Getting to and from Switzerland from Paris

Take the train. Second, book an open jaw ticket return from Switzerland. It will be cheaper and why waste time returning to Paris.

The fastest/cheapest/most comfortable way to do this is via the TGV high-speed train from Paris Gare de Lyon station to Basel (travel time about 3 hours 15 min). At Basel transfer to a direct intercity train to Interlaken Ost station (2 hours), then take the local trains/cable cars up to Murren.

The TGV uses airline style pricing so the sooner you book the cheaper it will. Book tickets at tgv-europe.com

The journey from Basel to Murren requires no advance reservation so simply purchase that leg at the station when you arrive in Basel.

Since you are already going to be in Switzerland it would be more efficient to fly out of Zurich back to the US. There are frequent trains from Interlaken to the airport with a change in Bern.

Check schedules and connections at the Swiss Rail site: rail.ch

Good advice to fly "open jaws" and to buy an advance-discount TGV ticket from Paris to Basel. See Rick's France rail page for tips on booking 3 months in advance for the best fare. In addition, you might want a Swiss Card for about $226 per person in 2nd class to cover trains from Basel to Muerren and Muerren to Zurich, plus 50 percent off any transportation tickets that you buy during your stay in between those trips (trains, boats, buses, mountain lifts).

I'm looking at the same trip from Murren to Paris. I've heard you can save a little by putting in a different home country than USA. Seeing if anyone has had any experience with this.

For instance, if you enter Antarctica, it keeps you on the SNCF/TGV page and a 2nd class trip for four can be found for as low as $130/person. However, by entering USA for home country, it re-directs you to raileurope.com, where the same train is listed for $145/person.

The only thing to note is that you must be able to print your ticket online upon purchase, since it will ask for a shipping address in Antarctica.

Just trying to get some input to see if anyone else has tried this.

Any help is appreciated!

Or pick up your ticket for the French part of the journey from any SNCF station or boutique in Paris.

Danny,
I used SNCF and put my pick-up country as Italy (rather than the US so it didn't push me over to the RailEurope site). I then chose the print-at-home option.

This is a good example of the new system working well. A question is followed by a few good responses, then there is a response by Laura at ETBD indicating where to find the relevant info in the RS books. A couple more readers respond after that. Now the original poster has some advice/opinions/information for making travel plans. And it was all free!

Thanks for all the great comments and suggestions! We have now booked our air travel into Paris and out of Zurich! And we plan on taking the train from the Gare de Lyon station to Basel. We really appreciate this new system - what a wonderful way to help each other!!!

Thanks, Devon!