Round trip train options from Milan to Lauterbrunen

Is your priority speed, simplicity (fewest transfers), or scenery? I suspect the fastest route will have considerably more tunnel time than the most scenic route. I believe you're going to have at least two transfers in any case.

Right now the priority would be fewer transfers since we’ll have luggage with us. However, we are open to all available options at the moment.

You can buy all the tickets from the Swiss rail operator SBB. Fewest transfers are 2, at Spiez and Interlaken Ost. Travel time is a bit over 3 1/2 hours.

Since there will be 2 system wide schedule updates between now and then, you'll have to wait to buy. Schedules are adjusted twice a year, December 12 and probably June 12.

You can buy tickets at www.sbb.ch/en.

Thank you for the reply. I checked the SBB site by entering a sample trip from Malpensa Airport Terminal 1 to Lauterbrunnen. However, it looks like it is starting us from Gallarte and not including the ticket from Malpensa to Gallarte. I assume I would have to buy that ticket through the applicable Italian rail line and not SBB for that?

Well, you did not say you were starting from Malpensa, you said Milan, which is quite a ways from Malpensa. The connection with 2 changes is from Milano Centrale station. Your best bet is to take the Malpensa Express train from Malpensa to Milano Centrale. That train is operated by Trenord and you have to buy the tickets from them. They go every half hour and the train ride takes about 50 minutes.

Exception is the early morning train that does stop in Gallarate, but any intercontinental flight arriving at Malpensa will be well after that train has departed. There are 2 other train itineraries with only two connections, one departs Milano Centrale at 11:20 am, and the other at 6:20 pm. Assume you don't want that one as that will get you to Lauterbrunnen at 10:25 pm.

When is your plane scheduled to land at Malpensa?

I do not seeGallarate on the route when I search on SBB.ch or Bahn.de. Not sure how that factors in.

Are you flying into MXP and spending the night somewhere nearby, then taking the train to Lauterbrunnen the following day? If so, you could save some train time by going from the airport to Stresa on Lago Maggiore by bus to spend the night of arrival, instead of taking the train into Milan Itself.

https://www.safduemila.com/linee/alibus-malpensa-lago-maggiore/

Stresa is the first stop after Milan on the main EC (EuroCity) fast train from Milan to Spiez in Switzerland. It is an hour north of Milan. So instead of heading into Milan for a hotel then backtracking on the train the following day, you enjoy a relaxing lakeside hotel and catch the EC train the next morning, an hour later then you would depart from Milan.

The Alibus would be a separate ticket from the train tickets to Lauterbrunnen, which you can buy from SBB because the first train you take crosses the border into Switzerland.

You can also search Gallarate to Lauterbrunnen at www.sbb.ch/en. There are a few itineraries from Gallarate with only one more connection, at Domodossola, and SBB will sell you the Italian connecting train from Gallarate to Domodossola. From Domodossola, it is a Swiss regional train to Spiez that does take a more scenic route via the old Loetschberg Tunnel rather than the new base tunnel. That one leaves Gallarate at 2:24 pm and takes 4 1/2 hours to get to Lauterbrunnen.

There is an airport bus that will take you to Gallarate station, but a taxi will be much easier as it is still a couple miles away from Malpensa.

I agree with Lola, a bus from MXP to Stresa is the only way to avoid backtracking and sleeping near an airport.

• Trenitalia.com/en sells TreNord tickets. They also sell tickets to Interlaken, Spiez, Brig and a few other Swiss cities. Unfortunately Lauterbrunen is not one of them
• The summer timetable change in 2022 will be for sure on June 12. It always happens on Sundays. Cross-borders EC trains will be uploaded first

Of course, if the aim is to go straight from the airport to Lauterbrunnen, you are much better off flying into Zurich. There are 4 departures every hour from Zurich airport that will get you to Lauterbrunnen, but the one at 45 past the hour has only 2 changes, one at Bern, which is a cross-platform change, and Interlaken Ost. Takes 2 hours and 40 minutes.

If your intention is to tour in Italy afterward, you can travel to Milano Centrale as before with 2 changes at Interlaken Ost and Spiez.

Thank you everyone for your responses and suggestions! Through the SBB.ch site, I was able to see an option of departing from Milano Centrale to Lauterbrunnen and this might be an ideal option for our visit. Will check back next year after the schedules have been adjusted to confirm the departure and arrival times.