jakeandmags

Hi-

My wife is Italy via Germany and needs to know if the train will pass through Austria or Switzerland (for the Eurail Selectpass). Does anyone know this or have a better option? Thanks.

Alice_Twain

Ryanair has very good offers from Frankfurt to several destinations in italy, including Milano, Pisa, Bologna, Rome and Pescara. Hamburg is also connected to Milano and Pisa.

Cicerone

Get our your map. A train from Germany to Italy would have to pass through either Switzerland or Austria. The only way to avoid these two countries would be to go west through France or east through several countries in Eastern Europe (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia). Going through France or Easter Europe would add significant time to the journey.

If she is trying to avoid these countries and also avoid a long train ride, flying is the only way. However, it may also be possible to add a small supplement to the Select pass to allow her to travel through Switzerland or Austria without stopping or taking other trains within those countries. Check with the website or call Eurail.

bob_brown

The route depends on where the train originates. From Germany Italy, there are two main routes. From western German, the train will probably go through Basel, Thun, Kandersteg, through the tunnel to Goppenstein, Brig and the Simplon Tunnel to Italy.
Or from Zürich through the Gotthard tunnel.
If leaving from eastern or central Germany, the most likely route is via Munich. From Munich the route goes to Innsbruck and then through the Brenner Pass to Bozen(Bolzano.)
As indicated above, any other route is a very circuitous route.

jakeandmags

thanks for all your help.... She is not trying to avoid any country, just trying to figure out which country to select on the "selectpass". If she is only chosing 3 countries, and Germany and Italy are 2 of them, she needs either Austria or Switzerland. I'm going to call Eurail if I can find the #. Thanks

GeoffHamer

Check train times on www.bahn.de, then look at the details of the journey: it will tell you which stations the train goes through, and you can check which country on a map.

bob_brown

Mr. Hamer makes a very good point.
I will be taking some of those trains in September so I did some browsing.
The bottom line: When travelling from Germany to Italy you will pass through one of 2 nations, either Switzerland or Austria.

The German or the Swiss scheduler system will give you the time and station for every stop on any route.
You can drill down for a high level of detail. The EC number of the train is usally a link to the complete timetable.

Essentially you have 4 major routes when traveling by train from Germany to Italy. 1. Lötschberg and Simplon Tunnels. For example, from Koblenz, the train goes to Basel then through the Lötschberg and Simplon Tunnels to Milan, which is a major hub.
2. Gotthard Tunnel. Trains from Stuttgart and that area frequently (not exclusively) go to Zürich and then through Arth Goldau to Italy via the Gotthard Tunnel.
3. Brenner Pass. Trains from eastern German and some from Central Germany go to Munich then to Innsbruck and the Brenner Pass.
4. Villach Some routes can go to Munich and then to Venice via Salzburg and Villars.

Depending on your city of origin and your destination, some of those trips can be all day, 9 hours or more.

For example, Frankfurt (Main) to Firenze (or Florence) is at best an 11 hour trip. Hamburg to Rome is something like 17 hours, or more.

Ryan air where are you?