AussieMel

Hi all,
Yet another Northern Italy transport question. Having planned the majority of my holiday and still tapping my foot for that merry day to be upon me [3 months and counting now!] the additional research I've been doing has unfortunately led me to an infatuation with Annecy.. Dangerous I know, but out of curiousity - I'll be in Venice/Bellagio/CT in mid October and wondered what the best route across might be from any one of these locations?? Any help would be greatly appreciated, keeping in mind that...I don't drive! Thanks, Mel

Steve_James

Mel - You have several choices from Bellagio:

1. Train from Milan via Turin/Chambery.
Change train in Chambery. Min. journey time appr. 4hrs.40

2. Bus from Milan to Chamonix via Valle d'Aosta/Courmayeur/Mont Blanc tunnel - then train onwards to Annecy.
Change bus in Courmayeur (- or Aosta).

3. Train via Geneva.

.....

From Cinque Terre your best route would be train via Turin/Bardonecchia/ Chambery as above.

.....

For train times see:

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/que...4&OK#focus

For bus times (Milan-Courmayeur) see:

http://www.sadem.it/Orari_tariffe/or...lombardia3.htm

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Doble_Vergasser

For drama and scenery, I seem to recall a way to cross the mountains at the France-Italy border on cable cars (long, like four hours). On the other hand, going from CT directly to France would keep you from going through the mountains.

I know this is of little help, but I don't know your definition of "best". (is best minimal time or maximum view).

AussieMel

Wow - thanks Steve, no stone unturned! I'll look into all of those options. Good question DV, admittedly I'd love a nice balance of both - scenery and efficiency. Logically CT is my last stint in the more northern North Italy therefore travelling from this point [probably Genoa?] might be most convenient, but I'm not adverse to training it back to Turin/Milan for a zippy AND breathtaking trip across. There's a fast train that does Turin to Lyon I believe, and I imagine there is a connecting train/bus to Annecy from there. More research!

Steve_James

Mel - If you plan to go by train, logistically it would be better to go from Milan rather than CT.

Both routes go via Turin, but Milan-Turin is much quicker than CT-Turin.

You wouldn't go as far as Lyon - the connecting service to Annecy is from Chambery. You can find details on the link above.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

AussieMel

Great Steve, that's settled. I was quite keen to have a stroll about Turin and check out the film museum so it looks like I might be able to work it all in. The Milan-Turin train clearly takes on new passengers in Turin yes? M