Train-Zurich to Cinque Terre
May 10th, 2011, 06:45 PM
#1
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Train-Zurich to Cinque Terre
My husband and I are meeting our children in the Cinque Terre in early June and are deciding how to get there from Zurich. The best train fares I can find Leaving Zurich airport June 5 at about 9:00am and returning June 11 evening (our flight leaves at 11:00am on June 12) is $300 or so Swiss francs. We will be gone about 8 days and plan to spend 3 nights on the Cinque Terre and maybe 3 nights somewhere else in Italy before heading back to Zurich. Is there a better way to do this and save $$$? Any suggestions?
Your advice is sincerely appreciated!
Your advice is sincerely appreciated!
May 10th, 2011, 08:46 PM
#2
On sbb.ch look at Zurich to Milan and see if there are any saver fares (30chf). Enter your cities and click search connection. There will probably be a saver fare show under the list of trains. These are discount fares and can sell out.
http://www.sbb.ch/en/index.htm
From Milan to CT, you can just buy a ticket in the Milan station. You won't find much discounts for this route as it's mostly slow R trains which don't have discounts. If it's a combo of IC or ES and R trains, you can book it in sections to get the discount for the IC or ES portion. These trains are pretty cheap (under 30€) so it may not be worth fooling with trying to piece together tickets.
For the return, you might get a Smart Fare (19€) depending on your route. They have to be purchased in advance on Trenitalia.
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...003f16f90aRCRD
http://www.sbb.ch/en/index.htm
From Milan to CT, you can just buy a ticket in the Milan station. You won't find much discounts for this route as it's mostly slow R trains which don't have discounts. If it's a combo of IC or ES and R trains, you can book it in sections to get the discount for the IC or ES portion. These trains are pretty cheap (under 30€) so it may not be worth fooling with trying to piece together tickets.
For the return, you might get a Smart Fare (19€) depending on your route. They have to be purchased in advance on Trenitalia.
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...003f16f90aRCRD
May 11th, 2011, 03:07 PM
#3
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Thanks so much for sharing this information! I've been researching this for awhile and the Saver special for the trains from Zurich to Milan that I need are for the "half-price card" that needs to be bought. Unfortunately no specials yet. I did find some "mini" fares on the CT/Milan route. I may check again and see if anything opens up.
I appreciate the advice!
I appreciate the advice!
May 11th, 2011, 04:52 PM
#4
You can only purchase the Swiss discount fare I'm talking about within two weeks of travel online so you might want to wait as it's still too early for your dates. You don't need a half fare card for it, but if you have one you get more discount.
http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/reisemarkt/...arbillette.htm
http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/reisemarkt/...arbillette.htm
May 11th, 2011, 06:28 PM
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Yes, we'll wait and see what opens up. This is a spontaneous trip for us.....we just booked the flights last weekend so we should be able to wait to book the train as well. These Fodor boards are a wonderful resource for travel planning! Thanks so much!
