Help on Painfully Long Travel Day - Positano to Lake Maggiore
 

Hi everyone. I can't believe my trip to Italy is only 4 months away. Excited!! May 2016.
I need your help desperately to ease a painfully long travel day from Positano to Lago Maggiore.
I've done my research and came up with this: (please add info that I may be missing).

On a Saturday in May.
1.Private car with driver. in the Morning leave Positano for Napoli Centrale. How long will these take? 1 hour 2 hours.? I want to know what time should I have the driver pick us up from hotel.
2. Train 10:00 am from Napoli Centrale to Milan Centrale--
3. Arrive at Milano Centrale - 14:40 0r 2:40 pm. Take connecting train from Milano Centrale to Strese 15:50 or 3:50 pm.
4. Or take a trenord train at 3.29 pm?

Am I missing something? Is there another train line or fast express train that I'm not aware of for Milano Centrale to Stresa? At trenord.it there are more trains from Milano Centrale to Stresa. Are these the SAME regional trains that are also in trenitalia.com?



Thanks.

Trenord is a joint venture between Trenitalia and Ferrovie Nord running regional trains in Lombardy. The regional trains you see on Trenitalia are mostly run by Trenord, tickets can be bought from both sources. On the line to Stresa there are also long distance trains run by Trenitalia alone.

Re Positano - Naples. Your car service can give you the best advice but generally they pick up two hours before your train departure time. It takes 1.5 hours to get from Positano to Napoli Centrale - without traffic. I expect they will pick you up at 8am but if there is traffic they will call you on the day and let you know of an earlier pickup time. These guys are pros and will get you there on time.

Consider flying if you can afford it. You really don't need to be at the Napoli airport until 1 hour or so beforehand (and last time I looked there were at least 3 flights per day), and non-stop flights from Napoli to Milan are less than 90 minutes. If you land at Malpensa you can take a bus to Stresa (50 minutes). At Linate, the airport shuttle to Milano Centrale is 30 minutes, and you get the train to Stresa from there.

There is also a night train from Salerno and Naples Centrale to Milan - save daytime time even over flying and a cost of a night in a hotel. See trenitalia.com for details - for lots on Italian trains - www.seat61.com - good info on discounted train tickets for long-distance trains - regional trains don't even take seat reservations and are a flat fare and dirt cheap - just buy those as you go along -other info-laden sites with good info on night trains: www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Salerno Tu, 19.01.16 dep 20:38 ICN 798 InterCityNight Direction: Torino Porta Nuova
Subject to compulsory reservation , 2nd class only , Global price , Sleeping-car , Couchettes
Napoli Centrale dep 21:32
Roma Tiburtina dep 23:43
Orte dep 00:18
Parma(I) dep 05:21
Piacenza dep 06:02
Milano Porta Garibaldi We, 20.01.16 arr 07:11

You can take trains from Garibaldi to Milan Centrale but there may be trains to Stresa from Garibaldi too perhaps.

If you consider flying I would still get there two hours beforehand. The check in and security lines can be unbelievable at Capodicino.

Yes there are direct trains Milan Garibaldi to Stresa- regional trains. Just checked.

Thanks to all: Blueeyed, sandralist, palenQ, asps.

Tickets for my travel dates ( 3 months -+ ) just got released this week and I was able to purchase super econ/economy. I noticed how fast the eco and super eco got sold out regardless of class: regular standard, premium, business or 1st. The executive have more leftover tickets though.

I bought all business class trenitalia tickets (silenzio in my long travel day.) No problem purchasing from the USA at Trenitalia.com (english).

I was dreading the trenitalia online buying process. But it was EASY. I posted this just to let other travelers know it was easy for me. Trenitalia is even more user friendly than Spain's renfe site.