Bolzano Travel Forum

Hello Bolzano and train travel experts:

My husband and I will be flying into Milan for a 9-day visit with our 8-month old baby in the first weeks of December 2008. We want to fit in a quick trip by train to Bolzano, which we understand is 3.5 hours from Milan. From Bolzano, we have the option of returning by train to Milan or on to Venice or even Zurich to catch a flight to Canada.

Which of the above three airports is our best option after we have visited Bolzano? We prefer a scenic train ride through the Alps, if possible, but are concerned about inclement weather, rock slides, avalanches, etc. possibly stranding us in Bolzano or en route. How likely is this to happen?

Also, we do not want to spend more time than is absolutely necessary on the train. We would rather spend time walking around seeing the sights instead of sitting for long hours on a train trying to get somewhere and then not having time there to actually experience anything.

Alternatively, we are open to making either Milan or Venice our base, and going on a day trip or overnight trip to Bolzano from either city. Is a day trip feasible with a young baby slowing us down?

I notice from the Trenitalia website that many of the Milan-Bolzano trains require a train change in Verona. We do not speak Italian so we are nervous about missing the announcements directing us to hop off the first train and on to the next train. Will there be announcements in English? In Verona, will there be clear signs posted to help us find the connecting Verona-Bolzano train?

We will likely have 3 or 4 bags that are on wheels. Will we have enough time to move our bags from train to train?

Any helpful information would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Hi
Venice - Verona is the option. Don't worry about changing.It's very well sign posted. Bolzano is amazing. Make sure yo go to Uber Bolsen accessible from the cable car quite close to the train station. There is a little train on which you can travel around the mountains. Hopefully, there will not be too much snow, ironically.

regards

SK

You could spend a couple of nights in Bolzano and visit Merano too.

The other guys are right that Venice is somewhat closer to Bolzano than Milan. There are actually two direct trains a day from Venice to Bolzano, but one arrives in Bolzano at 2:30 in the morning, so that's out ;-) The other leaves Venice at 13:28 (i.e., 1:28 p.m.) and arrives in Bolzano at 16:29 (4:29 p.m.) - this might give your 8 month old a nice 3 hour nap after lunch with no interruptions ;-)

The other posters are right that changing trains in Verona won't be much of a problem. First, because you have already visited the Trenitalia website, you can learn which stops are on which trains. Second, every train station has big signs at eyelevel announcing the name of the town. Third, your fellow passengers will be of help...a simple "Verona?" will get you an easy "si" or "no", and that's assuming that no one around you speaks any English at all. As for taking the second train, every Italian train station has train schedules showing the trains and the tracks they are on ('track' = 'binario'...think 'binary' for the two tracks ;-) ), and in the stations with electronic signs over the tracks, your train and destinations will be listed over the track. Of course, a simple 'Bolzano?' to a railroad employee, porter, or policeman (or almost anyone else) will also probably get you a pointer in the right direction. If hundreds of not always very worldly 19-year-old university students can do this (I worked for an American university in Rome), you can do it...

I will note that having the 8-month-old and luggage will present a problem, in that there is normally little to no luggage assistance on trains. Italian trains don't check luggage (you carry it onboard yourself), and there are very few porters anymore. So one of you will have the bambino/a and the other will have to schlep the luggage. Perhaps if you are prepared, you might be able to carry the bambino/a in one of those papooses on front or back that would leave your hands free, so that you could carry the kid and one piece of luggage and the official spousal unit could get the other 2.

Despite the fact that having an 8-month-old will sharply increase the amount of stuff you have to bring, I would highly encourage you not to bring any more luggage than the two of you can carry at once, with child. Being able to pick up all your stuff at one time and schlep it around - even for a short distance - will simplify situations such as changing trains.

Hmmmn, a note on Venice. As you know, Venice is a series of islands (some close together, some not so close), that is joined by a lot of bridges, and whose public transit is water buses. These bridges typically have steps going up and down; i.e., a stroller is not convenient. This is another reason to consider investing in some arms-free method of carrying your heir.

I wouldn't go to Zurich after Bolzano - it will take you 6 to 7 hours, and involve at least one change and often two. Rather, it would make sense to do one of the following:

1. Go back to Venice to fly home. The advantage of this is that you can pack your stuff before you leave Venice so that you need to bring only 1 or maybe 2 bags to Bolzano, and leave the other bag or two at the Left Luggage (Deposito Bagagli) at the Santa Lucia train station in Venice. You can then return to Venice to Santa Lucia, pick up your extra bags, walk over to Piazzale Rome (remember, this is another good spot where you need to be able to carry all your stuff at once), to take the bus to the airport.

2. Go up to Munich to fly home. Munich is only 4 hours up the road (so, much closer than Zurich and not much farther than either Venice or Milan), and there are 4 direct trains a day (actually, there's a 5th one that leaves at 2:30 a.m.). And I like Munich (which may not matter to you ;-) )...

3. Go down to Bologna to fly home. Bologna is on the main rail line that passes through Bolzano on the way to Rome. Thus, there are at least ten direct trains a day from Bolzano to Bologna (Bologna has a nice international airport just north of town, and since the train station is on the north side of the city center, it's not a bad taxi or bus ride). Plus, Bologna is closer timewise than Milan and about as close as Venice - just over 3 hours (depending on the train you take).

OK, enough for now ;-)

Bill

By the way, it's much faster to connect from Venice (actually, from the Mestre station if you don't go on proper Venice but just straight to the airport) to its airport than Milan(especially Malpensa MPX).

Bologna or Verona are even faster, but you don't have flights to Canada from there.. Unless you fly BA from Verona via London.
Ciao
Francesco

Thanks, everyone, for your helpful replies. I sincerely appreciate the additional destination suggestions and travel tips. We have a better idea of our schedule now.

After reading the reply from Bill, Munich is likely our most practicable and appealing departure airport after Bolzano. Our plan now is to depart Bolzano for Munich on the afternoon of December 5 to allow us a couple nights in Munich before boarding our return flight to Canada on the morning of December 7. This will be our first time in Munich. We would love to spend more time (Munich sounds like a most interesting city) so we will use this brief first trip as a quick overview for future trips.

In early December, how likely is it that trains between Bolzano and Munich will be delayed because of bad weather or other natural events such as avalanches? How much in advance will we hear about rail strikes in Italy? I am concerned because we do not have flexibility with our return date. We must depart Europe for Canada on Sunday, December 7, so we cannot get caught by a rail strike or bad weather.

Alas, we also have very limited time to spend in Bolzano. We must be in Milan from November 29-December 3 for business reasons, so the earliest we can leave Milan for Bolzano is the morning of December 4. This gives us barely 24 hours in Bolzano because we plan to depart for Munich on December 5. Just enough time to visit the Museo Archeologico Dell'Alto Adige‎, we hope. Whatever else we can fit into the remaining hours will be a bonus. Like Munich, Bolzano will be our first time and we will use this visit to get ideas for future trips.

(If train delays between Bolzano and Munich are not an issue then we could stay in Bolzano until December 6 before we head to Munich ...)

Regarding Bill's tip to use a hands-free child carrier, yes, that is how we travel with our baby, even at home. We have a stroller but use it infrequently because we find it cumbersome and our baby dislikes it anyway. We are, however, thinking of bringing the stroller to Europe because it does come in handy to carry our smaller bags (but not our baby!) when walking through airports. We also thought it might be handy for walking Milan`s streets (to carry shopping bags, etc.). Please feel free to disagree and set us straight because we don`t want to bring an unnecessary or impractical item. :o)

Thanks again to all for your input and suggestions.

>how likely is it that trains between Bolzano and Munich will be delayed because of bad weather or other natural events such as avalanches?

Very UNlikely.



> How much in advance will we hear about rail strikes in Italy?

At least 10 days (it is the law).
Check this official page, that list national strikes of transport system
http://www.infrastrutturetrasporti.it/page/NuovoSito/site.php?p=scioperi

Ciao
Francesco

"In early December, how likely is it that trains between Bolzano and Munich will be delayed because of bad weather or other natural events such as avalanches?"

I agree with Francesco that this is quite unlikely. I took this line a number of times in the 70s when I lived in Rome and went up to Munich (in those days, I spoke better German than Italian - not true now!) during the winter months - I never had a problem with delays. And I would have to guess that the system is even better now...remember that these people are accustomed to this weather and have built a rail infrastructure that can handle it.

"How much in advance will we hear about rail strikes in Italy? "
Francesco has given you a great site to look for information on rail strikes. Note that rail strikes are typically of a short and limited duration in Italy. That is, strikes tend to be either 4 hours, just to prove they can, or 24 hours, because a 24 hour strike is very convenient for the railroad (all the engines and carriages just stay where they are, and pick up again on schedule 24 hours later). Thus, even if you suffered a strike, you would likely be able to continue the next day anyway (of course, since your train likely requires reservations, you would have to rebook the tickets as soon as you could).

Also, since you are only about 60 kilometers south of the Austrian border at Brenner (Brennero), you could even take a bus up to Brenner and catch Austrian or German trains from there (actually, the four direct trains a day from Bolzano to Munich might be German equipment anyway).

When you are in Venice or Bolzano, just pop into a travel agency that has Trenitalia or FS in the window and ask them if there will be any problem with this train (since, as Francesco noted, legally they have to announce strikes in advance, so the travel agents should know). If there is a problem (not really all that likely), they will be able to fix you up.

As for the stroller, well, I am not the world's expert on such things, but I would think that it would be more trouble than it would be worth. It would be one thing if you lived in Italy, but since you'd have to take it with you everywhere...well, strollers are not convenient in crowded city streets, on buses and Metros, on trains, etc. IMHO, the few times that it would be a little help (how much do you really need the stroller when all your luggage is wheeled?) wouldn't make up for it being deadweight otherwise...

Bill