Journey/Train

Reach Esino Lario by train

From Italy and Europe you can travel to Esino Lario by train through Milan, which is well-connected to Italian and to several European cities. The closest railway station to Esino is called Varenna-Esino-Perledo (12 km from Esino); from the railway station you can take a bus or a taxi.

From Switzerland, another option for travelling by train to Esino is via Chur and Tirano, by the UNESCO World Heritage Albula and Bernina lines of the Rhaetian Railway. There are trains every hour from Tirano to Varenna-Esino. From Zürich, this takes longer than travelling via Milan (travel time 7 to 8 hours, as opposed to 5 to 6), but may also actually be a cheap option if you're Swiss and have a GA travelcard, as this is valid till Tirano. The regular prices of the Swiss railways are rather steep, however.

Details

Varenna-Esino-Perledo train station.

There are trains from Milan approximately every hour; direct trains every 2 hours (and every hour at peak hours) leaving from Milan Central Station. The last train from Milan Central Station to Varenna is at 21:20 (arrival at 22:35); the next train is at 6:20 in the morning. The last train from Varenna to Milan Central Station is at 22:21 (arriving at 23:30); the next train is at 5:26 in the morning. Time and prices of trains on Trenitalia website.

• Direct trains from Milan (Milano Stazione Centrale) to the station of Varenna-Esino (direction Lecco, Morbegno, Sondrio, Tirano). Trains every 2 hours; 1h03' ride with regional trains from Milano Stazione Centrale; 6.45 € ticket.
• Bus from the station of Varenna-Esino to Esino Lario (the bus waits for the train, 2.40 €). The regular bus schedule changes in winter and summer; for Wikimania we have increased buses.

Milano Stazione Centrale has direct trains from:

• Naples (Rome, Bologna, Florence)
• Genoa (Pavia)
• Turin (Vercelli, Novara)
• Venice (Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Brescia)
• Paris (Lyon)
• Geneva (Lausanne, Montreux, Sion, Brig)
• Basel (Bern)
• Zurich (Bellinzona, Lugano)
• Vienna
• Munich (Innsbruck)
• …

If your train to Milan arrives in any other station in Milan, you can reach Milano Centrale using the Milan Metro network (1 journey ticket: 1.50 €):

• Milano Affori: Metro 3 (Yellow line – direction San Donato – 5 stops)
• Milano Cadorna: Metro 2 (Green line – direction Cologno/Gessate – 5 stops)
• Milano Garibaldi: Metro 2 (Green line – direction Cologno/Gessate – 2 stops)
• Milano Lambrate: Metro 2 (Green line – direction Abbiategrasso/Milanofiori – 4 stops)
• Milano Lodi TIBB: Metro 3 (Yellow line – direction Comasina – 8 stops)
• Milano Rogoredo: Metro 3 (Yellow line – direction Comasina – 12 stops)
• Milano Porta Genova: Metro 2 (Green line – direction Cologno/Gessate – 8 stops)

You can also use the journey planner at the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) web site to find connections to Varenna-Esino. If you don't enter a via station, these will be connections through Monza (faster); if you enter Tirano as via for a connection from e.g. Zürich or Basel, it will show connections via Albula/Bernina. Caution though: The journey planner may also display connections that make no sense, like sending you from Monza to Tirano and then back to Varenna-Esino, so if you want to travel by the Albula/Bernina lines, make sure that you actually use trains via Chur (or Landquart). Also, if it's important to you to experience the Albula line, double-check the intermediate stops - if the train stops at Klosters and Zernez, it's not using the Albula line, but the Vereina tunnel.

Note: As there is an update for Italy's train schedule on June 12, the SBB website lists currently no connections to Varenna-Esino after June 11, but the new schedule is already available at the Trenord web site. There are no big changes.

Notes