic:

Venice-Milan-Zurich. Book at www.trenitalia.com looking for 'smart price' in the 'More fares' drop down box when you get to the fares selection stage. Milan-Zurich starts at just 19 euros if you pre-book.

Slow very, very scenic route:

Venice-Milan-Tirano- "Bernina Express" - Chur - Zurich.

1. Start with booking the Bernina Express, www.berninaexpress.ch, departs Tirano 14:04 arrives Chur 18:27.

2. Then find a Milan-Tirano connecting train (there's one around 10:20 arriving Tirano 12:50). You can buy this ticket at the station. www.trenitalia.com

3. use www.trenitalia.com to find a Venice-Milan train (allow at least 45 mins in Milan to change trains).

4. Then check Swiss trains from Chur to Zurich at www.rail.ch

Thank you for great detailed advice. Re. # of days: We can leave Venice per choice any time from 10/15 - 10/21. My flight out of Zurich is 10/24. However, as I will have a relatively large piece of luggage (not huge but not "carry-on") I'm concerned about the smaller trains having adequate luggage storage capacity. Would that be a problem on any of the trains from Milano > Tirano> Chur> Zurich? Would the best advice be to do Venice > Milano > Zurich and enjoy the scenery w/o the problem of 4 changes, schleping luggage and worrying about making the next scheduled departure???
Thanks,
Giannetta

Hi again,

With that number of days, I would definitely do the very, very scenic route outlined by Man_ . . .61 above. The Bernina Express is one of the most scenic routes in Switzerland, and you could enjoy a few days in the mountains of the Upper Engadin for a nice taste of Switzerland. If you'd like to do this, I would recommend staying at Zuoz, Pontresina, Sils, or even at St. Moritz. Then you could go on and spend a few days either in Luzern or in Zürich.

I'm a 56-year-old, short, woman, and I routinely travel with a 24-inch bag on the trains. It's easier if you can travel light, of course, but if not, you should still be ok. Once you hit Switzerland, you can even send your suitcase separately on the trains. If you check it before 9 am, the case will arrive after 18.00 the same day for 20 chf.

Have fun!

s

though it takes longer than the main route to Italy from Venice that goes via Milan you can take the awesomely scenic IMo Bernina Pass rail route into St Moritz, Switzerland. I have ridden trains in Europe for decades and this is by far my favorite scenic rail line - yes awesome baby! To do this you still must go via Milan and change for a train to Torino (not Turin) where you catch the start of the Bernina Pass railway. For lots of info on the Bernina railway and Italian and Swiss trains check out these fab IMO sites - www.budgeteuropetravel.com (click on its Italy section for a good snapshot description of the Bernina Railway route; www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com. And if traveling much at all in Switzerland be sure to investigate the Swiss Pass which covers not only trains but lake boats, postal buses, city trams and buses and also gives entry to over 400 Swiss museums, A real bargain IMO.

Again - I appreciate all this information I am receiving.
PalenQ, I have actually JUST returned from Torino (Turin) 3 days ago! I'm happy to go back there any time...
Is it possible to travel from Venice > Milano > Torino and....enjoy the Bernina Pass railway all in one day? Or, would you recommend our staying overnight in Torino and taking off in the AM? I know just the place - across the st. from the RR station. Then, where would we connect to a train to Zurich for our flight home?

PalenQ - this is a post from Fodor's Talk on another pg. that has me now confused.

"Unfortunately their are no trains from Turin to Switzerland, I know beacuse I live near Turin and sometimes visitors want to come from Switzerland by train. You have to go to Milan central and change, even to Geneva, which is only 3.5 hours drive from Turin through Val d'Aosta and Mt Bianco (Blanc) tunnel. But many direct trains from Torino to Milano. you can check on www.trenitalia.com"

I do not know of another Torino other than Turin but perhaps the "Torino" you spoke of is in Switzerland???

Oops I should have said "Tirano" for the jumping off point for the Bernina Pass railway - not Torino which is of course Turin.
Tirano is a few hours by train from Milan, with the line skirting Lake Como's idyllic shores - if you want to overnight in a place like Bellagio you can get off the train in Varenna-Esino and take a boat from there to nearby Bellagio, on Lake Como.

OK PalenQ- I'm thinking that you are talking about Tirano - NOT Torino. Correct? I can research Milano > Tirano on Bernina railway. thanks---

If you have time, you could go from Milan to Lake Como for a couple of nights. From there you can go by train to Tirano to Chur on the Bernina Express. So you would only change trains at Tirano and again at Chur if you are going straight to Zurich.

SO - I'm beginning to get the picture! Venice > Milano > Como ..ovenight in Como? THEN - Bernina Express (from Como?) to Tirano (change trains > Chur change trains again > Zurich. Can anyone out there give me some clue re. travel time between Como > Tirano > Chur > Zurich? As we are taking this trip in late October it would be sad to be passing by beautiful scenery in the DARK.
The train from Venice to Milano to Como would probably take 1/2 day so ideally we could make it to Tirano before nightfall if the train schedules cooperated. My guess is that Como is costly but that there might not be a place to stay in Tirano. More help needed but I'm getting there!

> THEN - Bernina Express (from Como?) to Tirano (change trains > Chur change trains again > Zurich. Can anyone out there give me some clue re. travel time between Como > Tirano > Chur > Zurich? As we are taking this trip in late October it would be sad to be passing by beautiful scenery in the DARK.

Don#t worry about Bernina Express. There are normal trains over the Bernina line to St. Moritz every hour, those don't require any reservation and are always available.

Please use www.sbb.ch to schedule your Swiss part of the trip.

>My guess is that Como is costly but that there might not be a place to stay in Tirano.

What makes you think so? Tirano is a sizeable town (>20k inhabitants), not some hamlet in the sticks. There is a number of hotels there.

Also, your comment about "smaller" trains - I think you have taken something too literally. Only because a train is serving local stops and not crossing half a continent it's cars are not necessary "smaller" in size.

Tirano is a transit town as main trans-Alpine highways go thru there and thus has a spate of accommodations - there are some hotels in the square where the Italian train arrives - you cross the square to get to the Swiss train station - probably cheaper than Como.

From Como to get to the train to Tirano you'd either have to backtrack to Milan or take a boat to Varenna-Esino, picking up the train there. There is no direct train Como to Tirano.

I'm trying to remember what we did last September. We arrived in Zurich, took the train to Chur( 1 1/2 hours?), spent the night there, took the 8:30 or 9:00 am train from Chur to Tirano,then transferred to another train to Varenna. After a few days, we took the train to Venice.

From Venice, I think it was a short trip to Milan, then. as stated earlier, you'd have to take another train line back to Varenna. Varenna is a lovely town that I would return to. You could get to Varenna easily in a day, spend the night there, and then take the scenic train from Varenna-Tirano-Chur-Zurich in a day. Coming from Switzerland, we arrived in Varenna at about 3:30 or 4pm, so it is doable, but a full day.

After many inviting suggested routes this is what I have in mind at the moment:
Day 1 -Venice > Milano (stay overnight as it's an interesting city).
Day 2- Milano > Tirano (transfer to Bernina Express) > Chur - overnight in Chur.
Day 3 - Chur > Zurich - overnight in Zurich
Day 4- fly home to USA...

The train time tables seem to work out well for the above. I have not looked at the Milano>Varnenna train but feel that going directly to the train in Tirano from Milano makes sense considering our time limitations. However, I'm always open to suggestions.