Palenque - you mention that there are direct Cisalpino trains going from Venice to Como, however I can't find them???

Jill:

Call BETS (Budget European Travel Service) at 1-800-441-9413. Ask for Byron. They are specialists in train services in Europe and will do all your ticketing.

I can offer no quicker or easier alternative from Cannes to Venice.

I note you can also get information about iDTGV trains here, and there is an English version:

http://www.idtgv.com/fr/

I have successfully registered and booked TGV trains using voyages-sncf, but have not used the above site.

From Como, just buy a ticket before you get on the bus, and the route will be direct to Bellagio (I gave you a link and bus line number on your Bellagio to Lugano query). You can also take a ferry from Como to Bellagio. The docks, I would guess are about a 3/4 mile walk from the train station. The schedule is here:

http://www.navigazionelaghi.it/eng/com/nlc.html

The ferry would take longer.

To figure out direct Cisalpino trains from Venice to Como, look up the same day of the week within the next 60 days on the Trenitalia site. You want "Venezia S. Lucia" to "Como S. Giovanni":

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...0080a3e90aRCRD

lovisa - thank you again! I looked up the link you gave me for the direct Cisalpino trains from Venice to Como, however it is not direct. It stops in Milan.

There are no more Cisalpino train from Switzerland to anywhere beyond Milan. The few trains that once ran onwards to Venice or Florence now terminate in Milan as of the timetable change on 13 December. In fact, Cisalpino (a consortium of Italian and Swiss railways) is no more, the trains still run but the Cisalpino company has been disbanded and management is is now directly by Swiss railways (SBB) to the frontier and Trenitalia beyond the frontier.

Is this the famous man in seat 61?