Need Italy Train advice please
 

Travelling from Varenna to Venice. We want to get off the Eurostar train at Padua for a few hours. Can we just do this? Do we need to purchase 2 different legs: Varenna to Padua, Padua to Venice? HOw does this work?<BR>Thanks!

Book the Eurostar train to Padova, then buy an ordinary ticket from there to Venezia. There are trains every few minutes taking 30-40 mins, and the fare seems to be 4.44 Euros (www.trenitalia.com). You can buy the ticket when you arrive in Padova, but remember to get it stamped in one of the yellow machines before joining the train.

You can't break a journey on Eurostar trains (ES), since all seats are sold on a reserved basis only, and tickets are valid only on the actual ES train for which a seat is reserved. However, if you were traveling on an Intercity train (IC) or Interregionale train (IR), you could break the journey, as long as you completed the trip within 6 hours from the time you first stamped the ticket. If the total trip were over 200 kilometers, you could break the journey for as much as 24 hours. Geoff's advice in the previous posting would work for your specific needs.

GAC- based on your comments, since my trip from Varenna through Milan to Venice is over 200K shouldn't I just get the one pass since I have 24 hours to use it on the IC? Or is the Eurostar that much nicer &amp; worth the few minutes time it saves me?

The Eurostar fare from Milan to Padova is just one Euro more than the fare for an Intercity Train. On Eurostar, the fare includes a seat reservation, which must be purchased separately for the Intercity (3 Euro supplement). The Eurostar is 20 minutes faster. From Padova to Venice, you can take the cheaper and marginally slower interregionale or regionale train rather than the Eurostar or Intercity. On balance, I still think you're better off following Geoff's suggestion.

Excellent info--will do. How far ahead do we need to purchase tix for the train? Shld we get them all at Malpensa when we arrive? Frm airport we will either bus to Milan and train to Varenna or bus to Como and boat to Varenna. Not sure yet, we may be tired from the overnight flt from Chicago and need to check times and figure out the easiest route. I'll do some searches on here for more info also. I know point to point is very reasonable for us to get around.<BR>Thank you!

I know they have recently changed the rules in parts of Europe re train travel but I don't want to lead you astray as I'm not sure of the full details. Except that you can purchase a ticket and stop off and get on again up to three months in advance. I did this for Innsbruck - Munich - Frankfurt recently and only a few locals on the train who sat near me knew about these changes. The conductor clips the city shown on the ticket that you are getting off at. I know I'm not quoting Italy but think it applies there also. It may say on a website but just informing you in case this method is of more use to you. You are right in saying buying point to point is the cheapest in the long run except for maybe these new changes.

Standard international train tickets have always been valid two months, and you can break your journey as much as you like, if you follow the route specified on the ticket. In Italy, tickets are valid for two months, but must be stamped in a yellow machine before boarding the train; after stamping, the ticket is valid for six hours (for a short journey) or up to 48 hours for a long journey - the ticket has the period printed on it. Therefore, you often need to buy separate tickets if you want to break your journey. Eurostar trains have special fares and the tickets normally come with a reserved seat on a specified train, so you cannot break the journey and continue on another train.

I gather from reading the posts here that the train station in Varenna is unmanned (I am not able to confirm this). Therefore, you should purchase the Varenna to Padova ticket either at Malpensa or at Milano Centrale, or at a travel agency in Varenna itself. Since you will be taking a Eurostar train (from Milano Centrale to Padova), you will automatically be given reserved seats. (The Varenna to Milano leg is wholly unreserved). The Padova to Venice leg can be purchased at the Padova train station on the afternoon of departure.

This is so helpful and makes me feel much more comfortable. thanks very much everyone!