ltilley

My husband and I are going to Italy for 11 days, and then to Lucerne.

We do not plan on renting a car at all.

We want to get to Lucern from Venice. I've been looking at trenitalia's website... but I'm having a hard time finding what I'm looking for.

I'd love to see a schedule with prices for the train from Venice to Lucerne.... and depending on how long the train is, we'd love to look into one of the overnight trains.

Although I'm thinking that they are too close to go overight?

Thanks in advance for your help!!

PalQ

www.bahn.de has schedules but no pricing info but is the best to use for all European rail schedules - an easy way to access it is to go to: www.budgeteuropetravel.com and on the home page click on the All European Railway Schedules link and this will bring you to the English schedule page where you just put in Venise (seems to use that spelling even on English page) and Luzern (ditto for Lucerne) and you'll get all the trains for that date. The home page i referenced also gives several tips for fully using the amazing German "bahn" site - such as what's on the train, what type of sleeping accommodations, routings, stops, etc.
www.trenitalia should somewhere have special deals on these Switzerland-Italy night trains - the train you're looking for is the Venice to Zurich night train and then you change in the morning to a 45-minute train to Lucerne. Don't think there's a direct Venice-Lucerne night train.
Lv Venice nightly around 11pm, ar Zurich next a.m. around 9.
You can check RailEurope (www.raileurope.com) for prices on these trains, which usually don't include the discounted prices on trenitalia --- but there are some 25 euro fares for day trains and perhaps cheap fares on the night train on RailEurope as they have started market pricing on this route in an attempt to match the discounted PREM fares from trenitalia. Trains usually cannot be booked more than 60 days in advance here or there. (If dealing with RailEurope i always say better to call BETS -800-441-2387 - a RE agent who are European rail experts i always deal with and who doesn't charge some of RE's fees. But the trenitalia site is probably you're best bet. Could check www.sbb.ch the Swiss Rail site as well i guess.

Intrepid1

Canbnot help with prices but in terms of timings: during the day the trip will take anywhere between 6 h 45 minutes and 7 h rs 45 minutes.

There is an overnight service leaving around 11:00 PM to Arth-Goldau and you change there (a little after 8 AM) for the 26 minute ride to Luzern.

You can get timings on the German Rail site http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

but probably not prices since the train runs internationally.

Have you checked the SwissRail site at www.sbb.ch?

PalQ

Yes as Intrepid1 points out you get off the Venice-Zurich train at Arth-Goldau to get to nearby Lucerne - I should have thought of that and would have if i had checked the excellent bahn site.

ltilley

Great... thanks for all the wonderful suggestions.

So now, I'm wondering if the night train is better.... or if I should take the day train and enjoy all the views of the alps, etc. Any thoughts.

Really... all this info has been extremely valuable!!

I honestly can hardly wait to go!!!!!

Intrepid1

Hold on....

Intrepid1

You would, IMO, see some nice scenery, especially after you get out of Milan. But that 6-7 hours is a long time even for people like myself who love riding the rails.

You realize that some of these timings (daytime) could have you changing a couple of times. DO NOT be put off by that because changes are not nearly as intimidating as they might sound, even when you make one at a staion like Milano Centrale.

Night trains can be real crapshoot. I love taking them but the accommodation quality can vary somewhat and some people have trouble sleeping on them.

Let us know what you decide and there are many people here who can give you very useful advice

TrvlFmly

We'll be traveling the opposite direction in late June. With a 7 and 10 yr old in tow, the trip will be too long to take all at once; fortunately, it looks like we can time it to break for lunch for a few hours in Como. The trains to/from Lucerne and Venice travel through Como San Giovanni, and I'm told that the ferries are a 10 minute walk from the train station. I've been using the Swiss rail website, which is very helpful; www.sbb.ch/en (for english). You can post an inquiry to get prices, although for some reason you cannot purchase tickets over the internet from that site unless you are an EU citizen (they refer you to a US travel agency or to www.raileurope.com).

suze

My route was different but similar distance and transfers (Venice - Geneva, direct on a night train, transfering Sion on a day train). I have done the night train twice, a day train once.

~6-8 hours on a day train is just too long for my taste. And not all the scenery is all that spectacular (when you're going thru the backside of working towns). Plus I happen to enjoy and have had good experiences the few times I've done an overnight train in a private cabin.

kmbp

When you use the www.cisalpino.com site, you'll find, on the left, links for Railway Network and Timetable/Prices.

The Venice-Luzern route takes you through Verona, Milan, Como, Lugano...

clevelandbrown

You'll probably be routed through Milan, and the scenery from Venice to Milan is pretty pedestrian, but from Milan to Lucerne by almost any route will give you great scenery, so I would take a day train, where you can see it.

I don't mind long train rides at all; it is a very comfortable mode of travel where you can walk around, and even eat in a dining car or bring a picnic; a far cry from a long plane flight.

I'm a great fan of the scenic Swiss trains, particularly the Bernina Express, so in your place I would route through Milan to Lugano, then Tirano, then St. Moritz, then Chur, and on to Lucerne. Lugano to Chur is the route of the Bernina Express (part of this is via bus in the winter, I believe). Alas, that routing would take about 19 hours; my solution would be to stay a night in one of the towns along the way, such as Lugano. The scenery on this routing is memorable.

Enjoy your trip.