Thanks for all of the feedback - led to a change of plans. Thinking that a more realistic plan might be to fly into Germany and travel through Switzerland or Austria and then into Italy.
We really enjoyed Germany on our trip there a few years back and missed out on a lot that we did not see.
Any suggestions as to choosing the routing through Switzerland or Austria with scenery from the train being the primary focus?

I would start in Munich---an easy place to navigate.
The most direct route would be over the Brenner Pass with possible stops in Innsbruck and Bolzano. After that your options are countless---Venice, Bologna, Siena/Tuscany etc.

I'd eschew the Brenner Pass route and go thru Switzerland if you have never been to Switzerland - Brnner Route is ho-hum - very few if any dramatic ice-girdled Alps etched in your mind's eye.

But from Munich the Interlaken (Jungfrau Region) is about half way to Italy and it is a Valhalla Alpine wonderland where you can spend a few days and never run out of exciting and varying things to do - this is the Switzerland pictured on travel brochures - and train transportation to Interlaken and beyond into the lovely Alps is excellent and easy to do.

I came across this page as I'm going to be travelling by train a fair bit in Europe shortly. I'm thinking of doing the St Moritz to Milano route and I noticed that on bahn.de, oebb.at and sbb.ch the train from Tirano to Milano does not exist. This train does come up on trenitalia however which I guess is the most important. I seem to recalling searching on bahn.de some time ago and it was there. Strange

natrap: There are lots of trains going from Tirano to Milano, none are direct however.

The one involving only one change of trains departs at 14:25 -

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/que...fasScrollDir=1

trgslg: I like your idea of "hopscotching" across Europe.

Since you did not state how much time you plan to spend in Europe, the way I read the answers, it appears that most of the responders are presuming that you want to get from London to Milan as quickly as possible.

Whereas I read your desires as wanting to "tour" a bit of Europe by train on the way from London to Italy. If so, then training is a wonderful way to go. The train system is extensive and frequent in Europe.

Depending on how much time you have, restricting your "hopscotching" to Germany, Austria and Italy could be a good idea. I would suggest keeping Switzerland in your itinerary.

Fly into Munich, the airport is more manageable than Charles de Gaulle or Heathrow. Then you can take your 4 or 5 hour train ride - e.g., the journey from Munich to Vienna can be as little as four hours on a nonstop train. I like to get up really early and train (either way) to arrive before/around noon, so that leaves me plenty of time to enjoy the arrival city.

Travel light, travel light, travel light. You really do not need the kitchen sink. A 20-22 inch rolling suitcase plus a backpack is more than sufficient for all your needs. It's really easy to get on and off trains with a suitcase that size.

Also if you are planning on hopscotching around, don't unpack everything at each hotel. It saves on a lot of repacking.

the best times to go are the months bracketing the summer: April, May and September and October. You will need very few train reservations during those months (except Octoberfest).

As PQ has suggested, get railpasses. You really don't want to try and figure out which train to take, where the ticket office is, how much the tickets are going to cost, etc. With a railpass you can just hop on and hop off the trains. Except that in Italy, you have to make reservations, even with a railpass.

If you could give us a bit more information: how long is your trip, when do you plan to go, what are the must go-to countries, etc., we could offer you more information specific to your needs.

Sounds like a wonderful trip in the making!

easytraveler

There is a direct train according to trenitalia and thomas cook.

See http://orario.trenitalia.com/b2c/npp...g_r=1&x=17&y=1

With a railpass you can just hop on and hop off the trains. Except that in Italy, you have to make reservations, even with a railpass.>

Yes in Germany and Switzerland you can hop on any train anytime without having to go to ticket windows, etc - just flash your pass to the conductor when they come around.

In Italy you do need a seat reservation on any but regional trains - so most trains you will take and in years of traveling in Italy with passes I have always been able to easily make the required reservation shortly before the train.

And I always highly recommend first class travel for the average tourist on the trip of a lifetime - esp for those with luggage in town - and for first class travel passes are often a great great deal compared to often really expensive first cdlass tickets.