I was just going to purchase our tickets from Varenna to Florence....but the only option is home delivery and I'd rather not go this route. I know there is no ticket office in Varenna. Should we just wait until we are in Milan and purchase our Varenna-Florence tickets then? Is it risky to wait or should buying them 4 days in advance (when we arrive) be a problem (May 28 is when we want to travel).

Thought?

Thanks
Naxos

Hi NT,

Buy them in Milan.

Remember to ask for the Amica fare.

Thanks Ira! I figured as much - all of our tickets and hotels are now officially a done deal. Feels good.

Another thank you by the by for your B+B Peterson recommendation - we went ahead and book it!

Best Regards,

Naxos

Just an FYI-

Although there is no Varenna train station ticket office, there is an authorized travel agent in Varenna that can sell you the tickets with no fees. They are located next to the river as you walk down the hill from the train station to the lake.

Enjoy your trip!

Thank you zoecat! That is useful to know. We've been wondering because say we want to train to Como in the evening because the ferry stops at 6:00pm or so - how will we get tickets? We don't have credit cards with European chips so we couldn't use the self-serve machines. So I guess we will have to get our tickets from the travel agent before they close. Too bad it requires such fore-thought.

Cheers!

Naxos

Naxos, you can't go to Como from Varenna just for the evening using ferries and/or trains.

Here are the ferry schedules for Lake Como:
http://www.navigazionelaghi.it/eng/com/nlc_ora.html

Train service to the town of Como is not part of the national system. You'd have to go to Milano Centrale station and subway or taxi to the Cadorna Nord station. Here's the link to the LeNord regional rail (Milan branch):

http://www.lenord.it/website/lenord/en/home/index.php

I didn't realize this...thank you Jean for clarifying and for posting the ferry schedules. I just assumed that all trains to Varenna stopped in Como and that they would be frequent. Hm.

It looks like we CAN train to Lecco (29min) and back (last train back at 9:50 as per DB Bahn website) - is this correct to your understanding?

I notice the timetables don't list weekends - same as holiday schedule?

Looks like we will have some early evenings returning to Varenna (7:30pm)....quiet dinner, quiet walk - this could work as well.

Thanks,

Naxos

The summer ferry schedule will start May 24, and it will be more frequent and probably permit evenings in Bellagio and/or Menaggio. When we visit in October, we're able to have an early dinner in Bellagio and take the last ferry to Varenna.

I'm not very familiar with Lecco, but I think Bellagio and Menaggio would probably be more interesting for an evening. More things to see/do and more shopping/dining options.

One other thing-

You do not need a credit card with a European chip to use the self-serve ticket machines at the Italian train stations. I use my Visa or cash and because the instructions for each step are in English, it is very easy.