Varenna to Ancona by Train and a Ferry to Split

Today is a travel day. We say farewell to Varenna and Lake Como. It’s been a fantastic and busy few days—we’ve loved it.

This morning, we caught a regional train from Varenna back to Milan, and from Milan we took a fast train (Frecciarossa) to Ancona, where we would board an overnight ferry to Split.

We checked out of the apartment in Varenna, backpacks on, and headed for the station.

The one-hour train journey back to Milan went quickly. We had a one-hour wait for our next train in Milan, but by the time you wander from one side of Milan station to the other and find your bearings, it didn’t seem like too long a wait.

Eventually, it was time to board our train. We wandered down the platform and boarded in carriage 2—we were in business class 👌. Big plush leather reclining seats and a central table between us. A very comfortable way to travel—incomparable to the V/Line service at home.

The kids were pretty excited and we all soon settled in for the journey. It’s amazing the distance you can travel at 300 km/h (and also silky smooth—again, very unlike V/Line).

The journey to Ancona took around three hours. As we got closer to Ancona, the train line hugged the Adriatic coast, which also gave us a preview of how rough it was currently, thanks to a reasonably strong northwesterly. 🫣😬

We arrived in Ancona, exited the train, and tried to orient ourselves (neither of us had been to Ancona before). The next challenge was to locate the ferry terminal so we could check in.

We had plenty of time.

The information on the SNAV ferry website and the emails we received didn’t really provide a lot of detail—other than that you needed to check in and then head to the ferry and be on board before sailing at 7 pm.

This is where things went a bit sideways. Not in a bad way—just a few wobbles.

We had seen there was a free bus to the port, so we asked around to find out where we could catch it, then headed to the stop out the front of the train station and waited.

The bus arrived and we confirmed with the driver that it would take us to the ferry port. This was the first mistake. Check-in was not at the ferry port…

We rode around on the bus—passing what appeared to be the ferry port—but against our best judgment, and observing others we suspected were also heading to the ferry, we all remained on the bus.

The bus then turned away from the port area and headed back into the city. This is when I started googling. This didn’t feel right.

We confirmed with the driver again and he said he would let us know. Luckily, the bus just runs a big loop—but it took about 40 minutes to essentially get back to the ferry port from where we started.

The driver indicated we were at the ferry port, so we got off.

We wandered down toward the waterfront and the ferry port and discovered a sign indicating check-in was back in the direction of the station.

So, backpacks on, we started walking. It was a reasonable distance with full packs and hungry kids—thankfully it wasn’t too hot. Following vague, randomly placed, and often obscured signs, we eventually located the ferry terminal (not the port!) and proceeded to check in. This process was smooth.

But now we had to get back to the port (where we had just walked from). Fortunately, there is a free shuttle which we gladly jumped on. No mistaking this time—its only destination was the port. A quick five-minute ride and we were there.

It was now about 5 pm and we had not had a “real” lunch—just some snacks on the train trip down. While this was enough for Laura and me, the kids were starting to get hangry.

Across the road from where we needed to board our ferry was a very conveniently located restaurant (tourist trap—but what do you do), which we decided to grab a quick dinner at to get us through the overnight journey.

We shared a Capricciosa and a Napoli pizza, a Greek salad, and the kids had a soft-serve ice cream each. This certainly hit the spot and filled us up.

We had heard very mixed reports about the ferry and the food onboard. We went in with pretty low expectations—it’s only a night. But we needed to be prepared on the food front for the kids. So we grabbed a couple of paninis to take away and would have these as a small breakfast on the ferry.

Getting on the ferry was a pretty straightforward process. Show passports at the immigration checkpoint, line up for 10 minutes, and board.

The ferry was reasonable—certainly not five-star—but above our previously low expectations. We checked in and went to find our room. We had expected a small (cozy) room with four fold-out bunk beds. The room, however, was reasonably spacious with four permanent bunks, an ensuite with shower and toilet, and some small storage lockers. It was certainly more than we had expected.

It was a relief to have the packs off our backs again after a full day of travel. Also, being able to lock them securely in the room was great.

We headed out to explore the ship and then hit the bar to chill out.

The kids were pretty excited to see all parts of the ship. We went up, down, and all around. By now, the sun was starting to set and the ship was getting ready to set sail.

We found the bar and managed to secure a few seats in an out-of-the-way area. Now time for a beer and a spritz. And we’re away.

We hung out in the bar and headed up on deck to watch the amazing Adriatic sunset.

After a few hours of people-watching in the bar and gazing over the Adriatic horizon, we were all pretty tired and decided to head back to the cabin.

The kids and Laura all hit the beds, while I had a quick shower—which in hindsight was not the best move.

While the ensuite was fully watertight, the water from the shower filled the entire floor area. The subtle listing of the ship was also enough to prevent the water from properly draining. So after my quick shower, I spent almost twice the time again to mop and drain the bathroom floor so anyone using the toilet in the night was not ankle-deep in shower water…

Anyway, crisis averted and I’m wiser for the experience. Although I suspect Laura was thinking “I told you so…”, she kept that to herself.

The night passed reasonably uneventfully (a good thing). The beds were not the best—but also not the worst.

We were woken at about 5 am with calls over the loudspeakers announcing our pending arrival into Split. I suspect this was more motivated by encouraging passengers up to the cafe for (a paid) breakfast.

We got ready, packed our things, and headed up to reception to check out and then onto the bar area where we found some seats. A coffee and the paninis we bought last night made a decent snack to get us going.

We arrived in Split and disembarked. A short walk along the waterfront took us from the ferry terminal around to the main waterfront of Split.

Wow—Split is amazing.

Our Airbnb hosts had agreed to let us in at 9 am. We weren’t meant to check in until 3 pm—which would have meant lugging our packs most of the day. So this was a fantastic start.

We headed from the main waterfront toward our Airbnb, hoping to find a small cafe to grab something more for the kids for breakfast and another coffee for us.

Wandering the streets of Split is amazing. White marble streets (although super bright when the sun’s out) make the city look very elegant.

About halfway to our accommodation, we found a place to eat. The staff were super friendly and it was again great to get the packs off for a bit.

After our short breakfast stop, we continued on and found our accommodation—just a short walk outside the old town.

Our host met us at about 9 am, let us in, and showed us around. They were really friendly and helpful.

The apartment is amazing and will be an awesome base for the next few days.

Today we will head out and get lost in the old town, finding our bearings and seeing what we can discover.

Tomorrow we have booked a trip out to Krka National Park—which is meant to be amazing.

So far, we are loving Croatia 🇭🇷

Farewell Varenna