Best midway point between Munich and Wengen Switzerland

johnkalin92

The fastest route by train is via Zurich, but certainly doesnt take all day. There are trains that take only 6 1/2 (ish) hours, according to Dbahn. You would only be in Zurich long enough to change trains, so I'm not sure why that would be an issue. If you want to break up the trip with an overnight and not travel via Zurich, then take the train to Lucerne and spend a night there. That trip would be about 2 hours shorter that day, plus another 2 1/2 -3 hours the next (on a separate ticket).

Google maps estimates about 5 1/2 hours to drive (via Lucerne). That estimate of course assumes no stops en route and ideal travel conditions with no slow downs at any point. Nor does it include time to pick up the car, get gas, or find parking. You need to add at least 25% more time for a realistic idea (let's call it 6 3/4 hrs). Plus you will need to buy a vignette to drive in Switzerland, and have the very large drop off fee (up to several hundred euros) because you are dropping in a different country. Not to mention the cost of gas and parking.

Trains are most likely faster than a car - it is high speed in Germany, and much faster than mountain roads in Switzerland. So I would go for that.
As to where: the change heavy part is in Switzerland, Munich to Zurich is a single 3 hour train ride, and you can’t reasonably get by Zurich. So if it were just for splitting at the most convenient spot, I would go for Zurich. It is nice and a stroll at the lake might be a pleasant thing in a June evening when the sun sets after 9pm.

I would take trains. The drop-off fee in Switzerland is very expensive. Besides, you would probably have to return the car in Interlaken and take the trains for the last leg to Wengen anyway.

For an overnight I recommend Konstanz at Lake Constance (Bodensee in German). It is roughly half way between Munich and Wengen (4 hours each leg.) A very nice town by the lake, beautiful in summer with a picturesque old town and lovely lakeside promenade/activities.

I’d like to spend the night somewhere along the way to not spend an entire day traveling

Zurich works fine to break up the trip. Stay there.

You have 3 nights in Munich. 2 of your days will apparently be spent doing day trips by train, which probably means travel to Salzburg and back on one day and another day to Neuschwanstein or to Berchtesgaden, assuming you have been dazzled by the usual tourist enticements. So you will already have tallied 9-11 hours on public transport by the time you are ready to leave Munich for Wengen. It's understandable that you might want to break this journey up after all that. So... here's what you might do...

On Day 4, sightsee in Munich (something you probably haven't done yet!) and have a big Mittagessen. Then leave Munich at 16:49, with some sandwiches for dinner, on the DIRECT EC train to Zurich (20:28.) The train has a Bordrestaurant if you prefer.

On Day 5, have breakfast, then catch the 9:02 to Wengen via Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen (ar. 11:41 in Wengen.)

You can get one ticket for the whole family which covers your travel on both days. It's currently priced at €49.99 p.p. at the DB site on the date I checked. Enter a stopover in Zurich of 12 hours (as I did for the random date of June 24) and with some luck you will find something similar.

(If this were my trip, and if I were not all that interested in Munich, I would not include the lengthy day trips from Munich. I'd instead have a look at visiting the many nice places that lie roughly in between Munich and Zurich, places that are on my travel route toward Zurich already Landsberg am Lech, Augsburg, Oberstaufen, Lindau, Meersburg and one or two others come to mind.)

I would not spend a day en route. That turns one travel day in to two travel days. 6 1/2 hours on trains is not hardship. It fact, it is a pretty comfortable, varied, route on good trains.

So just go Munich - Wengen, and maximise the time you have in interesting places.