How to book train tickets for Monterosso to Interlaken

Just go to trenitalia and book the whole trip.

You could do that, or you could do the complete trip on www.sbb.ch
That is a long run, it will take about 7½ hours. SBB just quoted a price of CHF 115.00, see if it is any cheaper splitting it up as you proposed. Sometimes Trenitalia has cheap prices SBB cannot access.
Don't forget, once you are on Swiss tracks, reservations are not required and you can travel on any train.

Edit: Trenitalia cannot (or at least last time I tried it could not) sell tickets for Swiss domestic trains. Since you need to change trains to get to Interlaken, it cannot get you all the way.
SBB does sell tickets for Italian domestic trains (for example Monterosso to Milan), but does not always have the cheapest fares for them.

So are you saying that if I take a Swiss Train--I do not buy tickets for a particular time? It's just the point to point that matters?

The Trenitalia site wouldn't recognize Interlaken when I tried typing it into the destination field (it's an auto-complete function, can't just type any random word in there, you must pick from the choices it provides).

But it did recognize Spiez, which is just a short hop from Interlaken. Trenitalia priced that route as low as 28 Euro in late May. Perhaps I missed a trick or wasn't spelling "Interlaken" it as the Italians spell it?

Anyway, you could book that leg, and then just hop the next local train from there to Interlaken at your leisure (prolly about a 15-20 minute hop). Hope that helps.

Interlaken is not an option on the Italian site for the reason that Chris describes; it always requires a connection to a domestic train within Switzerland.

Terri, you are correct. Swiss tickets are not for specific trains. They have a date on them and the ticket is valid for any train on that date. Just like Italian regional tickets, except you do not have to stamp them.

Hubestur, That is because Trenitalia does not sell Swiss domestic tickets. Spiez is as close as she can get on the train from Milan (which continues to Bern and Basel), then she has to change for Interlaken. Spiez to Interlaken takes 25 mins. and costs CHF 11.00, 2nd class full fare.
If the ticket is that cheap, Terri should go for for it.

Terri, Also check out Monterosso to Brig on Trenitalia. That is before Spiez, but if the train from Milan is going to Geneva that is where you would have to change.

So to confirm....
I should book the following from Trenitalia
Monterosso to Spietz

Then I could get a local train from Spietz to Interlaken.

I am going on June 22. Trenitalia is not showing any trips--is that because it is too early?

Thanks!

Terri, yes, except it is spelt Spiez (no 'T'). And also check out Monterosso to Brig and get a Swiss train from there, as that is where you have to change for some of the trains from Milan.

Yes, 22nd June is too far in advance. There is also a timetable change in Italy (I forget the date), but it only affects Italian domestic trains, and there is little difference. Try for a date in May just to get a feel for the times and prices.

Great-I'll plan to check tickets in several more weeks then. Thanks for all your help!

Terri

Terri,

I'm a bit late getting into the discussion, but the method suggested by the others should work well. Buy tickets on the Captain Train or Trenitalia websites from Monterosso to Spiez, and then buy tickets to your final destination either on the sbb.ch website or when you arrive in Spiez. I find that it's just as easy to buy the tickets locally in Spiez, as it doesn't take long and there are no advance purchase discounts on the segment from Spiez to Interlaken Ost.

Is Interlaken your final destination? If not, be sure to specify your final destination on the segment from Spiez so that you get the correct tickets.

I've made that trip a number of times, and unfortunately it's going to mean an early departure from Monterosso. The train I normally use departs at 07:33, arriving Interlaken Ost at 14:28 (time 6H:55M, 3 changes). The train after that takes considerably longer, so that's not a good option. As you likely won't be able to have breakfast at your hotel, you could ask them the night before to prepare a bag lunch. If you don't want to bother with that, you'll have about a 28 minute layover at Milano Centrale, so you can always pick up a Panini or whatever when you arrive there.