With the vast and comprehensive train systems throughout Western Europe, traveling between Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Italy by train isn't difficult, only requiring you to choose a route. For the most direct routes to Italy you have two options. You can travel via Paris on high-speed trains or you can travel via Zurich on an overnight sleeper train and a regional Swiss train. The routes will get you to Turin and Milan, respectively, the two northernmost cities in Italy. From there, Italian train service will get you to other parts of Italy.
Paris Route
- Make your way to Amsterdam Central Station and take a Thalys high-speed train to the Paris Nord Station, which will get you to Paris in about three hours. You must then transfer to the Gare de Lyon station, a few miles away via the local RER D interurban trains. From Paris Nord to Gare de Lyon station, it should take roughly 20 minutes. At Gare de Lyon, take a high-speed TGV train, which will take you to the Turin Porta Susa station in about five-and-a-half hours. Turin is the first major city in Italy you'll reach via the Paris train route.
Zurich Route
- Take a City Night Line train, operated by the German rail service, from Amsterdam Central Station to Zurich's main station. The City Night Line offers an overnight train with sleeper compartments, departing in the evening from Amsterdam and arriving in the morning in Zurich. The trip takes about 12 hours. At the Zurich station, you will need to transfer to a Swiss Railways EuroCity train that will get you Milan Central station in three hours and 40 minutes. EuroCity trains are not considered high-speed, but they are modern and comfortable.
- Inter-Country Travel
- Once you have reached Italy, you can use the country's national train service, Trenitalia, or the privately owned Italo service to get to other areas of Italy. Both train services offer high-speed trains throughout Italy, particularly to larger cities, but Trenitalia has far wider service to small towns. Within the major cities, such as Rome, Milan, Naples and Turin, local train and bus service gets you around.
Scenic Routes
- If you are not in a hurry to get to Italy, there are a number of scenic train routes to consider. They may take longer, but you will have a chance to see more of Europe along the way. For example, If you want to see more of Germany, you could take a German Deutsche Bahn train, which will travel through the heart of Germany to get to Munich. From Munich you can transfer to a train that goes through Austria and then to Italy. If you want to see more of France, you could take the Thalys train to Paris, then transfer to a French TGV train that would take you to Marseille in the south of France before reaching Italy.
