Travel from Como to Zermatt?
Feb 1st, 2005, 06:41 AM
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Libmac - From Bellagio you would take the ferry across to Varenna.
From Varenna it's a 4-4.5 hrs journey by train via Milan to BRIG, Switzerland.
From Brig - if I remember - it's about another hour's journey up to Zermatt.
You can find train times on:
www.trenitalia.it
Hope this helps ...
Steve
From Varenna it's a 4-4.5 hrs journey by train via Milan to BRIG, Switzerland.
From Brig - if I remember - it's about another hour's journey up to Zermatt.
You can find train times on:
www.trenitalia.it
Hope this helps ...
Steve
Feb 1st, 2005, 06:56 AM
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The trip up from Brig to Zermatt takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes and parts of it afford some pretty spectacular scenery.
However, if you are doing this in order to see the Matterhorn and possibly the Monte Rosa massif be aware that sometimes, due to weather, the Matterhorn can be totally obscured both from Zermatt and from the Gornergrat or Kleine Matterhorn observation points farther above the village. But you may be going for other reasons; start early as this will be a long day for you.
However, if you are doing this in order to see the Matterhorn and possibly the Monte Rosa massif be aware that sometimes, due to weather, the Matterhorn can be totally obscured both from Zermatt and from the Gornergrat or Kleine Matterhorn observation points farther above the village. But you may be going for other reasons; start early as this will be a long day for you.
Feb 1st, 2005, 07:40 AM
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To fly from either, you would have to hire a private plane, there are no commercial flights from either.
The Cisaplino is the fastest train. From Como to Zermatt is 5.5 hours by train on the Cisalpino. From Varenna I think it is 6 hours if I read the schedule correctly. I don’t know the time difference between the ferry from Belaggio to Varenna versus Como; door to door time could be the same for each if the ferry to Varenna is a shorter time.
You can buy Cisaplino tickets from the Swiss Rail site at rail.ch or from their own site at www.cisalpino.ch. If buying off the Swiss Rail site, be sure the train shown for your itinerary is the Cisalpino, as there as slower/local trains on their schedule as well.
Are you interested in just a day trip, or just Alps? You shuld be able to get to Alpine areas, like the Dolomites, in less time.
The Cisaplino is the fastest train. From Como to Zermatt is 5.5 hours by train on the Cisalpino. From Varenna I think it is 6 hours if I read the schedule correctly. I don’t know the time difference between the ferry from Belaggio to Varenna versus Como; door to door time could be the same for each if the ferry to Varenna is a shorter time.
You can buy Cisaplino tickets from the Swiss Rail site at rail.ch or from their own site at www.cisalpino.ch. If buying off the Swiss Rail site, be sure the train shown for your itinerary is the Cisalpino, as there as slower/local trains on their schedule as well.
Are you interested in just a day trip, or just Alps? You shuld be able to get to Alpine areas, like the Dolomites, in less time.
Feb 2nd, 2005, 01:18 AM
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I have not driven from the Como area to Zermatt, it probably is faster. However, there are things to consider (i) traffic in summer esp if you are going on a Friday or Monday could add hours to the journey, (ii) gas is US$4.50 a gallon in Europe, (iii) it is generally quite expensive to rent a car in one country and drop off in another, (iv) car rental in Italy is expensive and collision damage waiver is mandatory, adding to your cost, (vi) automatic cars are not readily available and driving with a shift on mountain roads is not that much fun, IMO; (v) you cannot drive all the way to Zermatt and have to leave the car in Visp and take the train on into Zermatt, while you pay for parking and for the car rental for the two days. You don’t really need a car in Chamonix either, and parking is expensive and may not even be offered by your hotel. Run some numbers of car rental, gas, parking, etc against the train fares.
Train from Zermatt to Chamonix takes about 3 hours. Drive may also be a bit faster, but you have the same issues as above.
I generally do not drive my own car on journeys between countries in Europe and for those distances, as the trains are so fast and efficient. Dealing with traffic, crazy Italian drivers, the motorclyists who pass you on the right and left, etc., who needs the hassle when the train is right there.
The Cisaplpino train is one of the best train in Europe and the scenery is great. Same for the portion to Chamonix.
Train from Zermatt to Chamonix takes about 3 hours. Drive may also be a bit faster, but you have the same issues as above.
I generally do not drive my own car on journeys between countries in Europe and for those distances, as the trains are so fast and efficient. Dealing with traffic, crazy Italian drivers, the motorclyists who pass you on the right and left, etc., who needs the hassle when the train is right there.
The Cisaplpino train is one of the best train in Europe and the scenery is great. Same for the portion to Chamonix.
Feb 3rd, 2005, 06:05 AM
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Most services on this route are EC trains.
Only the evening services (17.08, 18.25, 20.25) from Milan are Cisalpino.
So assuming you will be travelling earlier in the day, you'll be on an EC.
According to the Trenitalia website you can't book that route in advance (- either EC or CIS).
But the EC's run every two hours, so you won't have a problem anyway.
Hope this helps ...
Steve
Only the evening services (17.08, 18.25, 20.25) from Milan are Cisalpino.
So assuming you will be travelling earlier in the day, you'll be on an EC.
According to the Trenitalia website you can't book that route in advance (- either EC or CIS).
But the EC's run every two hours, so you won't have a problem anyway.
Hope this helps ...
Steve
Feb 3rd, 2005, 07:18 AM
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According to the timetable, the EC trains take about 30 minutes longer for the Milan-Brig run that the Cisalpino trains, so the EC would be fine. They are just not as sleek looking and cool as the Cisalpino. If you want to experience the Cisalpino, as you are there in July, it will be light until almost 10 pm, so you could easily take the 18:25 (i.e. 6:20 pm); it actually would be pretty as dusk comes on after 9 pm. Even on the 8:25 pm you would have daylight for a while.
To get to Milan, you would need to catch a train from Como to Milan, check the treinitalia.com website for times, I believe they run at least hourly. There are Cisaplino as well as EC trains from Como to Milan; and slower local trains as well.
It is unlikely that the train would be entirely sold out, even for June. First class would definitely not be sold out. If you want to buy tickets before you leave, you should be able to buy tickets from Swiss Rail, go to rail.ch, and they can mail them to you. They can sell you tickets for the entire journey from Como to Zermatt. If you do this, make sure the tickets are exchangeable and/or refundable.
You could also send a question on this to the Cisalpino people, their e-mail address is [email protected]
On the websites, EC means Eurostar, CIS means Cisalpino. There are also local trains, sometimes called IC or IR.
Ha
To get to Milan, you would need to catch a train from Como to Milan, check the treinitalia.com website for times, I believe they run at least hourly. There are Cisaplino as well as EC trains from Como to Milan; and slower local trains as well.
It is unlikely that the train would be entirely sold out, even for June. First class would definitely not be sold out. If you want to buy tickets before you leave, you should be able to buy tickets from Swiss Rail, go to rail.ch, and they can mail them to you. They can sell you tickets for the entire journey from Como to Zermatt. If you do this, make sure the tickets are exchangeable and/or refundable.
You could also send a question on this to the Cisalpino people, their e-mail address is [email protected]
On the websites, EC means Eurostar, CIS means Cisalpino. There are also local trains, sometimes called IC or IR.
Ha
Feb 3rd, 2005, 08:47 AM
#12
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Thank you all for your patience and detailed advice. It helps more than you know. Stay tuned...I may have more questions for the second part of our trip from Chamonix to Morvine to Annecy and the Cote'D Or!
