Paris to Gimmelwald Region

We just did Paris to Wengen (across the valley from Gimmelwald) in May. It was a long day.

Paris to Annecy is via Lyon on the train and takes about 4 hours with one change of trains in Lyon. Easy enough. Annecy to Gimmelwald is just under 6 hours, 5 changes, and requires multiple transportation modes including bus, train, and gondola. Back to Paris is 6.5 to 7 hours depending on time and route.

Can you do it? Sure. Will the time you are able to spend in Gimmelwald justify the time spent in transit? Maybe, if you can give it 4 nights or more. You could stay in Lauterbrunnen and avoid the last two legs of travel, which include a bus and a gondola. We like Lauterbrunnen as it is easy to reach and convenient to both sides of the Lauterbrunnen Valley.

We spent 5 nights in Wengen in June this year. I really recommend the area, and that amount of time as a minimum. There were things we didn’t get a chance to do, because of weather. I would not try to do both Annecy and the Berner Oberland area in one week, including travel time.

I would either fly or take the train to Zurich, then continue to whichever town you decide to stay in. The favorites on this forum for the BO area seem to be Lauterbrunnen (transportation hub in the valley), Murren or Wengen (car-free villages up in the mountains), Gimmelwald (tiny car-free village), or Grindelwald (allows cars, busy like Lauterbrunnen).

If you can fly home from Zurich instead, that would save you a lot of travel time and expense.

It is 4 hours from Paris to Annecy by train, 7 hours from Annecy to Gimmelwald (with lots of transport changes) and 7 hours from Gimmelwald to Paris (again lots of changes). You decide.

Roy,

Given the specifics of the places you want to see, it might be prudent to skip the visit to Annecy, and focus on Switzerland. With seven days, you could not only explore the Berner Oberland but spend a few days in Lucerne. I find that planning for the number of nights in a particular location is easier than planning days.

As someone else mentioned, using "open jaw" flights would be a more efficient travel method, and one possibility is inbound Paris and outbound Zürich. That will give you more time for touring and will avoid the time and cost of returning to your starting point.

If travelling from Paris to the Berner Oberland, one of the easiest trips will be a departure from Paris Gare de Lyon at 07:22, arriving Interlaken Ost at 13:28 (time 6H:06M, one change at Basel SBB for 1H:02M). There are numerous other rail solutions from Paris, but most have more changes or take more time. Be sure you don't disembark at Interlaken West! You'll need to verify rail schedules just prior to your trip.

From Interlaken Ost, it's only about 20 minutes from there to Lauterbrunnen, which is the gateway to the Berner Oberland. You can either stay there or in Gimmelwald, Mürren, Wengen or any other location. I prefer Lauterbrunnen as it's the transportation hub for the area, so easy to access both sides of the valley from there.

If you decide to spend a few days in Lucerne, it's an incredibly beautiful city and in addition to touring the city, you could take a day trip to Mt. Pilatus or other sites..... check the current RS Switzerland guidebook for other choices.

One caveat to mention..... Switzerland is a very expensive country to travel in! Be sure to budget accordingly.

The 7:22 from Paris will get you to Interlaken at 12:58, 5h36 minutes. No need to spend an hour in Basel when trains run every half hour as Ken suggests.

Gimmelwald is tiny, the smalles village in the area, and having this area referred to as the "Gimmelwald Region" did elicit a chuckle from myself. Mürren and Wengen are larger and have far more to offer.

Getting to the Bernese Oberland is always going to be complicated, as a lot of different modes of transport are involved. But they all connect seamlessly, and transfers are a normal and expected feature of train travel. I travelled Belgium - Wengen yesterday and had 6 transfers...

I would either fly or take the train to Zurich, then continue to
whichever town you decide to stay in.

Travelling via Zürich is a bit of a detour. I'd suggest the train via Basel, can be booked on a single ticket at www.sbb.ch

I'd drop Annecy, too, and follow the open jaws suggestions. There is much more to see and do in the Lauterbrunnen area than around Annecy. You can travel so many places up and down both sides of the valley. Every step of a walk (I don't do heavy hiking anymore) gives new and magnificent views. Trains and lifts take you up and down the mountains. Definitely worth the effort. Annecy is much more limited in what there is to do though it's a pretty setting.

I'm in the Jungfrau region right now and it's not my first time.