Paris-Gimmelwald-Venice Train Logistics

I haven't done your itinerary, but I can tell you that the best site for detailed train timetables for virtually all of Europe is the German Rail site.

For Paris - Gimmelwald it shows that your fastest route with the fewest connections is Paris Gare de Lyon - Basel SBB - Interlaken Ost - Lauterbrunnen - Muerren - Gimmelwald.

For Gimmelwald - Venice your routes with the fewest connections are Gimmelwald - Muerren - Lauterbrunnen - Interlaken Ost - Spiez - Milano Centrale - Venezia Santa Lucia or Gimmelwald - Muerren - Lauterbrunnen - Interlaken Ost - Spiez - Brig - Venezia Santa Lucia.

If you are going to Gimmelwald can I assume that you have the Rick Steves Switzerland book? If so, the transportation options from Interlaken Ost to Gimmelwald are very clearly laid out.

If you do the route outlined just above you will have a walk from the cablecar station in Muerren across the village to the train station, then around to the cable car down to Lauterbrunnen. I've done it many times but you may find it a bit complex. Or you could walk uphill from Gimmelwald all the way to the station in Muerren but with luggage you might not want to.

You might find that taking the cable car down from Gimmelwald (hold on to your hat) to the valley below and walking just a few feet to the Postbus and riding that along the valley to Lauterbrunnen for the train down the hill to Interlaken Ost might be easier.

Of course you can do any of these in reverse on your arrival.

The TGV from Paris Gare de Lyon to Basel (it continues to Zurich, you change at Basel) is quite fast, possibly stopping at Dijon. There is also a possibility to take the TGV from Paris Gare de l'Est to Strasbourg and change there for Basel, or some continue to Basel.

See what fares are available and what works for you.

The trip from Interlaken Ost to Venice via Milan could be the simple one but with plenty of tunnel via Spiez and probably Brig, or via the narrow gauge to Luzern over the very scenic Brunig pass. From Luzern it is one stop to Arth-Goldau then winding through the mountains via Lugano to Milan. Then frequent fast trains from Milan to Venice. Make sure that you are routed to Venezia Santa Lucia. Mestre is on the mainland and most definately where you don't want to be.

cegnau,

That's actually a fairly simple trip and as Tim mentioned, you'll be departing from Gare de Lyon in Paris. This is the method I'd probably use:

• Depart Gare de Lyon at 10:23, arrive Interlaken Ost at 15:28 (time 5H:05M, one change at Basel SBB). There are other departures, most of which take longer and some have more changes. Choose whichever one works best for you.
• At Interlaken Ost, transfer to the local Berner Oberland train for the trip to Lauterbrunnen.
• Since your end destination is Gimmelwald, I'd suggest travel to Stechelberg via the Post Bus and then Cable Car directly to Gimmelwald, rather than via Mürren.
• If you'd like to use the method I suggested, when you arrive at Lauterbrunnen station, walk across the street and board the Post Bus (it's bright yellow, you can't miss it). It will be "timed" to be there at about the time the train arrives. If you buy tickets to Gimmelwald when you arrive at Interlaken Ost, they will include all modes of transport.
• The Post Bus will take you to the Schilthornbahn in Stechelberg (trip will take about 12 minutes). Walk up the steps and board the Cable Car.
• The ride to Gimmelwald is only about 5 minutes on the Cable Car. Have your Camera ready as the views are spectacular! Which hotel are you staying at in Gimmelwald?

For the trip from Gimmelwald to Venice, reverse the route described above to Interlaken Ost. One of the quickest trips will be a departure from Interlaken Ost at 08:00, arriving Venezia Santa Lucia at 14:40 (time 6H:40M, 2 changes at Spiez and Brig, reservations compulsory on the last leg). That will mean a fairly early departure from Gimmelwald, but the alternative means arriving in Venice quite late. You can see all the details on the bahn.de or sbb.ch websites.

Happy travels!

This is great! I feel better already. I have NOT read Rick's guide to Switzerland, just the back door book and 2014 guide to Europe. But it sounds like the trips won't take too long at all. I haven't reserved a room in Gimmelwald yet simply because I wanted to make sure the travel logistics worked out first. But I'm hoping for Esther's Guesthouse:)
Thank you both so much! Very much looking forward to my first European trip.

Hey there. Does anyone have any knowledge about this Rome2Rio transportation site? On the surface, it seems legit and nicely organized. But I wanted some feedback from experienced travelers:) Thanks so much!!

I haven't used it myself because all the answers are on the official sites' webpages, but I have seen both effusive recommendations and some comments that it is out of date and/or incomplete. I'd check anything found there against official sites.

If you will be basing at Gimmelwald can I strongly suggest that you consider getting the Rick Steves Switzerland book which is jam packed with Berner Oberland information and maps. It isn't perfect but really does a decent job in that area.

cegnau,

Regarding the Rome2Rio website, I've found that it provides a good "general" idea of the transportation options between different points (especially if they're somewhat obscure and not well travelled), but not as much specific detail as the various rail, bus or air websites. I tend to use it frequently for planning my own trips, but always get the details from other websites (such as bahn.de).

Thanks Ken. I was just curious about it - I'd only skimmed over the site for a general overview, but was curious if anyone had actually used it.