For the next leg of the trip, I travelled from Geneva to Florence by train. This is not just your typical train trip. I've been over a large part of the route in Switzerland before (many, many years ago) but had never experienced any of the Italian portion of the route. For sheer variety of scenic experience, from serene lakes to towering mountains and ancient castles, this train ride is hard to beat.
Before we get down to the actual trip, there are a few key details you have to know. First, reservations. Advance reservations are mandatory for all international trains, and for all premium-priced high-speed rail lines in Europe (as far as I know). Fortunately, none of these trains were heavily sold on the day I travelled so you could have bought a day-of-travel ticket and gotten seats with no trouble.
Second: the train I chose, at 1:25 pm, was the only direct train running all the way from Geneva to Milan. Many other options exist, either by changing trains to the northeast, or by riding this route as far as Brig and then changing trains there before crossing the border into Italy.
Third: why go first class? The big Number One for vacationers like yours truly is that First Class gets the same amount of luggage storage space (or more) for fewer passengers. Generally, on second class cars, you get less storage space and more people. For once, luggage space was not a problem on these particular trains.
Fourth: buy in advance to get the best reserved seats. I started checking a little more than six months ahead. The Italian high-speed train network, called Frecciarossa ("Red Arrow"), goes on sale six months in advance. By diving in right then, I probably got a lower fare, but what really mattered was that I got to choose exactly the type of seat I wanted for the Milan to Florence leg: single seat, airplane style (meaning I'm facing a seat back and not another person), and facing forwards -- in the quiet section. The train out of Geneva to Milan, a "Euro Cities" train operated by the Swiss National Railway, did not allow for me to choose specific seating, but I was assigned to a single face-to-face pair, and luckily had it all to myself with my reservation being for the seat facing forwards. That one went on sale about 75 days out from the date of travel.
Fifth: First Class on the Euro Cities train (as on most Swiss trains) does not include any catering service. There is a paid restaurant car right next to the First Class cars, and Swiss restaurant cars are famous for the quality of the offerings. The alternative is to bring your own. The Geneva station has a number of take-out outlets. Italy's Frecciarossa offers a light snack and drink in First Class.
One last quirk about Frecciarossa: like some of the other premium high-speed services in Europe, this one has a third class of service. Executive (business) Class is actually the top class -- higher than First Class in price, service, and amenities, which is the opposite of what I and many other North Americans might expect.
Now, the actual trip: the train set which awaited me in Geneva's Cornavin Station was this type:
That picture shows the train en route to Italy on the exact line which I travelled. This Swiss train is specifically designed for international service, to fit within the height and width limits of each country's rail network, and to be able to operate with multiple electrical current levels. Here's a map to show our route.
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Base map: Google Maps
The first leg of the journey follows the curving northern shore of Lac Léman. As the map shows clearly, the south shore is almost entirely in France. At first you pass through suburban communities linked to Geneva, then farm country appears. (by the way, many of these pictures have ghost reflections from the window glass on them)
If you're seated on the right side, occasional views of the lake and the Alps on the south shore appear.
After Lausanne, as the mountains on the north side crowd down to the lake, field crops give way to terraced vineyards, set at an angle which suggests the vineyard workers might actually be mountain goats.
Keep your eyes open if you're seated on the right side. After the train leaves Montreux there's a chance for a momentary glimpse of the famous Chateau de Chillon down on the lake shore.
Beyond the end of the lake, the train follows the valley of the Rhone River southwards. Mountains are now rising on either side, the higher summits still very much snow-capped in May.
At Martigny, the valley, the river, the highway, and the railway all execute an almost exact ninety degree turn to the east.
The train stops at the city of Sion where you can spot this castle on the left side for a few brief moments (between the industrial buildings along the tracks). It's called Place Maurice-Zermatten. Above and behind it to the left is the even higher hilltop holding the ruins of the Chateau de Tourbillon.
As the valley gradually gets narrower, the train passes Visp, where the connecting narrow-gauge train to Zermatt departs. Visp is also the south end of the 34.5-kilometre Lötschberg Basis Tunnel, which brings high speed trains from Basel and Bern through the Bernese Alps and into the Rhône Valley. Above Visp, and all along the valley from here to Brig, up on the mountainside you can see the parallel rail line descending from the original Lötschberg Tunnel, which is much shorter but involves a long and difficult climb for trains from either direction to reach the tunnel entrances.
Why did the railways come here at all? The answer is at the next stop, Brig, where you get a final glimpse of the Rhône River, now a brawling mountain stream, laden with glacial silt.
Final glimpse? Indeed. As soon as the train leaves Brig, it veers to the right and plunges into the Simplon Tunnel. This internet photo shows the dual North Portal entrances to the twin tunnels.
Photographer: Armin Kübelbeck, CC-BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons
This passage beneath the Lepontine Alps was the first railroad link between Switzerland and Italy. From its opening in 1906 until 1982, it was by a good margin the longest tunnel in the world. It's just shy of 20 kilometres long (about 12.3 miles) and this train whips through it in a mere 8 minutes. As soon as we emerge out of the southern portal, at Iselle di Trasquera, we immediately slow down -- and run through two more tunnels. The valley of the Torrente Diveria (Diveria Stream), which we are now following downhill, is both narrow and steep.
The
railway builders had to construct a total of nine additional tunnels,
including a two-kilometre long spiral, to descend this valley at a
manageable grade. By the way, I had no idea we were going through a
spiral tunnel -- just that we were in the dark for a while because, of
course, we were no longer going at top speed. What I was conscious of
was that we were going downhill very steeply for a conventional railway
train. Finally the valley broadens out, the Diveria joins the River
Toce, and we arrive at Domodossola.
This
is the border station, and I got a bit of a surprise here. Remember the
Schengen Agreement which is supposed to make it possible to travel
between all member countries without any customs checks? Guess again. We
were told that there would be a crew change (to an Italian crew from
Trenitalia), but the train was also boarded by Italian customs agents.
We all had to show our passports and some of us had to answer questions.
I was not expecting that.
From
Domodossola, the train continues nonstop to Milan. A fair stretch of
this line runs through woods and small towns all along the western shore
of 64-kilometre long Lago Maggiore (Greater Lake). Even on a cloudy day
with spitting rain showers, it's easy to see why this is such a popular
vacation area for Italians and tourists from abroad. I'd welcome the
chance to spend some time there myself.
From there on it was fast and level running through farm lands and suburbs until we arrived in Milan at Milano Centrale. I was impressed, to say the least, that we had completed the journey of 4 hours and 25 minutes within one minute of our scheduled arrival time. That left me just 19 minutes to find my connecting train to Florence, which was not as daunting as it sounds. I found it, four platforms over from the one where I arrived, and was all aboard and settled with 10 minutes to spare.
Here's a photo of a Frecciarossa R1000 train set on the Milano-Venezia service. I think this was the same type I rode in, although I can't be sure.
Photo by Moliva on Wikimedia Commons.
I didn't take any more pictures on this second train, partly because it was moving so quickly (blurring the scenery) and partly because there isn't any scenery. This is a genuine high-speed line, and much of the track is enclosed by walls or embankments to avoid excess noise in surrounding areas. After Bologna, when we turned south towards Florence, the train spent most of the next 40 minutes in tunnels. The Frecciarossa avoids the physical challenges of the Appennine Mountains by simply drilling under them.
The bad news? This flagship train arrived in Florence 9 minutes late! Naughty, naughty.
The good news? The first class on Frecciarossa, unlike the Euro Cities train from Switzerland, included a light snack and choice of drink, plus a bottle of water. The snack was a small ham and cheese on a bun. The attendant gave me two. I did not object. For a drink, I had a good dose of a strong Italian red wine. Together those two held me over for a late dinner in Florence at 9 pm.
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