Italy By Train - Can Two Travelers in Their Sixties Do It On Their Own? Part 2

The Bernina Express, connecting Switzerland with Tirano, Italy

After visiting Florence and Cinque Terre,Italy,  Pete and I left for Milan on Thursday, Sept 11th, 2025 for a one night stay.  I included the city because we wanted to see da Vinci’s famous Last Supper.   It took a lot of research but I finally snagged tickets before they became completely sold out.

The Last Supper - worth seeing with your own eyes

Traveler’s Tip:  Tours for the Last Supper become available quarterly (every 3-4 months).  When you know your travel dates, start checking for ticket availability at least 4 months before your visit (there is no grand announcement for upcoming ticket availability).   Determined, I finally found one tour with open times on the Trip Advisor website 3 1/2 months before our Milan stay.   Tickets were expensive but included a city walking tour making the high cost worth the money. 

So Many Stores, So Little Money

   Milan is beautiful.  We enjoyed our local guide showing us interesting highlights such as: exterior architectural features of the Duomo di Milano and the gorgeous shopping area Via Montenapoleone.

Duomo di Milano plaza

The following are a couple of historical facts about the incredible Last Supper, painted by Leonardo da Vinci between 1495 and 1498:

The only reason we can admire the 15th century painting today is because during WW II, the painting was protected by walls of sandbags before the building surrounding the impressive 15 ft by 29 ft masterpiece was completely destroyed.    Because da Vinci didn’t paint his masterpiece as a fresco, the paint started peeling almost immediately.  Over the centuries, The Last Supper has been lovingly restored with only the characters in the lower right hand remaining original in 2025.

da Vinci's Last Supper

Traveler’s Tip:  We saw many disappointed visitors get turned away at the museum ticket office because tickets had completely sold out for the day. This is one tour you really need to plan ahead for.

Milano Centrale is huge! It's easy to walk in circles just to figure out how to exit

After our delightful 3 hour walking tour, we hustled back to our Hotel Berna (located blocks from the Milan train station), to grab our bags before catching our train for Stresa, Italy, located 60 miles from Lake Como.   Why Stresa?

Traveler’s Tip:   Pete and I are not fond of crowds.  Before her recent trip to Italy, friend Irma suggested we skip Lake Como for the lovely and less touristy Stresa on Lake Maggione.  She enjoyed her visit so much, I went with her suggestion.

Coincidentally, our Texas friends, Bill and Mary Ann, planned to be in Italy at the same time.  Although the couple has traveled extensively throughout Italy, they had not visited Stresa before.  After the four of us agreed to meet there for three nights, I hoped they wouldn’t be disappointed. 

Night lights at the Grand Hotel Des Ils Borromees in Stresa, Italy

For this leg, I splurged on the hotel, choosing the Grand Hotel Des Ils Borromees and Spa.   Located within walking distance of the Stresa train station, Pete and I knew from the moment we entered the lobby, we were in for a treat.

"This Way to Your Room M'aam"

Tied neck and neck with another favorite, Fairmont’s Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta, Canada, I totally relaxed the moment we stepped inside the Borromees' gorgeous lobby.

Happy Hour with American friends Bill and Mary Ann. Hemingway used to imbibe frequently at the lobby bar at Grand Hotel Des Ils Borromees

Now THIS is an elevator

Overlooking Lake Maggiore, our room was small but beautifully decorated.  What captured our hearts were the lovely outdoor pools, the amazing breakfasts on the veranda ( seemingly transported from a glamorous 1950’s Hollywood movie set),

Feeling like a movie star at breakfast

and the spa.  Oh, the spa!   With all the pools, jets, steam rooms, and saunas, we felt completely rejuvenated after our three nights stay.  

Bill and Mary Ann joined us for two days of fun sightseeing including the Palazzo Borromeo on Isola Bella, and Isola Madre where we saw what has to be some of the creepiest marionettes in the world ever created.  Loved it!

Would love to know the story behind these characters

Spending the day exploring the islands by ferry, the four of us found each nearby island fascinating.  For one thing, we had never seen albino peacocks before. 

Mama albino peacock with her chicks

Travelers Tip:  If you are on a long trip like this, it makes sense to build in time to locate a local laundromat to clean laundry.   In Stresa, our nearby laundromat was filled with locals seemingly having a party with fellow neighbors while folding piles of garments.   Kindly, one woman used gestures to show us how to purchase “tokens” to start the machines.   Doing our laundry proved to be one more interesting adventure.

Too soon, it was time to say goodbye to our friends before heading back to the Stresa train station.  What we discovered upon arrival however, was that due to construction on the tracks, no trains were running that day.   According to our app, we needed to catch a bus to nearby Arona.   Undaunted, we patiently waited with about 20 other tourists for a bus to come along.

BIG TRAVELERS TIP - Italian schoolchildren travel to and from their schools via luxury buses, the same that tourists use to go between cities and stations.  Be advised:  these buses only offer service to the children, no tourists allowed.

We waited --- and waited.  Out of seemingly everywhere, hundreds of schoolchildren in uniform joined us at the bus station.   Bus after bus arrived, but none would take us to Arona.    When another couple with a flight that evening out of Milan grew more frantic, we joined forces.  Walking back to their hotel, a taxi was called with quick success by the hotel desk clerk.  

Travelers Tip:   Despite having a full service SIM card for our phone, we had no luck making calls out from our cell phones.    We have still not figured out what went wrong. 

Our hero, the Stresa taxi driver (in the blue blazer), who delivered us safely and quickly to Arona

The four of us made it to Arona but I never found out if the lovely couple made their flight to Sydney, Australia that evening.  

Travelers Tip:   Going through this experience reiterates the importance of giving yourself enough time before catching important legs of your travels.   Whenever I fly back to Philadelphia from any distant city, I always stay the night before at a nearby airport hotel.

At this point, hauling all our luggage on and off trains was starting to get a bit tiresome.  When the train to Milan from Arona only stopped in the industrial area of Milan instead of Centrale Station, we fortunately were familiar enough with the subway system to get ourselves to Milano Centrale to catch our train to our next stop for the night (Tirano) only 90 minutes later than originally planned.

Traveler’s Tip:  When you purchase a train ticket in Italy, you are able to use your ticket for most any train if running late.   You may have to pay a bit more but you are able to board with your original ticket.   Despite catching a later train than planned, our tickets were honored without additional cost. 

It turned out to just be one of “those” days.   Of course we bragged too soon about Italian trains running on time.    Our train to Tirano turned out to be THE “Slow Train to Tirano”.   Maddeningly slow.  What should have been a 2 and ½ hour train ride, turned into an almost a five hour journey.  Halfway through, we discovered that there were no working toilets in our rail car.  The only available toilets were accessible by getting off the train, walking past a train engine behind our rail car, and entering another rail car to only hope the toilets worked on that one.   Not wishing to take the chance that we’d get stuck on the other car or worse, have the train start moving while we were going from one part of the train to another, I chose to not drink or eat during our hours-long ride.  When we finally arrived in Tirano, Italy at 8 pm (in the dark), we slowly walked along the cobblestones to our hotel,  Best Western’s Centrale, worn out, hungry, and very thirsty. 

Thankfully, the front desk clerk greeted us with a big friendly smile and two large glasses of the best tasting water I’ve ever enjoyed.  After a quick dinner out (the restaurants close at 10 pm in Tirano), we turned in for the night.  

One of the best meals of our trip at Antica Osteria del'Angelo in Tirano, Italy

Traveler’s Tip:  If you do replicate this part of the trip and your travels take you to Tirano (not to be confused with Terano), be sure to have dinner at Antica Osteria dell’ Angelo; fabulous Italian al fresco dining at its best.

That night, we decided we are indeed too old to ever attempt another trip like this again.  Between all the train and bus  transfers with two pieces of luggage each (a rollaway and backpack), our bodies were letting us know we weren’t 30 (or 40, or even 50), anymore.

Thankfully, we knew what was coming up - a train ride on the Bernina Express into Switzerland with a return stay at another favorite hotel in Pontresina.   The anticipation of going back to the wonderful Walther Hotel energized us for the next day’s rail journey. 

They say you can’t go back.   We certainly hoped to prove the adage wrong.