Italy-Manchester the long way round

[142056]

I'm planning my return from Italy in the summer, and was wondering if anyone can suggest any different ticketing ways that could save me money. Still not entirely familiar with the oddities of the European system.

I have planned:
Day 1
Perugia - Bolzano/Bozen changing at Bologna Centrale
€48 or so through fare on Trenitalia (can't book yet due to the timetable changeover)

Day 2
Bolzano-Munich departing 1033 arr 1425 to give time in Munich; €49

Munich-Cologne on the sleeper; departing 2250 arr 0543; €69 for a bed in the 6 berth couchettes

Day 3
Cologne-London changing at Brussels - leaving 1543, arr London 1957
- Europa Spezial at €109 or €129 for First class.
Then London-Manchester

So, am I best booking each leg separately? If so, using Trenitalia's site up to Bolzano and DB's website for the other journeys? I'd quite like proper tickets as a memory of the journey so can DB do this to post them to me? (May wait until I get to Italy to book up to Bolzano so I can get a proper ticket)

Secondly, if I arrive at St Pancras off the Eurostar at 1957 will it be ok to get the 2125 from Euston to Manchester?

Thirdly, if I get the DB London Spezial ticket including the Eurostar, will this give me an E* reference I can use to phone and get my CIV ticket back to Manchester?

Many thanks. I appreciate this is a fair few questions so if you need any more info let me know.

 

[30907]

Day 2
Bolzano-Munich departing 1033 arr 1425 to give time in Munich; €49
Munich-Cologne on the sleeper; departing 2250 arr 0543; €69 for a bed in the 6 berth couchettes
Cologne-London changing at Brussels - leaving 1543, arr London 1957
- Europa Spezial at €109 or €129 for First class.

Secondly, if I arrive at St Pancras off the Eurostar at 1957 will it be ok to get the 2125 from Euston to Manchester?

Thirdly, if I get the DB London Spezial ticket including the Eurostar, will this give me an E* reference I can use to phone and get my CIV ticket back to Manchester?

You only need two DB tickets for Bolzano-London: a Europa-Special Italy and a London-Special.
Either is valid throughout Germany, though I am not sure whether at the moment you can book L-S online including couchettes.
You can put in two stopovers of up to 48 hours each, so you could in fact book through from Verona so long as you use one of the EC trains to Bolzano.
You can also do what I did last month, and use the incredibly scenic route via Seefeld/Tirol instead of the main Innsbruck-Munich line.

Anyway, check both options to see how the prices add up.

The tickets will have to be posted out to you.

LS-tickets used not to have a specific ES booking reference (this may have changed), but in that case just quote one of the reference codes on the ticket, it doesn't matter.

Even with the stricter immigration process at St Pancras you will make the 2125 with an hour to spare!

I would say the extra 20Euros for first is worth it because it gives you access to the DB lounge at Cologne - waiter service, hot and cold drinks, sandwich or cake, and wine/beer. Book your LS to start at (say) Koblenz with an 9-hour stopover in Cologne to make absolutely sure they'll let you in at 0630 when you come off the sleeper

 

[142056]

Many thanks for your very helpful reply!
Potentially saving me a good few euros
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
About "starting short" on the London-Spezial ticket, starting from Leverkussen Mitte comes up with a price around €20 cheaper than starting from Cologne, and I can do the journey plan for a train from Leverkussen that arrives around 20 minutes before the sleeper - can I check will this be ok to "start short"? Is there any way they will know I haven't used the ticket from Leverkussen to Cologne and could charge me more etc?

 

[gordonthemoron]

DB aren't bothered about starting short