Do the math.

https://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

I need some suggestions and planning advice. I am planning to take Bernia Express from Chur to Tinaro Italy. from there I plan to go to Venice by evening. I see there is Bus from there to Lugano. I am not sure How long it takes? is this Bus tour worth? Is there a Train from Lugano to Venice? how long it takes? or Taking a train from Tirano to Venice is good idea?
can I reach Venice by 9pm? in the evening same day? please give me some ideas. I want to travel on Bernia and also reach Venice on the same day by evening. This is first time for me travelling in europe.

Put all this into www.rome2rio.com to get an idea of travel times and modes of transport between these places.

Chur to Tirano is 4 hours
Tirano to Lugano by bus (reservation required) is 3 hours 10 minutes
Tirano to Lugano by train is 3 hours 45 minutes
Lugano to Venice by bus is 6 hours 10 minutes
Lugano to Venice by train is 3 hours 57 minutes (via Milan), 4 hours 10 minutes otherwise
Train from Tirano to Venice takes 19 - 23 hours and involves 6-7 changes.

How well the various trains and buses are coordinated, I have no idea.

​​​​​​​Doesn't sound like a plan that's going to work.

Really, Sudhisrino, plan this out day by day including travel times. use rome2rio for this.
For example
Day 1 - flight from X to London. Arrive at 9 am. Transport to hotel. Visit British Museum in afternoon (or whatever)
Day 2 - Spend day in London
Day 3 - Spend day in London
Day 4 - Take Eurostar from St Pancras to Paris - arrive in Paris at 1 pm
Day 5 - spend day in Paris
Day 6 - spend day in Paris
Day 7 - take train from Paris to Zurich in the morning - 4 hours on TGV - get to Zurich at 11:30
Day 8 - spend day in Zurich
Day 9 - etc.

Instead of trying to save 120 dollars by taking the train from Ebbsfleet instead of St Pancras, get your itinerary sorted out first.
Add all the hours of traveling you will be doing
Add costs of the train tickets for every train you are going to take
THEN you can figure out if it makes sense to take a rail pass.

Okay, thank you. Here is my plan. I know I may not cover everything in this trip. But just touch some important places.

Arrive in London on 23rd by 7am. Take a tube to Finsbury area. I have an apartment booked.
23rd afternoon ==> spend time visiting near by
24th London
25th London
26th afternoon take eurostar from St Pancras to Paris. arrive 8pm. Tickets bought. check into the apartment
27th Paris
28th Paris
29th Paris
30th morning take train to Zurich. tickets bought
checkin to apartment
30th afternoon in zurich
31st spend time in zuric
August 1st h Checkout apartment take train to Lucerne/Interlaken. stay somewhere there for the night.
2nd zermatt
3rd take Bernia express at 8:30am. reach Tirano by 1pm.
From here I am kind of in a fix. I am debating take the 3hr bus to Lugano and a train to Milan. stay for the night before moving to Venice or go directly to Venice.
I want to go to Venice, spend a day there on 4th August. then to PISA on 5th August and then to Rome on 6th, 7th 8th of August.
My return flight is from Rome on 9th early morning.

Please help me out here.

I am skipping Florence this time. I am thinking one day in venice, one day PISA and 3 days in Rome, before flying back on 9th.
need to buy train tickets from Lugano to Venice, Venice to Pisa and Pisa to Rome.

>>Arrive in London on 23rd by 7am. Take a tube to Finsbury area. I have an apartment booked.<<

Is that arrival at Heathrow @ 0700? If so you likely will not get to Finsbury (Is that Finsbury Park? ) until 10:30 or 11AM -- count on about 2 hours at LHR (maybe longer) and then a 1+ hour tube journey, plus how ever long it walk is to the flat.. Will you be able to gain access to the flat that early? If not, what will you do with your luggage until the likely 3PM-ish check in time?

>>23rd afternoon ==> spend time visiting near by<<

Nothing much 'nearby' Finsbury Park . . .

WHY on earth would you take the train from Lugano to Venice that goes through Milan and spend the night, when it's only 13 minutes more to bypass Milan?

You don't have time for Venice, especially given the rigmarole you're going to have to go through to get there. Total waste of time.
There is no point in spending a whole day in Pisa.

Have you even looked at the bus and train schedules? I gave you only the TIMES it takes once ON the bus or train. You need to check ALL the connections to see what is do-able.

For someone who started out giving the impression you were trying to organize a low-budget trip, you are spending an awful lot of time in Switzerland, which is very, very expensive.

so cut down days in Swiss? want to buy the Swiss pass for trains.
take train from Lugano to Venice directly?

Is swiss travel pass is valid on the Bus route from Tirano to Lugano? i am planning to get the pass.

You really DO need to do your own research, or hire a travel agent. We volunteer here. We offer what knowledge we can but we are not at your beck and call and cannot make your travel decisions for you.

All of your questions can be answered with internet searches. DO them.

Sure, thank you for all your help.. i got lot of information and knowledge from here. Kudos to you all for answering and giving valuable tips.

Is swiss travel pass is valid on the Bus route from Tirano to Lugano? i am planning to get the pass.>

Yes but there is an about 12 CHF supplement or such.

<want to buy the Swiss pass for trains.
take train from Lugano to Venice directly?>

Swiss Pass would be valid only for the Swiss part - about 2 miles to Italian border - instead book that trip on www.trenitalia.com and get deep discount if book early enough - nothing to do with Swiss Passs. You will almost always need to change in Milan Centrale.

Now - an easy site for schedules for any European train - www.bahn.de/en - German Railways site for schedules of all European trains and easy to use - BETS-European Rail Experts has on their home page a lengthy description of how to fully use www.bahn.de/en which gives a lot more info than just train times. Does not sell tickets outside of those involving Germany however. To get answers by phone give them a call - frequent European travelers who will answer any questions on Swiss Passes like you have.

Some parts of your itinerary don't make sense:

August 1st h Checkout apartment take train to Lucerne/Interlaken. stay somewhere there for the night.
2nd zermatt
3rd take Bernia express at 8:30am. reach Tirano by 1pm.

There is NO way you can go from Zermatt to take the Bernina Express to Tirano in tghe same day. I strongly urge you to drop Zermatt and spend 3 days in the Jungfrau Region south from Interlaken - into the high Alps and a really wonderland type landscapes:

https://www.google.com/search?q=jung...w=1280&bih=625

Stay in a cute Alpine village like Wengen - car-less town only reachable by rail (Swiss Pass covers getting there 100%) - Wengen-

https://www.google.com/search?q=weng...w=1280&bih=625

Now Zurich is a large busy modern town - I would drop it and stay in Lucerne instead -

https://www.google.com/search?q=luce...w=1280&bih=625

You can see the famous old covered bridges- take lovely boat rides on the lakes to some nice places and take a scenic train ride on the Golden Pass special tourist train with commentary en route (reservations not needed but advised for seat in the nearly all-glass Panoramic wagons:

https://www.google.com/search?q=brun...w=1280&bih=625

<I am skipping Florence this time. I am thinking one day in venice, one day PISA and 3 days in Rome, before flying back on 9th.
need to buy train tickets from Lugano to Venice, Venice to Pisa and Pisa to Rome.>

Possible but not feasible - you can get from Tirano direct to Milan (forget Luano) and then changing for Milan - Venice, arriving yes probably by 9 pm if leave Tirano by 1 pm- again ALL train schedules can be easily had at www.bahn.de/en. But add one day to Venice and drop Pisa - the desire to see every famous thing is natural but in your time frame impossible. Florence would make a better one night stop anyway. Maybe put an extra into Florence and then leisurely take the about 1 hour train ti Pisa and back as a day trip.

Cheers - any more questions?

Awesome. Thank you so much. you answered my questions. This is a great help and great forum for travelers. you guys took time and sharing the travel knowledge...God bless you all....

hello all, need your suggestion. I am planning to take the Bernia train from Chur to Tirano. But from Tirano, the Bernia express Bus Journey to Lugano is worth? , I am debating whether to take train from Tirano to Venice or take Bus from Tirano to Lugano and take train from Lugano to Venice? next day. if the Bus journey is worth taking I am willing to take the Bus and stay in Lugano for teh night and take train to venice next day. please let me know.

Tirano to Venice>

By bus and train -from Tirano take bus short way to Edolo train station with trains to Brescia, on mainline Milan-Venice - you avoid changing in Milan's hectic station and probably save time and have a real scenic route to Brescia thru Dolomites. Nothing special about Bernina Bus nor Lugano IMO.

You are not accounting for travel time. You say 1 day in Venice, 1 day in Pisa, 3 days in Rome. To get one whole day in Venice, you would have to spend two nights. It will take at least a half day of travel from Venice to Pisa, so only 1/2 day there. It will take another 1/2 day to Rome, plus getting to hotel, etc. so another 1/2 to 3/4 day lost. What happened to Florence?

Hello, quick question. Is buying a London one day pass or two day pass is worth? I will be in london with my family for three days and wanted to cover the main attractions like ,London Eye,Big Ben, House of parliament, Tower of London, Bucking ham palace, Westminister abbey, V&A and British Museum etc.. Please let me know, I want to avoid the long lines and go straight into the attractions to save time. is this pass allows that?

>>Hello, quick question. Is buying a London one day pass or two day pass is worth?<<

Do you mean the London Pass . . . No - do not buy them. They are very expensive and not worth it.

>>,London Eye, Big Ben (under scaffolding and you can't see anything much - but you will see it just walking around) , House of parliament (This is just a 'walk by' next to Big Ben), Tower of London, Buckingham palace (Again - just a walk by with a photo), Westminister abbey, V&A (free entry) and British Museum (again - free entry) etc.<<

>>I want to avoid the long lines and go straight into the attractions to save time. is this pass allows that?<<

Avoid the the long line at the Tower by going first thing in the morning when it opens. There are no lines to speak of at the V&A and British Museum - which are free anyway. Just the security lines everyone must pass through.

Thank you, janisj. what is the 2FOR1 offer deals? can you please explain in detail. we are four adults, looks to me this is a good to save money on tickets.

The 2for1s are terrific. Much MUCH better than the London Pass. You need paper rail cards and pre-printed vouchers for each site you want to visit. These paper travel card must be bought in a TRAIN station, not an Underground station, but you can still use them to travel on the Underground and buses. What most people do is buy Oyster cards with a little pay as you go £ loaded on them and then a weekly paper travel card. But in your case with just three days in the city, three 1-day paper travel cards would be all you need. At each property you show your 'train ticket' and the voucher and you get in 2for1.

https://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/2for1...B&gclsrc=aw.ds

Meant to add -- some stations are both underground and train stations -- but they have different ticket halls. You need to buy the train tix in the train station. Ex's: Victoria, Kings Cross, Paddington, Waterloo, etc etc. Where are you staying? Then we can tell you the best place to but the tickets.

I have to say I just saw this thread and googled Taj Tours. I now understand why people think they can see four (or more) countries in 18 days. Whew, I am exhausted just reading about it. It seems you are driven around to get pictures from a bus, not many chances to see the cities involved.

Thank youjanisj. we will staying near to Kentish Town Tube station.

>>we will staying near to Kentish Town Tube station.<<

Kentish Town is both a tube and rail station so you can get the paper travel cards right there.

. . . Are you taking the tube from Heathrow to Kentish Town? If so - I'd get Oyster cards there (there are easy to use machines) loaded with just a little cash £11 will cover your trip in from LHR and since you are leaving from St Pancras you don't need any more on the Oyster . . . I actually load £15 if your last trip to St Pancras in not counted in your three days in London. Then at Kentish Town you can but your daily travel cards to get the 2for1 discounts.

yes, I am taking Tube from LHR to Kentish Town. Also I booked a family ticket for four adults only for London eye, as a part of the 2FOR1 deal. Now my question is, I need to show proof of rail travel ticket at the London eye entrance, so how do I travel? i mean by rail from where to where? I read the nearest station for London eye is waterloo. so i am assuming if i travel from a rail station in central london to the nearest London eye rail station is, that what I need to do to get a paper copy of the ticket. I am confused..please help. also I am planning to travel to Oxford one day , is Oyester card allows that?

OK -- a little confusion here. No you don't have to travel by 'train'. You will use the tube or buses . . . You will use the paper travel card instead of an Oyster card for your day to day travel. It is just that you need to buy it in a train station. The reason you will also need an Oyster card is because you need that to travel in from Heathrow.

For the Eye ou can take the tube to either Westminster and walk across the river, or to Waterloo.

But I am perplexed -- You have already booked tickets on the Eye using the 2for1 scheme? Typically pre-booking is not possible when you are using 2for1's. You have to show up with the voucher and your paper ticket before you can buy tickets to whatever attraction. But maybe the Eye has new procedures???

Besides one doesn't usually want to pre-book Eye tix because it is very weather dependent. What if the time/day booked it is pouring down wih rain -- you wouldn't see a darned thing.

On the daysoutguide website it is allowing to pre-book the eye tickets in advance. but i didn't think of the weather, my bad. hope fully it will be bright sunny and clear. I pray...Can i use Oyster card to travel to Oxford.?

>>.Can i use Oyster card to travel to Oxford.?<<

No, the Oyster is only for travel in greater London - Oxford is nearly 60 miles away. You can take the train from Paddington or Marylebone, or you can take one of the express coaches that goes from city center to city center.

https://x90.oxfordbus.co.uk
https://www.oxfordtube.com

so i need oyster card only to travel from LHR into central london. to travel with in central london I need to buy paper tickets? why can not i use the Oyster card to travel with in central london? i was reading about the travel cards and oyster cards online. Does one card is not enough to travel in central london? why do we need travel card as well as oyster card? it quite confusing. for 2FOR1 if I but a paper ticket from some station like kentish town where I am staying to waterloo to see london eye is that qualify?

The ONLY reason you need paper travel cards is to get the 2for1 discounts. It is a train travel promotion so you need train tickets. Since you are going to travel around London anyway, and paper travelcards are good to travel around London -- use them instead of Oyster cards. Oyster cards are not valid for the 2for1's.

>> if I but a paper ticket from some station like kentish town where I am staying to waterloo to see london eye is that qualify?<<

Yes -- EXCEPT it would only be valid on that same day. I would assume you are sightseeing every day while you are in London - right? If so, you need a train ticket for each day . . . thus have a paper travel card every day. However, if the Eye is the ONLY 2for1 site you are visiting then you'd just need a paper travel card/train ticket for that day.

If you only plan on using 2for1's on one day, then you can just use an Oyster card for the other days.

(note: there is no rail connection between KentishTown and Waterloo -- at least part of the journey would be by tube)

Thank you, janisj. you are so helpful and patient.

Hi janisi and Others, aside from the travel and seeing attractions, wanted to know what things we need to be watchful and careful while I am in Europe in these cities like London,Paris, Swiss, Venice, Florence & Rome etc., I was reading and hearing stories of pick pocketing and people being robbed and scammed either to pay high prices or being lured/threatened to into buying something or being cheated. this is first time for me. so if you can give some suggestions to watch out while dealing with local people on the street or in shops, or while i am roaming on the street. Basically I am looking to hear important Dos and Dont's. Also in case of emergency situation or an incident how to deal or whom i need to approach and what phone numbers I need to keep in handy. I know the first thing is to approach local police, but wanted to hear from the experienced travelers here. I especially hearing stories of robbing in France/Paris. any insight is helpful. thank you for all your education & information. Is there a general important list of items to carry from US before the travel as apart from the personal things. Also for cell phone service what do you suggest? buy a local SIM card.? since this is my first time I have all these questions concerning me. Any help is greatly appreciated.

You are worrying excessively and needlessly. Europe is not a hotbed of thieves. If you travel sensibly and keep your wits about you you should not encounter any problems. Keep your belongings hidden/stored safely on your person. Don't go waving money around. Be observant. Don't be too "approachable." It's really a matter of common sense and being aware of your surroundings. YOU are in charge of what you pay for anything. If you think you're being scammed or cheated or made to pay more than something is worth, walk away. You're not going to enjoy your European travel if you approach it with a preconceived victim mentality. You'd do better to assume that your interactions with local people will be friendly and enriching.

The European emergency number is 112. A local SIM card or a US-based company with overseas service is all you need, if that. There are countless places all over Europe with free WIFI.

Don't worry so much. Just go and enjoy your trip!

>>The European emergency number is 112<<

And in the UK it is can be either 112 or 999

If you are very nervous about pickpockets -- consider using a money belt for excess cash/credit cards and passport. But ONLY if you use it correctly and it is never visible/accessed in public. You can put some case and a credit card/ATM card in your regular wallet, and the excess cards/cash in the money belt/security pouch. If you need to get something out of the money belt -- do it in private like in the loo or wc.

But just normal care is generally enough.

Korean friend was in a McDonalds with his I-phone on table and two young women came and put a petition of some kind in his face while the other was taking the I-phone. Be very leery of folks coming up to you with petitions or questions and janis and others have given wise tips. I kept everything in my money belt from flight over to return flight -passport, railpass, large bills, etc. and never took it off except at the hotel. 45 years of European travel and never got robbed - though someone once stuck his hands in my pocket and my day pack on back had zippers opened but never carry anything of value in there. Be smart and safe - never put wallet in back pocket in crowds - some cary their day packs in front say when entering metro turnstyles.