Gino D’Acampo takes the train to explore Italy’s spectacular rail routes
Claire Webb - 26 November 2019
As well as tucking into regional delicacies, chef Gino D’Acampo is following in the tracks of Michael Portillo and Chris Tarrant and exploring northern Italy’s railways in his latest series. While its railways might not be as famous as its cuisine, Italy has one of the fastest and most efficient networks in Europe. Fast Frecciarossa (“red arrow”) trains link most major cities and can reach 186mph – the same speed as Japan’s famous bullet trains – and are great value if you book early. Rome to Florence takes just an hour and a half, while Rome to Milan takes just under three hours.
But if you want to see more than a blur of countryside, take a trip on one of Italy’s sedate and spectacular historic railways. D’Acampo hops on and off the Italian Riviera’s rollercoaster Cinque Terre line in this week’s episode, while the slow train to Sicily includes a boat ride, and Sardinia’s Little Green Train is a journey into the island’s past.
Choose Cinque Terre
Italy’s most popular train trip is also one of the shortest. The UNESCO-listed Cinque Terre is a dramatic six-mile stretch of coast on the Italian Riviera in the north-western region of Liguria: a string of tiny, pretty pastel-hued fishing villages cling to craggy cliffs criss-crossed with vines and olive tree terraces. For decades, the only way to get between the villages was on foot, by boat or on a 145- year-old railway that wriggles through endless tunnels. It attracts 2.5 million visitors per year, so it’s best to visit off-season.
Take a vintage tourist train
Known to German-speaking locals as the Rittnerbahn, this electric light railway was opened in 1907 to transport Belle Epoque tourists from Bolzano – the capital of South Tyrol – to a high mountain plateau with spectacular 360-degree views. Sigmund Freud wrote that the Renon plateau was “divinely beautiful” while holidaying here in 1911, back when this region was part of Austria. Nowadays, a modern cable car carries day-trippers up, but the Renon Line’s heritage cars still pootle along the top, through Sound of Music pastures and timeless villages.
Enjoy a trip into the Alps
Like the famous Bernina Express, the poetically named Ferrovia Vigezzina – the “100 Valleys” railway – crosses from northern Italy into Switzerland, where it’s known as the “Centovalli”. After leaving the city of Domodossola in Piedmont, the 30-mile narrow-gauge line twists around forested peaks and plunging gorges. Its blue-and-white trains wind over 83 bridges and through 31 tunnels, and takes nearly two hours to reach the Swiss town of Locarno. You can sail back to Italy on a hydrofoil because Locarno sits on Lake Maggiore, which also straddles the border.
Cruise to Sicily on a train-ferry
Italy is one of the few places in the world where you can travel by train and boat at the same time. If you catch the direct service from Rome or Naples to Sicily, the train is put on a ferry to cross the Straits of Messina. After leaving Naples, the train sails down the coast, skirting mountains and the Tyrrhenian Sea for four and a half hours. During the 25-minute sea crossing, you can stretch your legs and snack on an arancino from the bar. There’s also a sleeper train to Sicily from Milan, Rome and Naples.
Discover Sardinia’s wild side
Sardinia’s Little Green Train is a narrowgauge railway that pootles 100 miles from the east coast into the island’s mountainous interior. Today it transports tourists instead of shepherds and only runs in the summer, but little else has changed since DH Lawrence was a passenger on the Trenino Verde in 1921: the train rattles past vineyards, hamlets huddled on hills, sheer ravines and emerald valleys. Lawrence grumpily describes the journey in his book Sea and Sardinia.
LONDON TO ITALY BY TRAIN
Travelling to Italy by train is straightforward and inexpensive if you book in advance — and you can breakfast in London, lunch in Paris and have supper in Milan! After catching the Eurostar from London’s St Pancras station to Paris’ Gare du Nord, you simply hop on the Métro to Gare de Lyon and then a high-speed TGV to Turin or Milan. There’s also a Thello sleeper from Paris to Milan, Verona or Venice.
The really scenic route takes two days: travel to Munich via Paris on day one, then on to Verona or Venice through the spectacular Brenner Pass on a EuroCity train.
The luxurious option is to arrive in style on the art deco Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, which Agatha Christie described as “the train of my dreams”. It runs from London to Venice roughly once a week from March to November and the cost of the 36-hour journey starts at around £2,570 per person.
As well as tucking into regional delicacies, chef Gino D’Acampo is following in the tracks of Michael Portillo and Chris Tarrant and exploring northern Italy’s railways in his latest series. While its railways might not be as famous as its cuisine, Italy has one of the fastest and most efficient networks in Europe. Fast Frecciarossa (“red arrow”) trains link most major cities and can reach 186mph – the same speed as Japan’s famous bullet trains – and are great value if you book early. Rome to Florence takes just an hour and a half, while Rome to Milan takes just under three hours.
But if you want to see more than a blur of countryside, take a trip on one of Italy’s sedate and spectacular historic railways. D’Acampo hops on and off the Italian Riviera’s rollercoaster Cinque Terre line in this week’s episode, while the slow train to Sicily includes a boat ride, and Sardinia’s Little Green Train is a journey into the island’s past.
Choose Cinque Terre
Italy’s most popular train trip is also one of the shortest. The UNESCO-listed Cinque Terre is a dramatic six-mile stretch of coast on the Italian Riviera in the north-western region of Liguria: a string of tiny, pretty pastel-hued fishing villages cling to craggy cliffs criss-crossed with vines and olive tree terraces. For decades, the only way to get between the villages was on foot, by boat or on a 145- year-old railway that wriggles through endless tunnels. It attracts 2.5 million visitors per year, so it’s best to visit off-season.
Take a vintage tourist train
Known to German-speaking locals as the Rittnerbahn, this electric light railway was opened in 1907 to transport Belle Epoque tourists from Bolzano – the capital of South Tyrol – to a high mountain plateau with spectacular 360-degree views. Sigmund Freud wrote that the Renon plateau was “divinely beautiful” while holidaying here in 1911, back when this region was part of Austria. Nowadays, a modern cable car carries day-trippers up, but the Renon Line’s heritage cars still pootle along the top, through Sound of Music pastures and timeless villages.
Enjoy a trip into the Alps
Like the famous Bernina Express, the poetically named Ferrovia Vigezzina – the “100 Valleys” railway – crosses from northern Italy into Switzerland, where it’s known as the “Centovalli”. After leaving the city of Domodossola in Piedmont, the 30-mile narrow-gauge line twists around forested peaks and plunging gorges. Its blue-and-white trains wind over 83 bridges and through 31 tunnels, and takes nearly two hours to reach the Swiss town of Locarno. You can sail back to Italy on a hydrofoil because Locarno sits on Lake Maggiore, which also straddles the border.
Cruise to Sicily on a train-ferry
Italy is one of the few places in the world where you can travel by train and boat at the same time. If you catch the direct service from Rome or Naples to Sicily, the train is put on a ferry to cross the Straits of Messina. After leaving Naples, the train sails down the coast, skirting mountains and the Tyrrhenian Sea for four and a half hours. During the 25-minute sea crossing, you can stretch your legs and snack on an arancino from the bar. There’s also a sleeper train to Sicily from Milan, Rome and Naples.
Discover Sardinia’s wild side
Sardinia’s Little Green Train is a narrowgauge railway that pootles 100 miles from the east coast into the island’s mountainous interior. Today it transports tourists instead of shepherds and only runs in the summer, but little else has changed since DH Lawrence was a passenger on the Trenino Verde in 1921: the train rattles past vineyards, hamlets huddled on hills, sheer ravines and emerald valleys. Lawrence grumpily describes the journey in his book Sea and Sardinia.
LONDON TO ITALY BY TRAIN
Travelling to Italy by train is straightforward and inexpensive if you book in advance — and you can breakfast in London, lunch in Paris and have supper in Milan! After catching the Eurostar from London’s St Pancras station to Paris’ Gare du Nord, you simply hop on the Métro to Gare de Lyon and then a high-speed TGV to Turin or Milan. There’s also a Thello sleeper from Paris to Milan, Verona or Venice.
The really scenic route takes two days: travel to Munich via Paris on day one, then on to Verona or Venice through the spectacular Brenner Pass on a EuroCity train.
The luxurious option is to arrive in style on the art deco Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, which Agatha Christie described as “the train of my dreams”. It runs from London to Venice roughly once a week from March to November and the cost of the 36-hour journey starts at around £2,570 per person.