Milan to Zurich by train

Thank you again. It is going to be a relief not to make reservations and then to fight to be on time for them.

So--

I've figured out the part of the trip from Milan to Chur (I think), but now I'm wondering if should go from Chur straight to Fuessn without going through Zurich. Is the part from Chur to Zurich as scenic as the part from Tirano to Chur? I know it's all scenic, but we are traveling only 14 days through Italy, Switzerland, and Germany, and I'm pretty sure we will never be able to get back to Europe, so I have to prioritize.

I tried to find this question on other threads. Sorry if I missed it somewhere else.

Is the part from Chur to Zurich as scenic as the part from Tirano to Chur?

No, it doesn`t compare, you can give it a miss.

However Milano to Füssen will be a very long day sitting on trains! I strongly recommend you to break your trip for at least 1 night in Switzerland, even if it means spending 1 night less in Italy.

You could stop in/near St. Moritz as neckervd suggested or somewhere on the shore of Lake Constance.

Another scenic route goes from Tirano by train via Bernina - Pontresina to Scuol and from there by bus via Nauders - Landeck - Nassereith - Ehrwald Zugspitzbahn - Reutte to Fuessen.

The problem is:

We're originally coming from Venice.

We can go from Venice-Milan-Tirano-St. Moritz, and stay at St. Moritz, but if we get started late, we might not make it to St. Moritz in daylight.

So--I'm thinking Venice-Milan-Tirano. Overnight in Tirano. Then, Tirano-St. Moritz-Chur-Fuessen. Two nights in Fuessen. That's a lot of train travel in two days, and especially on the second day, though it will surely not bother my daughter and granddaughter as much as it will bother me.

Originally, Switzerland was not in the trip, but I decided we at the very least needed a train trip through the Swiss Alps, and it didn't seem too much out of the way since we were heading from Venice to Fuessen anyway.

Am I completely off-base here?

I've read that the train from Venice to Munich is scenic as well, so maybe we should just do that and make a side trip back to Fuessen. Then we'd have to skip Swizerland (Grrr!).

Edited by: BrendaMarg

Why do you want to overnight in Tirano? It`s nothing special?

There are very fast trains between Venice and Milano if you start in the morning you can comfortably make it to St. Moritz by the evening.

Otherwise I`d rather spend the night in a small town on the shore of Lake Como, for example in Varenna or Bellano, these are only 1 and half hour from Tirano.

I forgot when do you travel, but in summer if I remember well, right?

The problem with the Venice Munich line is that the Brenner Pass rail line will be closed this summer because of engineering works.

There is a good alternative however:

Venice - Bozen(Bolzano) - Meran - Malles - bus to Landeck - Innsbruck - Garmisch Partenkirchen - bus to Füssen

But even this trip should take at least 2 days if you don`t want to rush.

I`d stick to your original plan, with 1 overnight in Switzerland and only 1 night in Füssen.

Landeck - Nassereith - Reutte in Tirol - Fuessen is usually faster.

I had planned to stay in Tirano only because that was as far as I thought we could go. I'll gladly take one of your suggestions.

I'm a little hesitant to take a bus--not exactly sure why, though.

The two nights in Fuessen were simply to rest a little after the castles and before boarding a train again.

Thanks so much.

If you leave Venice in the morning, you can go up to St. Moritz or even farther, if you leave at noon, you may sleep at Poschiavo (close to Bernina Pass) and if you leave in the afternoon, you will sleep at Tirano.
In detail:
Venice dp 6.58 - Edolo 11.15 - Pontresina 14.58 - Chur 17.09 - Lindau 19.01
Venice dp 8.50 - Milano 12.20 - Pontresina 17.50 - Chur 20.16 - Lindau 22.32
Venice dp 10.50 - Edolo 15.15 - Pontresina 18.57 - Chur 21.16 - Lindau 23.27
Venice dp 12.50 - Milano 16.20 - Poschiavo 19.34
Venice dp 15.20 - Milano 18.20 - Tirano 20.50
Venice dp 16.20 - Milano 19.20 - Tirano 21.50
But once again, it's highly ecommended to stay a full day in the Engiadina Alta (Pontresina - St. Moritz area).

Thanks for the timetable, neckervd.

I must be doing something completely screwy, though, because when I go to bahn and input Milano to Tirano, I get trips that range from 5 hours to 16 hours. I know that's not possible. I thought I mighth have the wrong Tirano, but there was only one Tirano option.

Even without the book, shouldn't I be able to access most train information, especially on a route that is not particularly out-of-the-way.