Hey again -
Anyone travel from Milan to Varenna? We fly into Milan midday and have reservations in Varenna for 3 nights. Advice on how to get from point a to point b would be appreciated. The trenitalia site keeps telling me I've made an error - is that only for travel between larger cities?

Nancy

airport bus to Milan Centrale station then frequent trains to Varenna - takes about 2 hrs all told.

I have travelled from Varenna to Milan. Very simple. I just checked the Raileurope and Trenitalia websites for train schedules. For example, on May 11th, they list a number of trains from Milano Centrale station to Varenna--12:15, 2:15, 4:15, 5 pm etc. Takes a little more than an hour. I don't think you need to buy the tickets in advance. Get them at the train station when you get there.

The name of the station on the Trenitalia site may actually be listed as Varenna-Esino.

There is no need that I know of to make any sort of reservations for the train which has mostly 2nd Class cars with the occasional 1st Class section shoehorned in somewhere.

Last time I took those trains they were also not air conditioned but you can open the windows.

The trains leave from Milano Centrale about every 2 hours and the trip takes about 1.5 hours. Two stops along the way (Monza and Lecco).

Lake views begin at Lecco and if you want those stit on the left hand (facing forward) side of the train.

Taxis usually meet every train in Varenna; that station is unmanned.

Where are you staying, Nancy?

we are staying at albergo milano - it got mostly good reviews on tripadvisors website. we're hoping this will be the "relaxing" part of the vacation. now if we're heading to venice after this leg, we take the train back down to milan and then over to venice, correct?

Yes, you can reverse the order of things...train from Varenna to Centrale and change there for Venice.

Remember that the Varenna station is unmanned so it might be best if you bought R/T tickets for Milan-Varenna-Milan when you first get to Centrale.

You can get tickets in Varenna at a nearby travel agency but if you're already in Centrale and buying tickets anyway...

The reason I asked about the hotel is that in my own experience of taxis meeting every arriving train, I think that is not always the case.

Walking down to the ferry dock from that station is one thing; hoofing it to a hotel might be something else again.

I am not familiar with your hotel's exact location but someone else very well might be.

Yes back to Milan easiest to figure out though you could switch somewhere and go via Bergamo to avoid Milan but would be longer i think.

schedules: www.trenitalia.com or, better, at www.bahn.de - German rail site with schedules for all of Europe i find much easier to use than Trenitalia.com, Italy railways site.