I thought I’d write up a quick report of this trip to Florence and back, with the route being London - Paris - Zurich (overnight) - Chur - Tirano - Milan - Florence on the way out and Florence - Pistoia - Porretta - Bologna - Milano - Zurich (overnight) - Paris (overnight) - London on the return.
Eurostar on the way out was quick and routine, we were through security in 10 minutes and then as usual spent a cramped 45 mins in the terminal. Nothing much to report, though as outlined elsewhere I wasn’t impressed that our train had its schedule extended by 30 minutes at the last minute. The train seemed petty heavily loaded.
A transfer to Gare du Lyon was swift and having bought first class tickets (at very little extra cost) on the TGV Lyria we used the pleasant lounge which had a great view out over the tarnished. The food and drink offerings were pretty limited compared to UK first class lounges.
We had a nice ‘duo’ seat on the Upper Deck and the train was packed as far as Dijon and then emptied out quite a bit. I do like the fact people are encouraged to take calls in the vestibules, which is helped by the little alcove seats provided. We were impressed by the quality of the food on board. The chocolate mousse was particularly divine! I find the interiors of these TGV’s very comfortable, and miss the similar seats there used to be on Eurostar.
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While we ran a little late in France we had made up time by our arrival in Zurich. Overall a quick and comfortable journey.
At Zurich I asked whether we needed to reserve seats for the early morning train to Chur and was advised no, but upon looking online I saw the train was predicted to be busy so I reserved us seats (at a cost of €9). There was an option to reserve in the restaurant so I did that as we were leaving too early for breakfast at our hotel.
The next morning the train was indeed very busy, with lots of skiers headed for the slopes. However there didn’t appear to be any seat numbering in the restaurant car (despite us having been allocated numbered seats there) and we were lucky to get a shared table. Total waste of €9!
It was an easy connection to the Bernina Express at Chur. As I’d expected (I bagged the last two window seats in 2nd class when I booked) it was busy. The train is on the ‘cosy’ side (cramped some might say), especially with a stranger next to you. I can see why some prefer the conventional trains for more space but the big windows were pretty great. Unbelievably one party lowered the blind, on one of the most scenic lines in the world. I’m sure the people opposite really appreciated that…
View attachment IMG_5301.jpg
Similarly (on a theme of selfish and inconsiderate people) passengers tended to hog the windows at the end which open, despite the staff telling them not to. There was one girl who spent, no exaggeration, about an hour trying to get the perfect selfie through the open window - not looking at the scenery, just looking at herself. I did manage to get a few decent shots out of the window though when she took a brief break from her selfies.
We were definitely on the less good side for scenery (on the left in direction of travel on departure from Chur), but you can’t tell what side you’re booked on when you reserve. Oddly no one checked our tickets.
The journey was really spectacular and the onboard wifi has a good ‘infotrainment’ facility (see what they did there?) which gives you facts about the line and shows you were you are. We paused at Alp Grum for 15 mins - it was great to be able to stretch the legs.
Catering was pretty limited - really just drinks and snacks, nothing like a sandwich, and all at very Swiss prices (!). The staff take orders after distributing menus and there’s only one run - I enquired about ordering something an hour before arrival and was told they were closed. They did however distribute free alpine drinks and free Bernina express chocolates, which was a nice touch, though I suspect they were just getting rid of excess stock.
View attachment IMG_5387.jpg
If I were to do it again I’d definitely look at first class for more room and consider stopping off en route.
I’d found out a few days prior that there was a bus replacement from Tirano to Morbegno, so after a quick stock up of food at Tirano we found the bus - complete with slightly stressful and very Italian scrum to get on. The coach had almost no leg room and the driver told us we weren’t allowed to eat on board…
We picked up the train for the run into Milan - it’s an absolutely stunning ride alongside Lake Como, particularly at sunset.
The rail replacement meant that I had to forgo our previously booked onward tickets (buying unrefundable tickets and buying via the trainline both bad moves), so we were on a train to Florence an hour later than planned. We travelled in business, but the Frecciarossa trains feel quite basic inside to me. No carpet, lots of plastic and hard surfaces. You get a thimbleful of a drink in a paper cup (Prosecco in our case) and a ‘snack box’ which is comprised of an incredibly small sandwich and cookie with huge amounts of packaging.
We’d left Milan late and arrival in Florence was I think ten minutes behind schedule on a full train.
On the return I was curious to try the original route to Bologna that pre-dated the ‘Direttissima’ and high speed lines. I wasn’t comfortable with a 5 minute connection at Pistoia, so had a long connection there, where I had a coffee in the rather dreary station cafe. The local train to Poretta was a brand new ‘pop’ train. I got a good view of the historic depot outside Pistoia and was surprised to see so many steam locomotives rusting away. The line is pretty spectacular and double back in itself in order to gain altitude. It was very lightly loaded. Sadly as time went on the weather deteriorated and we had heavy rain and cloud by the time we got to Poretta.
View attachment IMG_5856.jpg
View attachment IMG_5871.jpg
My Poretta train was heavily loaded with school kids and was fairly unpleasant as a result, plus there were no views thanks to the bad weather. The only loo was also out of action. Oh well. We were also 7 minutes late into Bologna so I had a bit of a sprint to get my Frecciarossa to Milan 6 minutes later. This was very lightly loaded, so I didn’t bother to get into discussion with the guy sitting in my seat. Was in standard this time and I really couldn’t see a huge amount of difference with Business if you are on table of 4.
I was on a gleaming if slightly sterile (not cosy) Giruno train back to Zurich. We were diverted onto a slow scenic route as the Gotthard Base tunnel was closed, but it was evening so I saw nothing so I slightly regretted my itinerary choices as I’d not seen music of the Tuscan scenery I’d hoped for earlier. Even though in general there were a lot of announcements on the trains on my trip about keeping noise down and not taking calls, the disease of not using headphones has spread even to Swiss trains…
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I headed to the restaurant car for a pleasant but incredibly expensive meal. Two large glasses of wine, a main of beef stew on noodles, a cake and a mint tea costing around £60!
The rest of my trip was totally unremarkable - a routine TGV back to Paris and another routine Eurostar back to London - again through security in 10 mins. This time I found the mezzanine waiting area and loos at the back of the departure area, blissfully quiet! Oh and unlike literally every other high speed train I took, it’s utterly impossible to work on Eurostar thanks to it’s abysmal wifi. Really not great.
Anyway, a fantastic trip and I can’t wait for my next!
Eurostar on the way out was quick and routine, we were through security in 10 minutes and then as usual spent a cramped 45 mins in the terminal. Nothing much to report, though as outlined elsewhere I wasn’t impressed that our train had its schedule extended by 30 minutes at the last minute. The train seemed petty heavily loaded.
A transfer to Gare du Lyon was swift and having bought first class tickets (at very little extra cost) on the TGV Lyria we used the pleasant lounge which had a great view out over the tarnished. The food and drink offerings were pretty limited compared to UK first class lounges.
We had a nice ‘duo’ seat on the Upper Deck and the train was packed as far as Dijon and then emptied out quite a bit. I do like the fact people are encouraged to take calls in the vestibules, which is helped by the little alcove seats provided. We were impressed by the quality of the food on board. The chocolate mousse was particularly divine! I find the interiors of these TGV’s very comfortable, and miss the similar seats there used to be on Eurostar.
View attachment IMG_5080.jpg
While we ran a little late in France we had made up time by our arrival in Zurich. Overall a quick and comfortable journey.
At Zurich I asked whether we needed to reserve seats for the early morning train to Chur and was advised no, but upon looking online I saw the train was predicted to be busy so I reserved us seats (at a cost of €9). There was an option to reserve in the restaurant so I did that as we were leaving too early for breakfast at our hotel.
The next morning the train was indeed very busy, with lots of skiers headed for the slopes. However there didn’t appear to be any seat numbering in the restaurant car (despite us having been allocated numbered seats there) and we were lucky to get a shared table. Total waste of €9!
It was an easy connection to the Bernina Express at Chur. As I’d expected (I bagged the last two window seats in 2nd class when I booked) it was busy. The train is on the ‘cosy’ side (cramped some might say), especially with a stranger next to you. I can see why some prefer the conventional trains for more space but the big windows were pretty great. Unbelievably one party lowered the blind, on one of the most scenic lines in the world. I’m sure the people opposite really appreciated that…
View attachment IMG_5301.jpg
Similarly (on a theme of selfish and inconsiderate people) passengers tended to hog the windows at the end which open, despite the staff telling them not to. There was one girl who spent, no exaggeration, about an hour trying to get the perfect selfie through the open window - not looking at the scenery, just looking at herself. I did manage to get a few decent shots out of the window though when she took a brief break from her selfies.
We were definitely on the less good side for scenery (on the left in direction of travel on departure from Chur), but you can’t tell what side you’re booked on when you reserve. Oddly no one checked our tickets.
The journey was really spectacular and the onboard wifi has a good ‘infotrainment’ facility (see what they did there?) which gives you facts about the line and shows you were you are. We paused at Alp Grum for 15 mins - it was great to be able to stretch the legs.
Catering was pretty limited - really just drinks and snacks, nothing like a sandwich, and all at very Swiss prices (!). The staff take orders after distributing menus and there’s only one run - I enquired about ordering something an hour before arrival and was told they were closed. They did however distribute free alpine drinks and free Bernina express chocolates, which was a nice touch, though I suspect they were just getting rid of excess stock.
View attachment IMG_5387.jpg
If I were to do it again I’d definitely look at first class for more room and consider stopping off en route.
I’d found out a few days prior that there was a bus replacement from Tirano to Morbegno, so after a quick stock up of food at Tirano we found the bus - complete with slightly stressful and very Italian scrum to get on. The coach had almost no leg room and the driver told us we weren’t allowed to eat on board…
We picked up the train for the run into Milan - it’s an absolutely stunning ride alongside Lake Como, particularly at sunset.
The rail replacement meant that I had to forgo our previously booked onward tickets (buying unrefundable tickets and buying via the trainline both bad moves), so we were on a train to Florence an hour later than planned. We travelled in business, but the Frecciarossa trains feel quite basic inside to me. No carpet, lots of plastic and hard surfaces. You get a thimbleful of a drink in a paper cup (Prosecco in our case) and a ‘snack box’ which is comprised of an incredibly small sandwich and cookie with huge amounts of packaging.
We’d left Milan late and arrival in Florence was I think ten minutes behind schedule on a full train.
On the return I was curious to try the original route to Bologna that pre-dated the ‘Direttissima’ and high speed lines. I wasn’t comfortable with a 5 minute connection at Pistoia, so had a long connection there, where I had a coffee in the rather dreary station cafe. The local train to Poretta was a brand new ‘pop’ train. I got a good view of the historic depot outside Pistoia and was surprised to see so many steam locomotives rusting away. The line is pretty spectacular and double back in itself in order to gain altitude. It was very lightly loaded. Sadly as time went on the weather deteriorated and we had heavy rain and cloud by the time we got to Poretta.
View attachment IMG_5856.jpg
View attachment IMG_5871.jpg
My Poretta train was heavily loaded with school kids and was fairly unpleasant as a result, plus there were no views thanks to the bad weather. The only loo was also out of action. Oh well. We were also 7 minutes late into Bologna so I had a bit of a sprint to get my Frecciarossa to Milan 6 minutes later. This was very lightly loaded, so I didn’t bother to get into discussion with the guy sitting in my seat. Was in standard this time and I really couldn’t see a huge amount of difference with Business if you are on table of 4.
I was on a gleaming if slightly sterile (not cosy) Giruno train back to Zurich. We were diverted onto a slow scenic route as the Gotthard Base tunnel was closed, but it was evening so I saw nothing so I slightly regretted my itinerary choices as I’d not seen music of the Tuscan scenery I’d hoped for earlier. Even though in general there were a lot of announcements on the trains on my trip about keeping noise down and not taking calls, the disease of not using headphones has spread even to Swiss trains…
View attachment IMG_5900.jpg
I headed to the restaurant car for a pleasant but incredibly expensive meal. Two large glasses of wine, a main of beef stew on noodles, a cake and a mint tea costing around £60!
The rest of my trip was totally unremarkable - a routine TGV back to Paris and another routine Eurostar back to London - again through security in 10 mins. This time I found the mezzanine waiting area and loos at the back of the departure area, blissfully quiet! Oh and unlike literally every other high speed train I took, it’s utterly impossible to work on Eurostar thanks to it’s abysmal wifi. Really not great.
Anyway, a fantastic trip and I can’t wait for my next!
