Magic of winter in Venice

Why you should take the train to Venice?

Venice is easily my favourite city - it’s a dream destination that should be on everyone’s European bucket list - providing you go at the right time of year.

Nothing could persuade me to visit this ancient city during the summer when cruise ships alone can disgorge 30,000 additional day trippers onto the already crowded tiny main island. My favourite time is October to November when it’s cool but not too cold.

This is my ninth trip and I’m drawn back to a wintery Venice because of a new high speed rail route that started in December 2014, and the train is the perfect way to arrive in style. No railway station in the world beats the spectacle at Santa Lucia where you step straight out onto the Grand Canal (no undignified baggage and coach transfer scramble here).

Mention the train from London to Venice to anyone and they instantly think of Agatha Christie and the Orient Express; 80 years after its first publication this murder-mystery is still imbedded like a dagger in our cultural consciousness. But the iconic and expensive £2050 ($3,850) one way Simplon Orient Express is not the only way to take the train to Venice. My similar trip was on scheduled trains with good hotels, although without the glamour and sophistication of Hercule Poirot.

Slow paced travel in Venice.

I took London’s Eurostar to the French town of Lille and avoided Paris, which is a great alternative that avoids the hassle of crossing that traffic choked city to your onward railway station. At Lille I simply changed platforms and boarded the new TGV Swiss Rail service to Geneva and was soon hurtling along at 300 km/hr. It took just 4 hours and Switzerland has never seemed so accessible.

Geneva is a pleasant and elegant stopover, nestled around the southern edge of Lake Geneva with the River Rhone flowing through its heart before it meanders onwards to the Mediterranean. On a cold but dazzlingly bright December day the surrounding Alpine peaks glint with snow as little boats weave back and forth between the old and new towns and the lake’s startlingly tall, Victorian era lake fountain (Jet d’Eau) still impresses as the world’s tallest fountain.

When travelling around Europe by train a top tip is always to stay in hotels close to the station. This means that on arrival you’re quickly settled into your accommodation and can be out exploring in no-time. Even more important, when departing, there’s no need to check-out exceptionally early or worry about missing your train because you’re not dependent on taxis or bus transfers. I stayed at the very nice and perfectly located Warwick hotel in Geneva, which was within sight of the station and just a 5 minute stroll to the Lake and the heart of the city.

My Geneva to Venice train left at 07.40 taking a stunningly picturesque route through forest and snow capped mountains with waterfalls, rivers, lakes and isolated villages perched on Alpine meadows. The train hugged the shore of Lake Geneva to Lausanne and Montreux then turned east to the ski resorts of Visp and Brig. The spectacular scenery continued through winding Alpine valleys and mountain tunnels and on into Italy with more snow clad peaks and dormant vineyards sloping down to the edge of Lake Maggiore. You couldn’t want for a more scenic trip.

The beauty and frailty of the city’s architecture is breathtaking.

After a brief stop in Milan we continued across northern Italy following the line of the Dolomites and through miles of vineyards, arriving in Venice at 14.30. My only gripe about the journey was not allowing enough time to get off and explore Montreux, Milan, Verona and Padua.

A 10 minute stroll from Venice’s railway station brought me to the Papadopoli, my Venetian hotel on the Tolentini canal. The marble floors, over-the-top Murano chandeliers and elegant furniture is the perfect 18th-century classical style for a Venetian hotel.

Winter is when Venetian’s reclaim their islands, when boys kick footballs against ancient walls, when restaurants are all tucked up indoors with cosy lights spilling onto alleyways, it’s when you can walk around an almost empty St Mark’s Square and stroll straight into the Basilica or Doge’s Palace without having to queue.

What I most enjoy about Venice is it’s medieval scale, the Dickensian alleyways, the quiet emptyiness and it’s elegant sense of history - built for people not vehicles. Off the main throughfares it’s a marvellously eerie place of crumbling buildings and footsteps echoing along misty alleyways.

The beauty and frailty of the city’s architecture is breathtaking - lace-like stone balconies, gateways to secret gardens, stairways and arches opening into wide public spaces of campi and piazza. Some are deserted and others thrive like Campo San Polo with its winter ice rink. Dozens of children were skating in the afternoon before the adults claim it to themselves in the evening. All around the rink food stalls were selling hot snacks, sweets and cheeses, around the edge bars and cafes provide a cosy refuge.

It’s easy to splurge out in Venice, pay 10 euro for a coffee or hot chocolate in Caffè Florian, but off the tourist trail you’ll only need to pay 1 euro. At the Brek ristorante near the Scalzi Bridge I ate fresh pasta with a large glass of wine for 6.40 euro and in the evening attended a free Mozart concert at the Malibran theatre, the beautiful sister theatre of the famed La Fenice.

In winter Venice is less packed, blessed with magical misty mornings and blue sky afternoons, it’s less expensive, hotels are cheaper, taxes are halved, galleries and museums are relatively empty and you’ll always get a seat on the public vaporetto ferries. Summer’s theme park ambience has disappeared and Venice has returned to being a local town. Venetians stride along alleys in furs and puffy coats, return to their favorite restaurants and mellow their view of tourists as welcome visitors rather than invading hordes.

So, what’s not to love about London to Venice by train – with or without Hercule Poirot!

Fact file

My rail and hotel trip was organised by Great Rail Journeys Independent with prices starting from £449 ($845)pp, based on twin share – www.greatrail.com/grj-independent/).

Great Rail Journeys (www.greatrail.com) and Rail Discoveries (www.raildiscoveries.com) also offer escorted group rail tours to Italy. A 10 day Tuscany and Venice tour with Rail Discoveries starts at £1275 ($2400)pp. Contact on freephone 1800 006 491