dejah6

Anyone know the best/fastest way to get from Venice to Zurich?

bob_brown

I think you could drive it in about 5 hours and 30 minutes, but the drop fee for a rental car can be prohibitive.

The train from Venice St. Lucia takes 6 hours, 38 minutes best travel time. That particular train leaves at 8:13 in the morning.

I looked at 4 of the cut rate airlines, Easy Jet, Ryan, Air Berlin, and German Wings. I did not see any flights at low fares relative to Swiss Air, which has a flight for €421. *rounded.

I might have missed one. You could check them yourself on the websites.

dejah6

Thank you for checking for me. Do you happen to know how much the train tickets cost and how I would go about buying them?

bob_brown

I don't know how much because national web sites do not give trans border train fares except in a few instances where there is a very close relationship, e.g. Germany and Austria.

The train you probably will want to take is a Cisalpino and reservations are recommended. I have ridden Cisalpino trains and I think the recommendation is a very strong one. In other words, were I riding it, I would buy a seat reservation.

The key question here is how much time do you have in Venice before your trip?
If you have 3 or 4 days, I would buy as soon as I got there.

If less, I would buy ahead.
Trentalia is hard to deal with.
If I read the Swiss National web site correctly, you can buy your ticket from that source.

I have never printed a ticket at home that I bought from the Swiss site, so I am not sure of the process.

Hopefully someone else who has will read this and give you the details.

I think it all depends on how much time you have in Italy before you travel to Zürich. You do not have to be in Venice to buy your rail ticket!

I think we could advise you better if we knew more of your travel particulars.

cali123

Hi, I took this route Zurich to Venice (night train). There are also day trains, the Cisalpino as Bob mentioned. At trenitalia, you can purchase tickets.There are the Smart Price tickets which are an extremely good deal. When I bought the ticket in switzerland, there was a 7-day advance purchase requirement. However, you can purchase the ticket online and pick it up in Venice.

http://www.trenitalia.com/en/promozi...art_price.html

dejah6

Thank you Bob and Cali both. My plans are these: My husband, 9 month old baby and parents will be coming off a cruise on July 7. We arrive in port at 4:30 am, although I'm not sure when our departure time is. I have heard I can request for early departure if I need to. After disembarking we plan to travel to Zurich, where our friends live. We would like to get to Zurich sometime on July 7. We don't plan on spending any additional time in Venice after the cruise. We are considering either taking a train to Zurich or renting a car to get there. Which do you think would be easier and/or cheaper for us to do? Thank you again for your help!

suze

I don't know about the costs, but to me taking a train is much easier than renting a car. I am not comforta ble myself driving in Europe. Personal choice though.

I'm no expert, but I just go to the train station and purchase the ticket. I've not been to Zurich, but have been back and forth Geneva to Venice a couple times by train (either day train or night train) buying the tickets a couple days ahead or even day of travel at the train station.

bob_brown

Given that I am a risk averse person, and given that there are 4 of you including a very young person, I am not sure what your best option would be.

You could line up a car and drive it, but the drop fee will be fairly large. You do not know the roads, although on a map the route is fairly direct with a high percentage of freeways.

If you opt for the train, and that is the most stress free method, I have concerns about getting to the train at 8:13. I know your boat arrives very early, but when do you get off of it?
That always is the question.

I am assuming you will need to be processed through passport control.
In that case, you could (might) be delayed because all passengers cannot disembark at once.

With 2,000 plus passengers, you could be looking at a wait of 2 hours unless alternative arrangements could be made.

I also know that at that time of year, direct trains tend to be crowded.

You have two choices: buy in advance or buy first class tickets after you arrive.

I would opt for buying in advance whether first or second class.
I am not familiar with Trenitalia's procedures because I have never, ever use that source.

I have used the Swiss site but not for advanced international tickets which I printed myself. (I ordered via email and received a DHL package on my doorstep.)

If you will go to the Swiss rail site, www.sbb.ch, and look for en (English) and look for the "contact" tab, click on that and email a request for guidance. Explain what you need and what you want to do.

I am hoping that the Swiss folks will either tell how you can print your own ticket, or they will send you the actual paper ticket via express. It might cost you $20.00 or so, but relative to the total cost of your trip, it is a miniscule percentage.

I have found the Swiss national rail people very helpful in the past.

If someone else has a better idea, let us all hear it because I think we will all be better off.

If I were doing it, I would have my tickets in hand before leaving home. But, as I said, I am risk averse.

suze

Good point. I think for a family traveling together it is a wise idea to have your train tickets in advance.

While I purchase in Europe at the last minute, I am often solo and without a strict itinerary so it is easier for me to change plans when need be.

dejah6

Thank you for the train information. I think I will e-mail the Swiss Rail site to find out more. I am still considering driving, depending on the cost. We live in Sevilla and are used to driving in Europe. Does anyone know the best car rental agency for Europe? I want to at least check on prices, though I know the drop-off price may make the whole thing not worth it. We also might consider going by train at a later time in the day. The trip may be an hour longer but at least we won't have to worry about missing the train all together.