Not sure if this is better in the Trip Reports section, if so mods please advise/move!
My wife and I got hooked on European city breaks a couple of years ago so for a post-Easter jaunt this year we aimed for Venice. Having to leave home "up North" on a Sunday afternoon meant we had to start with a flight from Manchester to Munich and an overnight stop near the Hbf
MUNICH TO VENICE VIA THE KARWENDEL AND BRENNER ROUTES
This is a fabulously scenic alternative to the main line via Kufstein, taking just an hour longer. We left Munich Hbf from the north annex (platforms 27-33). The line soon runs along the beautiful Starnberger See (sit on the left) and then climbs into the foothills of the Alps, pausing at small towns like Murnau (junction for Oberammergau) and resorts like Garmisch-Partenkirchen at the foot of the Zugspitze, Germanys highest mountain. Then follows a steep climb and descent to the border town of Mittenwald. The weather was fantastic - blue skies and fresh snow - compensation for the late winter!
The elderly but comfortable regional coaches (n-Wagen with class 111) which used to operate through to Innsbruck are now barred through a tunnel on the Austrian side, so we had to change here, straight across the platform into a modern OeBB class 4024 unit - taking our chance to get a seat on the right this time! The line crosses the border to Seefeld in Tirol, with wonderful Alpine views and then descends spectacularly down the north slope of the Inn Valley, very much like the (old) Loetschberg line in Switzerland, and then into Innsbruck itself.
After a 2-hour stopover and look round Innsbruck, we caught the late-morning through Munich-Venice EC train, worked throughout by a dual-voltage class 1216 and OeBB stock, so no engine change at Brennero, despite the 15-min booked stop. As far as Verona the line is pretty scenic, thereafter it's flat (but there's plenty of railway interest through to Venice)
We had a Europa-Special Italy ticket all the way from Munich FJS Airport the night before.
VENICE TO LAKE BLED VIA THE TRANSALPINA ROUTE.
We chose this route from a tip on www.seat61.com. From Venice SL it was a class 464 plus regional stock heading for Trieste. We alighted at Gorizia Centrale station where there's a bus stop immediately outside. To the left is a blue ticket machine which will sell you an Urbano ticket for EUR1.20 (cash).
The little electric no.1 bus to Montesanto runs every 15-20 minutes during the week, less often on Sundays; there's an even cheaper (!) cross-border bus. The terminus is called Piazza Transalpina, and the Slovenian Railways station is very obvious, a few metres stroll across the border - its marked by a plaque with the dates 1947 and 2004 set into the ground.
The onward ticket to Bled Jezero costs EUR6.22 (!) and you buy it at the booking office. Despite the inevitable graffiti tags the elderly Fiat unit was fine inside; our early-afternoon train was crowded with college kids for the first part, then almost empty.
The line was built as a strategic Austro-Hungarian Empire route from Salzburg via Villach to Trieste, but boundary changes in 1918 and 1947 turned it into a total backwater, so it's still diesel (steam specials run regularly in summer). It follows the spectacular Soča Gorge at first, then later on climbs steeply through narrow Alpine valleys to the Bohinj Tunnel (which has its own Motorail service!) then down again to the lake, which we spotted just before diving into the last tunnel before Bled Jezero (Lake) station.
Outside the station theres a spectacular view over the lake and its famous island church. Even in rain it was a pleasant 25-minute walk, down steeply to the lakeside and along the busy tarmac lakeside path into town.
LESCE-BLED TO HAMBURG
The vagaries of airline and rail schedules meant that it was cheaper to come home via Hamburg, with a night on the sleeper from Munich (first class, on the top deck of a CNL double-decker with plenty of space and even a separate table and chairs - and private facilities, essential at our age!).
We could have completed the Transalpina, changing at Jesenice, but it was easier to take the frequent bus down to Lesce station. The Zagreb-Frankfurt EC was 3 coaches (!) as far as Villach, where it attaches to the main train from Klagenfurt, and then takes the Tauern Pass route (another "first" for me) through to Salzburg and Germany. We stopped off in Salzburg for a wander round, and then sampled dinner in an OeBB Railjet on to Munich.
Our through ticket from Bled meant we "had" to travel first class all the way
' BUT - the only gripe of the trick - the first class lounge for some reason closes at 9pm, the sleeper isn't platformed till after 10. Fortunately there is a waiting room, but it's much less comfortable.
And so to Hamburg: we arrived nearly an hour late (so not enough to get a part refund!), owing to a broken down freight train somewhere near Kassel - but that just meant more sleeping time, and less in Hamburg on a cold, damp day "just like home".
There are a few photos on my FB page which I will try to link later.
My wife and I got hooked on European city breaks a couple of years ago so for a post-Easter jaunt this year we aimed for Venice. Having to leave home "up North" on a Sunday afternoon meant we had to start with a flight from Manchester to Munich and an overnight stop near the Hbf
MUNICH TO VENICE VIA THE KARWENDEL AND BRENNER ROUTES
This is a fabulously scenic alternative to the main line via Kufstein, taking just an hour longer. We left Munich Hbf from the north annex (platforms 27-33). The line soon runs along the beautiful Starnberger See (sit on the left) and then climbs into the foothills of the Alps, pausing at small towns like Murnau (junction for Oberammergau) and resorts like Garmisch-Partenkirchen at the foot of the Zugspitze, Germanys highest mountain. Then follows a steep climb and descent to the border town of Mittenwald. The weather was fantastic - blue skies and fresh snow - compensation for the late winter!
The elderly but comfortable regional coaches (n-Wagen with class 111) which used to operate through to Innsbruck are now barred through a tunnel on the Austrian side, so we had to change here, straight across the platform into a modern OeBB class 4024 unit - taking our chance to get a seat on the right this time! The line crosses the border to Seefeld in Tirol, with wonderful Alpine views and then descends spectacularly down the north slope of the Inn Valley, very much like the (old) Loetschberg line in Switzerland, and then into Innsbruck itself.
After a 2-hour stopover and look round Innsbruck, we caught the late-morning through Munich-Venice EC train, worked throughout by a dual-voltage class 1216 and OeBB stock, so no engine change at Brennero, despite the 15-min booked stop. As far as Verona the line is pretty scenic, thereafter it's flat (but there's plenty of railway interest through to Venice)
We had a Europa-Special Italy ticket all the way from Munich FJS Airport the night before.
VENICE TO LAKE BLED VIA THE TRANSALPINA ROUTE.
We chose this route from a tip on www.seat61.com. From Venice SL it was a class 464 plus regional stock heading for Trieste. We alighted at Gorizia Centrale station where there's a bus stop immediately outside. To the left is a blue ticket machine which will sell you an Urbano ticket for EUR1.20 (cash).
The little electric no.1 bus to Montesanto runs every 15-20 minutes during the week, less often on Sundays; there's an even cheaper (!) cross-border bus. The terminus is called Piazza Transalpina, and the Slovenian Railways station is very obvious, a few metres stroll across the border - its marked by a plaque with the dates 1947 and 2004 set into the ground.
The onward ticket to Bled Jezero costs EUR6.22 (!) and you buy it at the booking office. Despite the inevitable graffiti tags the elderly Fiat unit was fine inside; our early-afternoon train was crowded with college kids for the first part, then almost empty.
The line was built as a strategic Austro-Hungarian Empire route from Salzburg via Villach to Trieste, but boundary changes in 1918 and 1947 turned it into a total backwater, so it's still diesel (steam specials run regularly in summer). It follows the spectacular Soča Gorge at first, then later on climbs steeply through narrow Alpine valleys to the Bohinj Tunnel (which has its own Motorail service!) then down again to the lake, which we spotted just before diving into the last tunnel before Bled Jezero (Lake) station.
Outside the station theres a spectacular view over the lake and its famous island church. Even in rain it was a pleasant 25-minute walk, down steeply to the lakeside and along the busy tarmac lakeside path into town.
LESCE-BLED TO HAMBURG
The vagaries of airline and rail schedules meant that it was cheaper to come home via Hamburg, with a night on the sleeper from Munich (first class, on the top deck of a CNL double-decker with plenty of space and even a separate table and chairs - and private facilities, essential at our age!).
We could have completed the Transalpina, changing at Jesenice, but it was easier to take the frequent bus down to Lesce station. The Zagreb-Frankfurt EC was 3 coaches (!) as far as Villach, where it attaches to the main train from Klagenfurt, and then takes the Tauern Pass route (another "first" for me) through to Salzburg and Germany. We stopped off in Salzburg for a wander round, and then sampled dinner in an OeBB Railjet on to Munich.
Our through ticket from Bled meant we "had" to travel first class all the way
' BUT - the only gripe of the trick - the first class lounge for some reason closes at 9pm, the sleeper isn't platformed till after 10. Fortunately there is a waiting room, but it's much less comfortable.And so to Hamburg: we arrived nearly an hour late (so not enough to get a part refund!), owing to a broken down freight train somewhere near Kassel - but that just meant more sleeping time, and less in Hamburg on a cold, damp day "just like home".
There are a few photos on my FB page which I will try to link later.