My husband and 7 year old son and I will be taking the train from Venice to Geneva (through Milan) at the end of June. Do you have any advice on the best way to purchase tickets? Rail Europe? Italian Rail website? Swiss Rail website? Do I need to purchase tickets and reservations ahead of time? What else do I need to know to make this an enjoyable journey?

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(Certainly not an authority on this, but here's my personal experience). I purchased my RT ticket at the Vevey train station a couple days ahead (I went in reverse Vevey which is outside Geneva/Venice/Vevey). The Milan train station is quite crowded & hectic & lacking good signage (not a huge problem but a bit intimidating i.e., you know the number of your next train but not which track it will be on!). The little grocery store within the station sold really delicious ready made sandwiches so we bought a picnic for the train ride.

Joanna,<BR><BR>Are you taking any other train trips?<BR><BR>If not, just purchase your ticket AND SEAT RESERVATION when you arrive in Italy. You can do it at any larger train station in the country or at many travel agents. A good idea is to print out your itinerary beforehand on <BR>www.trenitalia.com<BR>OR<BR>www.rail.ch/pv/index_e.htm<BR><BR>You want a train leaving from Venezia S.Lucia, NOT Mestre.<BR><BR>Most connections take just under 8 hours with a change in Milan. There are 2 faster connections - 7 hours - using the higher speed Cisalpino trains, one of them direct (no change), but they arrive quite late at 21:55 and 23:55 respectively.<BR><BR>Since this is trip is pretty long, you might consider taking 1st class tix - not that much more luxurious but often a lot calmer. In any event, I would always recommend getting seat reservations, they cost almost nothing and can be invaluable if the train is full (they are mandatory for the Cisalpino trains).<BR><BR>Bon voyage!<BR>Andre

I agree with Andre - pop for the first class tickets. I like second class for short rides (under 4 hours or so) but on a long haul, it's nice to have the 'calm', as Andre so nicely put it. And, if you're really bored, you can always wander into the bar/snack car in second class!<BR><BR>Andre, thanks for mentioning printing out the itinerary. Duh, I always carefully write it all out on a sheet of paper...sometimes, forest for the trees....

&lt;&lt;What else do I need to know to make this an enjoyable journey?&gt;&gt;<BR><BR>Make sure you don’t buy a ticket to and/or get on the train to Genova - I know somehow who made that mistake.