Which train to take from Zurich to Lake Como??
 

My fiance and I are going to Italy in April for our honeymoon. We've heard such great things about taking the train from Switzerland into Italy. So we're really considering flying into Zurich. We've been doing some research and came across the Wilhelm Tell Express which looks amazing. Has anyone taken a train from Zurich to Lake Como? If so which train did you travel on or would you suggest?

Thanks!
Matt and Liz

In September I did that route both to and from Lake Como. To Lake Como I stopped overnight in Soglio. I changed to a bus at St. Moritz. But back up I took the Bernina Express. Wonderful scenery, but I traveled in 2nd class and found it too crowded. The seats were 2 facing 2. The couple across from me were tall and big. There was no place for my legs and I do have long legs. Miserable. Next time I will book 1st class.

We did the Wilhelm Tell route from Luzern to Lugano. We rode a paddlewheel steamer (and ate lunch on board) from the town of Luzern to Fluelen at the other end of the lake and then boarded the train. We spent a few days in Lugano, then took the bus to Menaggio and ferry to Bellagio. Our first class ticket included the steamer, lunch and the train.

The boat ride was a nice water-view tour of the area around Lake Luzern. The Gotthard Tunnel is an engineering marvel, and the Ticino side of the tunnel is a train-lovers delight because of the bridges and the scenic area.

http://www.wilhelmtellexpress.ch/ind...d=214&teaser=0

If you want to reach Lake Como by the end of the day, I'd suggest you take the first departure from Luzern which will probably mean spending the previous night there. No downside to that (other than one less day in Italy) because Luzern would be a great first night of your honeymoon. It's only an hour by train from the Zurich airport.

We did the journey a couple of years ago going to Zurich from Como. I think that you will need to take the train from Zurich to Chiasso (they run pretty frequently) and then change for Como and that last bit of the journey takes all of about 10 minutes! I think that the Zurich-Chiasso bit takes about 3 hours. It was a beautiful and stunning trip and we had lunch in the restaurant car on the way to Zurich. 2nd class was absolutely fine. Check out
http://seat61.com/

If you are arriving into Zurich you can easily get to Como on the train on the same day, although you might sleep through some of the lovely views. Zurich would make a nice over stop if you didn't want to go on to Como until the next day. Como will be a top honeymoon destination!
for info.

It appears from this post and your other posts that the focus of your honeymoon is Italy, and you won’t be spending any time in Switzlerand. While I think that the more expensive "scenic" mountain train routes like the Bernina and the William Tell are really a great experience, my concern is your travel date, which is April. That may not be the best month to spend the time, money and effort to take one of the scenic mountain trains. I think you may not see the mountains for the fog, and it may be raining or sleeting for the trip (the Tocino in particular is prone to rain in April). Also a small point that with baggage, doing the scenic trains can be a bit of a slog as the cars/ferry are designed for day trippers, not long distance travellers. Given all this, I would suggest that you just take the “regular” train from Zurich to Como, which is very comfortable and will give you some very nice views indeed (weather permitting).

The travel time is an easy 3.5-4 hours to the main station in Como; from there you can connect by car, ferry or perhaps train to other parts of the Lake Como area (not knowing your final destination). As noted above, depending on what time you arrive into Zurich on your flight, you could conceviebably get a train right on to Como on the same morning/afternoon. Or spend a night in Zurich, which is a charming city with an lovely old town area, good museums and some very good restaurants.

See rail.ch for schedules. I personally would take the faster IR train which requires no changes (you have take the train first from Zurich airport to the main Zurich train station, this takes 15 minutes or so). Second class is usually comfortable, or pay a bit more for first class which does give some more room and you can reserve seats. Generally however for Swiss trains I never bother with first class, but for Italian trains it can make a difference. (Even on Swiss first class trains, the configuration can also be 2 seats facing each other, it depends on the train type).

Frankly, April is a little early for Como as well, as gardens won’t be in bloom and it may be cooler than you want, but you may already be aware of this. As you are in late April, you probably will have better luck with warmer weather and some things blooming; however in the higher Alp regions I would still have the fog/rain concerns as far as taking scenic trains.

I am bumping this because I got us tickets back to Denver from Zurich for 30k.
So it seems the last week of our trip we'll be in Lake Como traveling to Zurich.

Where should we stay in Como?
What route to take?

This website is useful for Lake Como info....

http://www.lakecomoapartment.com

read my post above about travelling from Zurich to Como by train. I always travel 2nd class.....don't know anyone in Europe who does anything else...

Have a great time