dreamon

neckervd, gorgeous photos - you're making me so jealous of those able to travel to Switzerland!

annhig

<<annhig - I found the price for the regional pass. It's 77,50€ for a monthly pass from Bologna to Parma (90km) for Regionale. I think it's a distance based pass and Ravenna should be included but I'll contact trenitalia to confirm.>>

Well done, waboss. Whether it's good value depends on how often you intend to travel of course and how much the individual journeys would cost but the convenience would be good too as it gets very tedious having to buy and then remember to stamp your ticket every time you travel. If you are intending to do enough excursions to make it worthwhile then it would be sensible to find lodgings within walking distance of the station as the bus service can be tortuous and IME you'll miss lots of trains waiting for your bus.

dreamon

waboss, it would be great if you could post the website URL for the regional pass. I've found a regional seasonal pass but have the impression that it's for people taking the same journey each day so not what I'm looking for (I might have misinterpreted it though). The pass which includes frecce trains is probably not cost effective for my plans either. I may stick to point to point tickets and regional transport passes such as the one offered in the Tyrol.

waboss

Beautiful photos, neckervd! We'd prefer to go straight to Wengen but can probably take Golden Pass on the way out. On the day we land in Geneva, Supersaver tickets are still available but Half fare card is more flexible. I read on seat61 that if you miss the train when you have a Supersaver ticket, you can still buy the full fare ticket. It's a risk though.

dreamon, I don't see a table with prices but you can try booking. On https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html, click Others/Best Price then Subscription & Carnet. This direct link https://www.lefrecce.it/Channels.Web...amenti&lang=en might also work. There's a guide on how to buy a pass in italian here https://www.trenitalia.com/it/inform...bonamento.html.

annhig, yes we like the convenience of not buying tickets every time. We found an apartment near Mercato delle Erbe and it should be walking distance to Bologna Centrale. Also a good walk to Madrelingua.

dreamon

Thanks very much, waboss. I thought there may have been a train pass for Italian regional trains where you could go to different places each day but this seems to be for repeat journeys to the same place (e.g. for workers and students). Caveat: my Italian is hopeless but that's what I glean from the links.

It's okay though because regionale tickets are very affordable anyway.

neckervd

"We'd prefer to go straight to Wengen but can probably take Golden Pass on the way out"
IMO that wouldn't make any sense (huge detour).
Wengen - Bologna (direct itinerary): 5 hrs 20 min, 4 train changes
Wengen - Bologna via Golden Pass - Montreux: 10 hrs 30 min, 7 train changes.
If you would see a bit more of Switzerland than only Wengen and the Jungfrau, you may travel from Wengen to Lucern, stay there 1 or 2 nights and then board the direct Bologna bound train Lucerne dp 9.18 - Bologna ar 14.35 (with dining car).
If you like subtropical lakes (in May usually full in flowers) you could stop over at Stresa/Lake Maggioe (direct itinerary) o Lugano/Lake Lugano (itinerary via LUcerne).

waboss

neckervd, we're probably going to Zurich after Bernese Oberland. Here's are current itinerary, but only the first week is confirmed:
Day 1 - 7 Wengen
Day 8 - 10 Interlaken with friends (3 nights, 2 full days)
Day 11 - 14 Zurich with friends
Day 15 Bologna

Lucerne might be a better option if it's just us 2. This wouldn't be our last trip to Switzerland so I'm not concerned with not seeing Lucerne on this trip. I'll also choose a better time for our next trip.

On a previous version of our itinerary when we were going from Interlaken to Bologna, I looked at stopping at Stresa since it's on the train line then visiting Lake Maggiore and Lake Orta.

kybourbon

** I thought there may have been a train pass for Italian regional trains where you could go to different places each day but this seems to be for repeat journeys to the same place (e.g. for workers and students). **

Some passes are restricted to residents of Italy or EU. Often they don't include mandatory seat reservations and buying advance discount tickets which include seats end up cheaper than a pass.

**bvlenci thank you for the feedback. Right, we would use mostly regional trains. I didn't know Padua is 1h 39min on the Regionale Veloce. It's only 1h 3min on FrecciaRossa but more expensive.**

The fast trains don't stop in Assisi or are you talking about a fast train from somewhere else? Many small towns are better served by bus and don't have trains at all, but I would want a car if staying in Assisi.

Italo is the other train company in Italy that offers fast trains so you might want to check their services/routes/prices too.

https://www.italotreno.it/en/destinations-timetable

annhig

<<annhig, yes we like the convenience of not buying tickets every time. We found an apartment near Mercato delle Erbe and it should be walking distance to Bologna Centrale. Also a good walk to Madrelingua.>>

yes, a nice position for both the school and the station. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did. The first time I stayed in Bologna in an apartment quite a long way from the school I used to try to vary my route every time so that I explored more of the city but inevitably I soon found my favourite cafe to get my morning brioche and spremuta, my favourite few lunch spots after class, my favourite deli etc etc. If you can't make a season ticket on the trains work for you, the Trenitalia app may help as you can buy tickets on it and store them digitally so you could buy them the day before or even on the way to the station.

dreamon

By happy coincidence, someone posted a link to this page in response to someone else's enquiry on tripadvisor. https://www.trenitalia.com/it/treni_...a-in-tour.html

It offers passes for regionale trains for 3 or 5 days (29/49euro). I'm not sure whether that's what waboss needs (or whether I would use one myself as I tend to not travel so much in a few days) but posting in case it's of value to others.

lrice

Waboss, we are doing the exact same thing. We spent a month in Aix-en-Provence last fall (I actually just started a bit of a trip report.) We looked at places to settle in Italy and closely considered Verona and Padua. Like you, we do not rent a car. Both Verona and Padua (a university town) seemed like they had a lot to offer as well as easy transportation to Venice, up to Bolzano, Milan, all of Northern Italy.

Since you are basing in Bologna for one month which will give you access to Northern Italy, perhaps you look in Tuscany in Lucca or south at Sorrento. Both were highly suggested to me to settle into yet accessible to nearby sights and places. Last, I might suggest Siracusa, Sicily. It would be easy to get to from Bologna, is a university town and looks gorgeous. I don't know a lot about transportation in Sicily.

I believe our next "month" will be in Sevilla. Still working on the details. Best of luck!

neckervd

You have still to decide whether you want to go from Interlaken to Zurich via Bern (2 hrs train ride) or via Lucerne (much more scenic itinerary (2 3/4 hrs train ride). Both cities can easily be visited within a few hrs stop over (luggage lockers in the railway stations).
If it's foggy and rainy during your whole stay at Wengen, you may vist Bern (or even Stresa) in a day trip from there, however.

waboss

I'm looking forward to discovering cafes and lunch spots too but if you have any recommendations, please do tell!

Not a bad idea to spend a few hours on either Bern or Lucerne. Thanks for the suggestion. Hopefully it's not foggy and rainy the whole time we're in Wengen!

Irice - I'll check out your trip report of Aix-en-Provence. I've looked at Nimes and Montpellier before deciding to go to Nice. Thank you for suggesting Siracusa. Don't know much about Sicily and this gives me a place to start on my research. We've been to Sevilla for a few nights but didn't do any day trips, I'll have to look into it again for a 1 month stay. There are too many options! But I love doing the research!

annhig

I'm looking forward to discovering cafes and lunch spots too but if you have any recommendations, please do tell!

of course waboss. it's a while since I was there [over 3 years] but I will get out my map of Bologna and try to refresh my memory. Back soon.