Zermatt/Venice by train
 

My husband and I are planning to go to Zermatt, Switzerland and Italy this summer for about 10 days. I have heard of a train that goes from Venice to Zermatt. We also thought we could spend a day or two on Lake Como. Any suggestions for an itinerary, i.e., flying into Geneva or Venice; which way to do it, etc?

Thanks for your assistance.

There are several trains a day between Venice and Zermatt. Take a look at the website for Swiss National Railways at rail.ch for a timetable. The shortest train trip would be about 7.5 hours, and the longest about 8 hours. You need to make two train changes (Milan, Italy and Brig, Switzerland, some trains require one more change), but this is not hard to do. The ride would be pretty. You can't calculate the fare on the rail.ch site as it is an intercountry train; you might be able to get a fare on the trenitali.com site (which I think is much hard to use).

If you want to stop at Lake Como for a few days, then you would need to change trains in Milan for the Como train. The total time from Venice to Como would be just under 4 hours.

To get to Zermatt from Como would take about 6 hours. The train would first go to Milan, where you would change for the Zermatt train.

You might also consider a much slower option, the Glacier Express which starts in St Moritz and goes to Zermatt over glaciers, the trip takes about 7.5 hours. This is a special train with panoramic train cars with huge windows. The views are incredible. You may see some of the same scenery if you take the "regular" train from Venice to Zermatt, I am not sure of the routing of the regular train. Take a look at http://www.glacierexpress.ch. It takes between 5-6 hours to get to St Mortiz from Como, so you might need to overnight in St Mortiz before boarding the Glacier Express the next day.

An open jaw ticket into Venice and out of either Geneva or Zurich would be best. Geneva airport is about a 3.5 hour train ride from Zermatt, and Zurich airport is about 5 hours from Zermatt, so it doesn?t really matter which you fly out of, take whichever is cheaper or has better flights (i.e. non-stop).

Thank you, Cicerone.

Leona,

Some good tips above. Here's my take on what you should do.

Fly into Geneva. Hop on the train around the lake (one hour trip) and stay the first two nights in Montreaux or Vevey. It's gorgeous, and you can use the time to unwind from the jetlag and walk the magnificent lakeside promenade down to the Chillon castle (and catch a ferry back, if you're tired).

Then, train from there up to Zermatt (about three hours). Don't miss the Gornergratt cogwhell railway up past the Matterhorn.

After a couple days there, take the famous Glacier Express over to St. Moritz -- or better, end up in Chur. The trip from St. Moritz down to Chur (an hour or so) is one of the most fascinating train segments anywhere.

After overnighting in Chur, hop back on the train (the Bernina Express -- but don't take the Panorama line, just the regular train). You'll end up in Tirano, Italy just after noon. From there, you can catch a train or bus over to Como (two hours or so). The Palm Express bus (Swiss; included with the train fare) goes around Como, over to Lugano.

And so on, to Venice. Fly out of there.

Not exactly to the original question, but I've had great trips flying into Geneva (i am lucky to stay with friends in Lausanne, Vevey, Montreux, an amazingly beautiful region right on the lake & looking to the Alps).

Overnight train to Venice (spring for a private sleeper 'wagon-lit'). I've then either gone back to Geneva or on to Paris (again by overnight train). Just tossing out a few ideas, that were fun and easy travel.

Geneva airport & train station are adjoining so that part's a breeze.

Thank you all for your great suggestions!

You can get to Venice from Zermatt with only one change (in Brig) if you take the Cisalpino service which runs several times daily from Geneva all the way to Venice (no changes required...they stop in Brig).
To do Lake Como you'd have to change in Milan..going to the mid-lake area (Varenna/Bellagio) takes 1 hr 20 minutes by train.
Glacier Express to St. Moritz and then after an overnight Bernina Express to Tirano where you change again for Varenna/Milan and on to Venice is, as was mentioned above, another, but more lengthy..but infinitely more scenic option.

I forgot about the Cisalpino high speed trains. Take a look at http://www.cisalpino.ch for schedules and fares. You can get to Brig in about 5 hours from Venice, then need to change in Brig for the Zermatt train, that leg of the trip will take 1.5 hours and you will have to make one change.

Slight drawback is that the direct train from Venice departs at 5 pm and arrives in Brig at 10 pm. As your trip is in the summer, it will be light enough to appreciate the views until just after 9 m. After that you will be in darkness, esp your arrival into Zermatt, of which the train trip is one of the highlights, IMO. Plus you will be arriving in Zermatt at midnight.

You can also take other Cisalpinio trains from Milan which might arrive at a better hour. This would involved taking a regular train from Venice to Milan in the morning and connecting to a Cisalpino train there.

The Cisalpino trains are very cool and sleek. My only comment is that they go so fast around curves and up inclines that you sometimes feel a bit off balance; it's like being in the Bat Cave where everything is tilted.

Taking the Cisalpino from Brig to or from Geneva would be a lot faster than taking a regular Swiss Rail train. You can get from Brig to Geneva in 2 hours (versus 3.5 for Swiss Rail). (Now you see why everything is tilted. . .) It would also cost a bit more than going by Swiss Rail.

Some confusing info on this thread...

1) The Cisalpino from Venice arrives in Brig too late for you to connect to Zermatt, so that is not an option. You will need to change twice, in Milan and Brig.

2) The Cisalpino trains do not cost extra or require seat reservations on purely domestic journeys within Switzerland (however in Italy reservations are compulsory and there is an extra charge). They are also not that much faster than normal trains on the Brig to Geneva run (2 hours vs. 2.5 hours) and are delay-prone on top of that.

3) For train schedules on the routes you will be taking, your best bet is the Swiss Railways' site:
www.rail.ch

4) If you want to price the Italian portion of the journey, go to:
www.trenitalia.it
You should purchase tickets and seat reservations for your journey from Milan to Zermatt (seat reservations only to Brig) a few days before your trip. For the Zermatt to Geneva portion, you can buy your tickets right up to departure, as most trains on the route don't even allow seat reservations.

5) An open jaw itinerary flying into Venice and out of Geneva would be most convenient and should be affordable. Another option worth considering if it's significantly cheaper would be to fly in and out of Milan Malpensa, which is reasonably convenient to both Venice and Zermatt.

Hope this helps,
Andre

Have you checked into Flybaboo? I believe it may be a successor to Swiss Air. It appears there are inexpensive (99 euro) direct flights from Venice to Geneva.

I came across this tonight while trying to figure the best way to get my family from Venice to Geneva after a cruise this summer. If you find out more please advise.

dbusching,

Baboo is a small new airline which has nothing to do with the former Swissair (their successor is called Swiss BTW). Anyway, I don't think it really makes sense for Leona, since she wants to go to Zermatt and Venice, not Geneva and it would certainly be faster and more convenient to take the train from Zermatt to Venice, rather than go from Zermatt to Geneva then fly to Venice.

Anyway, to answer your question, I haven't flown Baboo yet myself, but they appear to have solid financial backing and excellent fares, so I would say go for it!

Hope this helps,
Andre