I am going to Lauterbrunnen in July and plan to go from there down to the Cinque Terre (Manarola) via trains. I am wondering if this is easy enough to do all in one day or should I break up the trip. I know there will be layovers and possibly delays. The route I have been able to map out includes leaving Lauterbrunnen ->Spiez (one hour)-> Milan (2.5 hours)-> La Spezia (over 3 hours) and then a local train into Manarola. I know the northern Lakes would be a great area to break up the trip, but I already planned for that at the end of my trip. Any advice would be appreciated.
Posted by
Vancouver, BC, Canada
191 posts
I think this sounds ok, it would be a pretty full travel day but I think it is defiently doable. I would leave Lauterbrunnen as early as you can, most hotels are only a 5-10 minute walk from the train station. The staff at the Lauterbrunnen train station are very nice and helpful, just tell them where you want to go and they will print you out what looks like a ticket and has all the times and track numbers so if you have a tight connections you know right where to go. You won't have much of a problem with the trains in Switzerland they are amazing, sometimes trains are delayed in Italy and you may have up to an hour wait at La Spezia to get the train to Manarola.
Make sure when you get to La Spezia that you get the train that stops in all the towns, some of the trains only stop in first town and the last town. Also if you wanted to there is a couple direct trains from Milan to Vernazza, I am a little biased because I stayed in Vernazza, but it would cut down a transfer. I believe there is also a direct train from Milan to Monterosso. Also make sure that you arrive within the time period for hotel check-in because its a smaller area some hotels don't take late check-ins!
Posted by
OP
Charlotte, NC
49 posts
Cora,
Thanks for the advice. Are there any hotels in Lauterbrunnen that you could recommend?