Itinarary Help - Time split between Wengen and Varenna

That's doable. You will probably want to go back to area around Wengen again like I did and try a stay in Murren; so save it for another time and check out Varenna. The only thing about Lake Como area is that it is more congested on the public transportation especially in summer. And that trains is crowded at Varenna to Milan.

You could do that but I might suggest slight changes.

Colmar is a pretty place. But you will pass through Strasbourg and thats a great place too. What I did last time was stay in a smaller town in-between during the expensive Xmas season, and then just ride the train 10-20 minutes up or down to Colmar, Strasbourg, and Mulhouse. Having a car is pretty useful in Colmar to see all the pretty little surrounding villages - but it's not a good to find parking near the cute area of Colmar.

From Colmar, you can get to Basel then Bern then Interlaken in a few hours. You can review RS's recommendations which I agree with. We paid about 100/night in Interlaken but 200/night in Lauternbrunen just 15 minutes away. There are a lot of little villages surrounding Lauterbrunen on one side the mountains or the others. It would be nice to just stay up there, but there are limited restaurants. So it works out well to use Interlaken as a base. It has an extra benefit - you can take boats or trains to Thun or Brienz directly to/from Interaken. Thun in particular is very interesting and picturesque.

From Interlaken its about 4 hours to Milan - via Spiez, Visp and Domodossola as I recall (from making that trip 3 times). You can ride all the way down to Milan, then go back up to Como, then boat to Varenna ... but that will take a while. I believe there is one slow train from Milano Centrale, and a faster train to Como but from a different station, so you will have to take a subway across town if I recall. Once you get to Como which is so-so, its a 2 hour boat to Bellago then to Varenna (or pay extra for faster boat about half the time). Varenna is indeed a pretty little place and we walked a mile or two along the coast. But we felt like we saw the whole place in a few hours. We stayed in Como, and spent a day going to Bellagio, Varenna, and Menaggio, and felt we saw pretty much everything. Everything was really tourist too except Menagio.

Alternatively, from Interlaken get to Stresa on Lake Magiore in half the time (3 hours from Interlaken rather than more like 6-8 hours to get to Varenna. It's a resort city and there are some beautiful little islands with chateaus and fancy gardens. We ate some great meals at lakeside with fish caught in the lake. Just like lake Como, you can take ferries around to other Italian and Swiss cities on that lake.

I am not sure where your final destination is but some other ideas are Cinque Terra, Portafino, Bergamo, Verona, ... even Bologna is only an hour away on high speed train.

Having spent time in both destinations, that’s a tough call. I would spend more time in Wengen. The Berner Oberland has so much to offer.

... and there are some alternative routes :

I mentioned this route :
Interlaken > Spiez > Visp > Domodossola > (stresa) > Milan > Varenna

There is another way where you change trains before hitting Milan, and go to the east, then up. The changes and slow trains seem to take the same time though.

Yes there is some train route to Milan which does not involve going to Como and taking a boat but it's not a short trip. We nearly got stuck in Varenna when we missed the last boat to Como at 3 pm, and I think it was 2 hours from there to Como.

There is another route from Switzerland which drops down on the line that goes through Como rather than Stresa and Ancona. We actually took that route one time. We came from Sion to Domodosola, and then took a special scenic train to Locarno Switzerland which is an attractive place too in the same spirit as many of the Italian lake towns. Then I think it was an hour from Locarno down to Como. There might be a way to stop in Menagio and take a very short boat ride to Varenna.

The experiences of Alsace (Colmar), Interlaken/Wengen/Murren, and the Italian lakes are three different worlds - each with its own charms.

For mountain scenery alone, yes the Swiss alps are amazing. However, hotels and food are expensive, and the food is mostly bad despite being expensive. So I find we can only take Switzerland in small doses. And immediately on arriving in Italy, we always feel happier and more relaxed and more well fed.

We are older than you, and our interests may be different ( we travel to hike), but we have enjoyed Colmar, Wengen, and Varenna, all on different trips and multiple times. If Varenna is calling to you, then you should go, But 3 nights is plenty; it is a small village with not a lot going on other than to gaze at the lake, or go up to the old castle, or take the very nice cooking class offered by chef Bruno. Or ride the ferry to other lake sites. Or cross to Menaggio for a swim as we did ( the water at Varenna was not appealing).

We avoid the long deep tunnels that most train routes take between Switzerland and Italy. We prefer to stay above ground and enjoy the scenery. If you feel the same there are several options to go from Wengen to Varenna, but I recommend spending a night along the way to break up the trip.

If you would like to know more on the above-ground routes just say so and I will explain.

Lola, yes that would be great. We are actually in Spokane Washington so not too far from you. I would love to have a scenic train route though I know that we might have to stay a night somewhere to be able to make that possible. Which means we have to take away a night from either Wengen or Varenna.. In which originally would have been four nights in each place. How would you recommend dividing that and what route are you thinking would be the best

Here are some options for scenic trips between Wengen and Varenna, with an overnight in a nice place one the way. You can use this rail map of Switzerland to trace them. Note that dashed lines on the map indicate tunnels. Every journey, no matter which route you use, starts with the transfer from Wengen down to Interlaken Ost, so I have left that part out of each route description to simplify. You will have to add about an hour to the times for that transfer.

https://www.swissrailways.com/sites/default/files/sts-gb-m-15-web_vorlage_0.pdf

Train route via Luzern and Locarno, using the Treno Gottardo:

Start with the Golden Pass scenic train heading east from Interlaken over the Brunig Pass to Luzern. Journey time 1 hour 50 minutes, no train changes. At Luzern, transfer to the Treno Gottardo regional train (IR26) which goes directly to Locarno (no changes) on the old Gotthard Pass route. Note that this route does have a short tunnel near the top, but you will see plenty of scenery before and after the tunnel—-some of it multiple times as the train switchbacks up the mountainside. This train departs Luzern every two hours; you should be able to catch the 13:18 departure with an early start from Wengen.

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/experiences/treno-gottardo/

https://www.swissholidayco.com/Scenic-Holidays/Treno-Gottardo

The journey to Locarno is 3 hours. This is a pretty lakeside town with hotels right on the lake just a block or two from the train station. Overnight there.

Next day, take the train heading toward Milan but get off at Monza and transfer to the regional train to Varenna. Total time for this trip 3 hours, including the transfer time at Monza.

An alternative if you prefer a boat ride would be to leave the train from Locarno at Como San Giovanni on lake Como, and take a ferry up the lake to Varenna. But this would add several hours to the travel time.

Train route using the Bernina Pass route:

This route was mentioned by RailRider above. You travel from Interlaken to an alpine village along the Bernina Pass route (I suggest Pontresina), where you overnight. The following day board either the named Bernina Express train with its panoramic cars, or one of the regular regional trains that runs hourly over the same tracks, with the same scenery. Either one will take you tinTirano on the Swiss-Italy border. Change there to an Italian train directly to Varenna.

https://www.rhb.ch/en/panoramic-trains/bernina-express

Travel time for this option: Interlaken to Pontresina via Zurich and Chur, 5.5 to 6 hours, with 3-4 changes on the way. Overnight Pontresina. Journey to Varenna-Esino the following day is 3.5 hours, with a single change at Tirano.

Train, boat and bus route via Luzern and Lugano:

This route takes you to Lugano, where you can board a bus to Menaggio on Lake Como, directly across the lake from Varenna. That is a short ferry ride ( about 20 minutes as I recall. The bus goes along Lago Lugano but we have never done it so I don’t know what the scenery is like, or how long the bus takes.

Your options for getting to Lugano from Luzern include the fast route using the deep Gotthard Basistunnel (4 hours total from Interlaken to Lugano, with a single change in Luzern), the scenic route using the Gotthard Panorama Express (boat from Luzern to Flüelen and train over the Gotthard Pass route from there, or a combination of Treno Gottardo and regional trains to reach Lugano instead of Locarno. I did not figure out the timing on the various options but here is more information on the Gotthard Panorama Express (boat plus train):

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/experiences/gotthard-panorama-express/

Thank you so much this was extremely helpful and I appreciate the time you took to explain the routes.
I am going between the first option and the last option. Would you say really enjoyed the trek with the overnight in Locarno?

By last option, do you mean the Gotthard Panorama Express boat +train to Lugano? That is indeed the most appealing, if you have the time, since you get a boat ride across the lake and then the train over the Gotthard Pass route.

From Lugano, there is an easier and faster way to Varenna than the bus to Menaggio with ferry across the lake. That is to take a regional train from Lugano to Monza, changing there to the Trenord train to Varenna-Esino (the same one you would take if coming from Locarno.)

https://www.trenord.it/en/routes-and-timetables/

The total time from Lugano to Varenna using the train is 2 h 22 minutes.

We have actually not done an overnight in either Locarno or Lugano, because my husband wanted some time in Milan. So we left the Treno Gottardo at Bellinzona instead of riding to Locarno, and went to Milan Instead. Ut next summer I want to take the Locarno overnight option. We won’t have time to take the Gotthard Panorama Express, because the boat section takes longer. But if you have the time, it should be a very enjoyable trip, with that ride the length of the Vierwaldstättersee. Take a look at it on satellite view—-the long fjord-like lake with snowy peaks around it.

Having spent some time in Varenna, all I can say is: http://www.cavatappivarenna.it/

This is the best restaurant I have ever been to.