 |
| Luigi Bevilacqua Silk Weaving Mill, Venice, Italy |
We woke up in the alpine calm of our campground near Chandolin, the birds chirping, the air so fresh it could probably be bottled and sold to stressed-out city folks. After a hearty breakfast (which may or may not have included a final farewell fondue), we bid adieu to the legacy of Ella Maillart, slung our packs into Shehzadi, our ever-reliable Toyota Tundra and hit the road with our fellow adventurers Odyssean Journey in Chetak, their Toyota Hilux Invincible-X.
 |
| Sierre, Switzerland |
Our heading? Italy! But not the usual boring border crossing with passport stamps and yawns. Nope. We decided to ride through the belly of the Alps — literally — on the Autoverlad Brig-Iselle car train, rocketing through the legendary Simplon Tunnel like caffeinated hobbits in pickups.
Chandolin to Venice — Post Summary
From the alpine calm of Chandolin, we load the trucks onto the Autoverlad Brig-Iselle car train and shoot through the 19.8-kilometer Simplon Tunnel into Italy. Emerging at Iselle, we wind north to Lake Como for a meal with a view and a climb to the medieval ramparts of Castello di Vezio. Then it's east to Venice — where we tour the ancient silk looms of Luigi Bevilacqua, pay respects at Marco Polo's plaque-marked courtyard, watch molten glass become art on Murano, get Shehzadi her first international oil change at Ferri Auto, and close the evening with spritz and Vivaldi in Piazza San Marco.
| What's Covered | |
| đźš‚ | Through the Simplon Tunnel on the Autoverlad Car Train |
| 🏔️ | Hello Italy: Lake Como and Castello di Vezio |
| 🧵 | Venice: Arrival and the Bevilacqua Silk Workshop |
| đź—ş️ | Marco Polo's House in Venice |
| 🔥 | Murano: Glass Island |
| 🔧 | Shehzadi's First International Oil Change at Ferri Auto |
| 🥂 | Strolling Venice: Piazza San Marco and Spritz |
We drove from Chandolin, Switzerland to Venice, Italy via the Autoverlad Brig-Iselle car train through the Simplon Tunnel and along the shores of Lake Como. The crossing put us under 19.8 kilometers of Alps in under 20 minutes — possibly the most efficient border crossing in Europe. This post covers the full day: the tunnel, the lake, the silk workshop, the glass island, the oil change, and the spritz.
| From | Chandolin, Switzerland |
| To | Venice, Italy |
| Distance | ~550 km / 2 days |
| Method | Overland by truck; Simplon Tunnel via Autoverlad car train |
| Vehicles | Shehzadi (2024 Toyota Tundra) & Chetak (Toyota Hilux Invincible-X, Odyssean Journey) |
| Key Stops | Brig, Simplon Tunnel, Iselle, Lake Como/Castello di Vezio, Venice |
Route at a Glance
- Chandolin, Switzerland — alpine departure
- Sierre and the Rhone Valley — descent to Brig
- Brig — Autoverlad car-train terminal
- Simplon Tunnel — 19.8 km under the Alps
- Iselle di Trasquera — Italy border emergence
- Lake Como — lunch, Castello di Vezio, lakeside drive
- Venice — silk workshop, Marco Polo, Murano, oil change, Piazza San Marco
Through the Simplon Tunnel on the Autoverlad Car Train
We rolled into the postcard-perfect town of Brig, Switzerland, where everything looks like it was designed by an architect with OCD and a love of flower boxes. Brig is the jumping-off point for one of Europe's quirkiest shortcuts: the Autoverlad Brig–Iselle, a car-on-a-train service that zooms you under the Alps in 20 minutes flat.
 |
| Sitting in Shehzadi on the Autoverlad Brig–Iselle Car Train |
You literally drive your car onto a train flatbed, park it like you're at a really weird drive-in movie and enjoy the world's darkest screening — because the Simplon Tunnel is 20 kilometers of pitch-black, damp rock. It's also one of the world's longest and oldest railway tunnels, completed in 1906, when people still wore monocles and called each other "chaps."
 |
| Autoverlad Brig–Iselle (Switzerland - Italy) Car Train |
The train jolted, the tunnel swallowed us whole and just like that — boom — we were in Italy. That's what we call border magic.
 |
| Car Train reaches Iselle, Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Italy from Brig, Valais canton, Switzerland |
Hello Italy: Lake Como and Castello di Vezio
Fresh off the train, we cruised into Italy with wide grins and hungry stomachs. The roads immediately took on that charmingly chaotic Italian style — scenic, narrow, a touch lawless and lined with espresso bars that dare you to stop every 10 minutes.
 |
| Lake Como, Italy |
Soon, the shimmering waters of Lake Como appeared, like something out of a romantic novel... or a James Bond chase scene. Either way, we were in love. We zigzagged up the hillsides toward Castello di Vezio, a medieval fortress perched like a bird's nest over the lake.
Castles, Curves and Crying Clutches
The road up was so twisty we swear it tied itself in a knot. Our trucks climbed like mountain goats with horsepower. Once at the top, we stood breathless — not from the hike, but from the view. Lake Como sparkled below, ringed by charming villages, lavish villas and the occasional millionaire sunbathing on a yacht the size of a small country.
The castle itself dates back to the Middle Ages and once guarded the lake from pirates and invaders. Today, it guards Instagrammers trying to get the perfect drone shot.
After pretending to be nobles surveying our domain, we rolled back down and parked by the lake for a meal that dreams are made of — pasta, lake fish, olive oil smoother than Sinatra and gelato that made us consider dual citizenship.
Venice: Arrival and the Bevilacqua Silk Workshop
With bellies full and the trucks grinning under the Italian sun, we headed east toward Venice, that floating maze of beauty, mystery and occasional seagull drama. This is by no means our first time in Venice, though our prior visits were via trains and not by driving in on our own Shehzadi.
 |
| Back in Venezia! |
We arrived just in time for golden hour and checked in to a quaint B&B tucked between two quiet canals. It smelled faintly of espresso and old books, which we considered an upgrade over hotel air freshener.
 |
| Luigi Bevilacqua's Silk Weaving Mill, Venice, Italy |
Next morning, bright-eyed and silk-curious, we hopped onto the vaporetto — Venice's water bus, which is basically a floating tram run by captains who grew up dodging gondolas for sport. Being on an expedition on the ancient Silk Road and having learned a lot previously about silk in Lyon, France, we sailed to Luigi Bevilacqua's weaving workshop in Venice.
 |
| Luigi Bevilacqua Weaving Mill, Venice, Italy |
Stepping into Luigi Bevilacqua's is like crashing the fanciest, most exclusive textile party of the 16th century — except you're allowed in and the bouncers are 300-year-old looms that still work harder than most of us on a Monday. This place isn't just a silk factory; it's a time capsule of Venetian hustle, where artisans have been weaving gold into fabric since before "Made in Italy" was even a thing.
 |
| Luigi Bevilacqua Silk Weaving Mill, Venice, Italy |
Our guide — who probably dreams in damask patterns — explained how silk's secrets first slipped out of China in the 6th century, smuggled west by Byzantine monks until the technique eventually spread into Italy itself, where Venice picked up the thread (literally) centuries later. Watching a weaver casually recreate a 500-year-old design from some ancient lookbook had us questioning our life choices — these people can thread a needle blindfolded and we can't even fold a fitted sheet. The best part? Learning that Lyon recruited some of Italy's best weavers to kickstart France's silk empire. Talk about getting ghosted by your star employees.
 |
| Luigi Bevilacqua's Silk Workshop, Venice, Italy |
But Bevilacqua's still here, cranking out velvets so luxe they make modern "luxury" fabrics look like gym socks. When they let us touch a gold-threaded masterpiece, we half-expected a Doge to materialize and charge us for the privilege. If you've ever wondered how silk went from "precious Silk Road commodity" to "why is this scarf €300?", this tour spills the tea (and the threads). Just try not to walk out with a wallet full of regrets and a sudden urge to redecorate your entire life in brocade.
Marco Polo's House in Venice
We have been fortunate to seek travelers' blessings from the legendary Ibn Battuta in Morocco. Here in Venice, we went looking for the home of Marco Polo, the other legendary globetrotter whose life overlapped a bit with Battuta's. We sailed a narrow canal over to Sito della Casa di Marco Polo — the house of Marco Polo, maybe.
 |
| Marco Polo's House in Venice (Sito della Casa di Marco Polo) |
After excitedly navigating here, we found ourselves staring at ... a wall! Not just any wall, mind you — a wall with a small plaque that basically says "Marco Polo lived here, maybe." That's it. That's the whole attraction. Now don't get us wrong — we love a good historical marker. But when you've just come from seeing Murano's glassblowers defy physics and the Doge's Palace dripping in gold, a brick wall with some faded text feels about as exciting as finding out your "authentic Venetian souvenir" was made in China. (The irony is not lost on us.)
 |
| Inside of the current structure where Marco Polo's house once stood |
The real kicker? There isn't even a proper house to see. The original structure burned down centuries ago, leaving behind exactly zero camel skeletons, zero ancient travel journals and zero exhibits about how to convince Kublai Khan you're worth keeping around.
Final Verdict: Worth a quick detour if you're already in the area and want to pay respects to history's greatest travel influencer. But maybe lower your expectations from "epic Silk Road monument" to "slightly more exciting than the average Venetian alleyway." And for heaven's sake, don't skip the nearby textile museum to see this — their silk collection actually has surviving artifacts from Polo's era that won't leave you questioning your life choices.
 |
| Inside of the current structure where Marco Polo's house once stood |
Still, standing there gave us chills. This was the guy who packed a bag, hopped on a camel and brought the Silk Road to Europe's dinner tables. No Google Maps, no luggage with wheels and definitely no Toyota Tundra. Respect.
Murano: Glass Island
Later, we caught a water bus to Murano, Venice's fiery glass island. You can feel the heat the second you arrive — furnaces roar and artisans swirl molten glass like magicians casting spells.
 |
| Murano Navagero, Fondamenta Andrea Navagero, Venezia, Italy |
We watched a master create a delicate glass horse in under two minutes, which made our last IKEA assembly look embarrassingly slow. One artisan let us try blowing glass (don't worry, we didn't burn anything valuable) and explained how Murano's glassmakers were once considered so important, they weren't allowed to leave the island. Not in a "we love you" way — in a "state secrets" kind of way.
Shehzadi's First International Oil Change at Ferri Auto
 |
| Shehzadi at Ferri Auto in Venice, Italy |
Big moment: Shehzadi got her first international oil change! We took her to Ferri Auto, a Toyota service center just outside Venice that treated her like royalty.
 |
| Shehzadi at Ferri Auto in Venice, Italy |
The staff were pros — welcoming, efficient and even a little curious about this giant North American Tundra in their parking lot. She got a full oil-and-filter treatment, a little undercarriage spa and a checkup. One mechanic even gave her a gentle pat on the hood and said, "Bella macchina!" We think she blushed.
Strolling Venice: Piazza San Marco and Spritz
That evening, we strolled through Piazza San Marco, arm in arm, completely spellbound. The square glowed as orchestras played classical tunes and tourists awkwardly tried to dance in sandals.
The golden mosaics of St. Mark's Basilica caught the sunset light like stained-glass fire. We sipped spritz, nibbled cicchetti and talked about how surreal it was to be tracing the Silk Road in reverse — while watching pigeons try to sneak into a cafĂ©.
Venice has always been the western terminus of the Silk Road — the city where Marco Polo was born, where Venetian merchants stitched Asia's wealth into European culture, and where threads of silk, glass, and spice first arrived from the east to reshape a continent. Standing in Piazza San Marco, watching the basilica's Byzantine gold catch the last of the day's light, the whole overland journey suddenly clicked into focus. We came from the direction the caravans came from. We just had better suspension.
Next Stop: Zagreb, Croatia!
Venice, you were magical. But the road — oh, the road — it keeps calling. Tomorrow, we roll toward Zagreb, Croatia's capital, via Slovenia's stunning Lake Bled and picture-postcard towns of Ljubljana and Maribor. We have heard that in Croatia, history dances with modern art and there are rumors of delicious burek and a museum dedicated to broken relationships (hey, we're not judging).
More border crossings, unexpected finds and laughter around the corner. Stay tuned, friends — Shehzadi's wheels are just warming up.
Until Next Time…
Thanks for riding with us. Whether it's on ancient trade routes, alpine shortcuts, or glassblower alleys — we're always chasing wonder, one dusty mile at a time.
See you in Zagreb.
The Vagabond Couple & Shehzadi
