capekidnappers

Any suggestions about the best train route to take from Zermatt to Venice, and how long the journey would be?

annhig

hi, cape,

the best place to look is www.bahn.de. there is an english language version at "int. gaeste. you need to select "venezia santa lucia" as your destination.


my search yielded 6 or so trains a day, mostly with 2 or 3 changes. the web-site tels you about how long each change will take. they were mostly about 7 1/2 hours.
there are also a couple of night -time services taking 10 hours, but they require changes as well so are not as attractive, IMO.

i don't fancy bologna station at
5.30am.

regards, ann

BarbAnn

When checking train schedules in/out of Switzerland, I use http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en.

It is the Swiss Rails (SBB) official timetable site in english. Be sure to put Venice S. Lucia as the destination.

I also checked the train schedule. Depending on when you leave, it will take about 6H30m to 7H30m.

Have a great time. I will be in Zermatt, Venice and Milan in late Oct./early Nov.

adeben

Most scenic route? Try the Glacier Express from Zermatt to Chur, then the Bernina Express from Chur to Tirano on the Swiss-Italian border. From Tirano, an Italian train will take you around Lake Como to Milan, from which you catch a 'normal' train to Venice. I'd suggest two days for the journey, with an overnight stop in Chur.

Dukey

The MOST DIRECT route would be from Zermatt to Visp (or Brig) and from there through the Simplon Tunnel to Milan and from Milan to Venice.

that trip will take anywhere between 6.5 to 7 and 3/4 hours depending upon the connections and timings.

But if you wanted the really sceneic route the one suggested by Adeben would be wonderful.

kappa

Dukey's most direct/quickest route is not bad either scenery-wise, especially when the train goes along the Lake Maggiore. It takes about 4 hrs usually, 3,5hrs with best connection.

Via Glacier Express/Bernina Express, takes at least 12hrs until you get to Milano. Bernina Express is most exciting but Glacier Exp part can be a bit too long (5hrs) and not always breathtaking scenery. If you have a whole day to spend for this why not. It depends on how much time you can got. I won't do such a long train travel in a day. Perhaps if you can sleep a night on the way, like Chur, St.Moritz or Pontregina?

kappa

Sorry, you are going to Venice, not Milano! You have to add 3 hours to above. 12 hrs + 3 hrs = 15 hrs in a day? Definitely you would need 2 days as Adeben already suggested above.

capekidnappers

Thank you everyone,

I will probably take the quickest option - I do not have much time between a Swiss hiking trip and a NW Italian tour I am booked into from Bologna.

My daughter - who knew everything when she was a teenager yet surprisingly since travelling to Europe last year now knows even more, says I cannot go to Italy without going to Venice, even if it is a quick trip.

She says everything worth seeing is within two city blocks. So - if I get the night train I can have a day wandering the "two blocks" then train onto Bologna - not ideal but better than not going at all. Does this make sense? It is a long way back from New Zealand!

kappa

The direct night train to Venice has been discontinued since a year or so. I took it a few times from Geneva to Venice before that. That's the train that used to split at Milano, one part to Roma and the other to Venice. Now it goes only direct to Roma. For Venice, you have to change at Bologna at 5:00 ! That's so inconvenient. I think the wait is long, at such early hour, about 30 minutes .

annhig

hi again, cape,

well, I'm not sure I'd want to go to all that trouble for the sake of just 8 hours in venice.

you daughter's ideas of "blocks" must be different to mine. that said if you planned well you could get quite a lot out of a few hours, but it would involve lots of walking and moving.

you could get a vaporetto down the grand canal to st. marks, tour the basilica, walk over to dorsoduro, possibly see the accademia, walk back through santa croce and san polo, get the vaporetto back to the station, get train to Bologna. you wouldn't really see Venice, but you would get a taste.

and who knows whether it will still be there for you to visit when you come back?

if you decided to do it, booking your time slots for St. Mark's and the accademia would be a good idea, unless you like standing in long queues.

good luck on all your travels,

regards, ann

capekidnappers

OK, so I'm thinking now I should try to go Venice earlier, for longer, which means I will need to (hopefully) find a good, basic budget hotel in Venice, in mid September. Suggestions?

gobeach

There is a direct train from Geneva to Venice that stops in Brig around 9:30 AM. Total time from Brig to Venice is 4-5 hours. There are other trains which require a change in Milan - adds another hour or 2.

gobeach

I stayed at the Residenza Ca San Marco (after my train trip from Brig) and really liked it. It was about 110E/night. Clean, nicely decorated, modern plumbing, quiet street, good breakfast. The reviewers say that it is hard to find so I followed the directions really closely and found it with no problems.

kappa

You can get the timetable for all the trains to Venice on the following Swiss Railway site. Put Departure : Zermatt & Arrival : Venezia Santa Lucia.

http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/fn

kappa

Oops, BarbAnn already posted it. Anyway, it's very easy to use.

Dukey

You can also look at the Cisalpino services separately at www.cisalpino.com

Dukey

Sorry..FORGET the Cisalpino..it requires a change in Milan..go for that direct timing instead.

annhig

hi again, cape,

i think that even staying one night would give you a much better experience of Venice.

as you will be arriving by train, by far the easiest thing would be to find a hotel which you can walk to from there - it avoids all that humping of luggage on and off the vaporetti which is a real pain.

then you can either walk or get a vaporetto as you wish.

there are lots of hotels along the rio terra lista da spagna, which is what the street that leads off into Vencie from the station is called.

good luck,

regards, ann