Train questions

Germany: www.bahn.de
Switzerland: www.sbb.ch
Italy: www.trenitalia.com
France: www.sncf.com

If you're traveling within a country then use that country's website to book. If you're traveling between 2 different countries (starting in one, ending in the other) then use either country's website to book. It never hurts to just check on any of these websites for rail journeys as one site may offer a better site than the other.

Try to do the "print at home" tickets if you can. If you choose to pick up the tickets at the station then make sure you will be in THAT country before your departure. You don't want to have to pick up your Italian Rail Tickets at the station if the beginning of your trip to Italy is in Switzerland - make sense?

After taking the Eurostar from London to Brussels, take the fast train down to Paris.

I'm more into flying from city to city when the distances are great. Many travelers underestimate the distances around Europe.
From Paris de Gaulle or Orly airports, budget European air carriers can get you quick and efficiently to all over Western Europe. You can fly just about anywhere for just over $100, and you can spend more time in the truly great cities.

I'd suggest EasyJet to Pisa. From there, you take a short train to LaSpezia, Italy and then a local train into the Cinque Terre.
Reverse your previous train trip to Pisa, and the train from Pisa over to Florence is just an hour.
When you leave Florence, you'll want to take a fast train, with reservations, to Rome.
Florence and Rome are great cities to work out of taking regional day trips on buses or organized tours.
Unfortunately, it's not possible to see every city and country on a trip with limited time.

I never use Rail Europe to book tickets, but I have been grateful for one service they provide (which contradicts a previous post): I had to pick up a pre-paid TGV ticket but had a very short connection time in Paris which included a change of stations. I was able to pick up the Paris-to-Lyon ticket in Brussels at a Rail Europe boutique, even though I did not buy the ticket through them. The cost for RE printing the ticket (there was no print-at-home option) was €10.

The simplest plan is to buy tickets in train stations as you go, but that's not usually cheapest for longer distances in western Europe.

DeutscheBahn is the most complete site for train schedules across Europe, including to all your destinations, but does not sell these tickets. It gives you an objective look at whether or not trains require reservations. How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the link and tips for using it.

Rail Europe will sell tickets to most of your destinations, but may not include some regional train departures connecting to/from the five towns of the Cinque Terre (regional tickets are easy to buy at train stations). There is still time to get advance-purchase ticket discounts through that link, or other web sites mentioned above, especially for the longer legs to/from Paris.

A European web site like SBB cannot book your whole day's ride from Grindelwald to Florence because of the connections within Italy. SBB could sell you Grindelwald to Milan and Trenitalia could sell you Milan to Florence. Or a live person at a train station could handle both.

A Selectpass to cover Benelux, France, Switzerland and Italy would be another way to option ($440 per person for 6 travel days in 1st class). You would also pay to reserve a about half your train rides, most importantly Brussels-Paris by Thalys and Paris-Strasbourg or Paris-Basel by TGV, which are unfortunately expensive reservations with limited availability. If you choose that plan, then book those French reservations at the same time that you buy the rail pass. (Paris-Bayeux is served by slower trains that don't require reservations.)

If you're looking at a pass for just one or two countries, then it kicks in when you cross the border, such as at Basel when you come from Paris and at Iselle or Chiasso on the way to Italy. You can buy separate tickets to or from that border point (in a train station or in advance). See also http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/using-your-rail-pass.

Laura, you're mistaken. SBB sells tickets from Grindelwald all the way to Florence SMN 2nd class for 142 Chf for travel March 9 (for example).

I always check seat61.com for advice.

"Also does anyone know if you purchase a rail ticket here and print the ticket off to take with you if you have to show the credit card that the ticket was paid with?"

You do need the credit card in Germany. Other countries work differently; when you buy the ticket, the rules are spelled out (France required my passport for one of my tickets, but that was over 5 years ago).

I agree that the Bahn site is the best to use to look up most schedules. If you want to buy tickets in advance, here's the list from the Man In Seat 61 of which websites to use to book each journey: http://tinyurl.com/bo8x6o6

"I don't know if a 2 country pass would be helpful? I don't know how they work once you go beyond the border of the pass countries"

Once you are outside of the two covered countries, the pass is totally not valid for anything. Imagine a Canada-USA pass in Mexico. A few stations are considered part of two countries for pass purposes; the most famous example is Salzburg, which is in Austria but is also covered by German rail passes. Other than that, you can buy a ticket for the non-covered portions before you get on the train. For example, if you have a German and French two-country pass and are transiting from one to the other through Belgium, you would only need to buy a ticket for the Belgian portion; just show your pass along with your route to the ticket seller to get what you need.

" I didn't realize train travel could be so confusing."

Yes, there is a learning curve, but once you're there, you'll get the hand of it quickly. Have you seen Rick's instructional video? http://tinyurl.com/ac82c92

I note that you plan on staying in Grindelwald. Have you got your hotel yet? Grindelwald is very nice but down low, with cars and buses in the road.

I prefer the traffic free villages of Wengen and Muerren, up the mountain part way with fab views across to the mountain tops....