Is this do-able? We'd love to travel by train or ?? from Venice to Bellagio(stay for a night or two) and ultimately end up in Lucerne (for a night or two). If so, does anyone have any idea of the actual travel time? Marcie

Hi Marcie: Last October we went from Bellagio to Venice via the IE (Intercty train) However, we did it through Milan. We did not have to change trains. The first leg was a local bus from Bellagio to Como and then the IE Train to Milan and on to Venice. I would guess you could easily reverse the itinerary. It sounds complicated but we did it without any problem, language or other. Timewise it was about an hour on the bus and 3+ hours on the train. I would guess you could get the train on to Lucerne easily. Email me if you need more specific information. Note: The bus trip was an adventure onto itself!! Enjoy. Paul J

We took the train from Venice to Milan and then caught a regional train to Vernazza. From Vernazza you can catch a ferry (~15 minute ride) to Bellagio.

To get to Lucerne from Belaggio, you will have to go to Milan and I am sure you can catch a train from there. Here is a link to the Swiss Rail web site, click on Timetable and it should give you all of the information you need: <BR>http://www.sbb.ch/index_e.htm <BR>It looks like it is a 4 hour journey.

On our European trip in 1997, we did the opposite -- traveled from Bellagio to Venice. We took the ferry from Bellagio to Varenna (which is the town I think another poster was referring to when they typed Vernazza). Varenna and the town of Como are the only towns on Lake Como with train stations as far as I know, and we thought it was easier to go to Varenna since it is just a 5-10 minute ferry ride from Bellagio. From Varenna we took the train to Milan (maybe 45 minutes?) and then got off and got on another train to Venice (about a 3 hr. ride). So you would just do the opposite when traveling from Venice to Bellagio. <BR> <BR>From Bellagio to Lucerne, I'm sure you'll have to take the train again to the Milan station, and then find a train to Lucerne. This should be easy enough -- I'm sure there will be several trains. The first time you get to the Milan station on your way to Bellagio, you can check the schedules so that you'll be able to plan your itinerary when you're ready to go to Lucerne. <BR> <BR>By the way, I also visited Lucerne back in 1992 -- all three cities are beautiful in their own way and great choices for a memorable vacation. <BR> <BR>If you would like to see our travelogue and photos of Venice and Bellagio, please visit http://www.lunadesigns.com/travels/. Have a great trip!

Marcie, <BR>Check the German railroad website www.bahn/de, click on timetables and you can find schedules, times and routing. In your search be sure to enter city names in the proper language (Venezia for Venice) It appears you can travel exclusively by train from Venice to Varenna and Varenna to Luzerne; no bus travel involved.

I make all my plans for rail in europe <BR>by logging onto www.raileurope.com <BR>I gives actual schedules for specific <BR>days you request and prices. <BR> <BR>It has always worked for me for years. <BR> <BR>Have fun, Italy and Switzerland are <BR>GREAT. <BR> <BR>