Trains from Venice to Interlaken

The simplest way is to go Venice to Milan to Spiez to Interlaken, a journey of about 6 hours 20 minutes, give or take a few. On some routes there will be an additional change at Brig (between Milan and Spiez). It might be a bit more scenic to go around the other way, from Milan going the Gotthard pass route via Lugano to Arth-Goldau to Luzern to Interlaken (on the Golden Pass route). This route takes quite a bit longer, like 9 hours or more total. You can see the routes and schedules on the Swiss rail site at www.rail.ch (for English).

Grazie, Lola, sounds like you've made the trip yourself. If you have, one more question - you said the Gotthard Pass is the more scenic route, but I can't imagine travelling from Milan north through the Alps by any route and not getting an eyeful. Am I wrong?

Hi Bill, you're not wrong at all. Just about any route in the Swiss alps is very scenic. However, all the trans-Alp routes between Switzerland and Italy( except for the Bernina Pass route) involves a tunnel through the highest part of the mountains. Some of these tunnels can be really long. On the Milan to Spiez route, there are actually two of them, the Simplon tunnel and the Lotschberg Basistunnel. You can avoid that latter one by choosing a route that passes through Kandersteg; there is still a tunnel but it's not as long On the Gotthard Pass route there is also a tunnel, but it is a bit shorter. And lots of lesser tunnels, some of which make a complete sppiral to gain or lost altitude. You can see a map of the Swiss train routes, including the tunnels, on the Swiss Travel System synoptic map. Just Google "Swiss synoptic map" and it will pop up. The tunnels are indicated by dashed lines (except for the spiral tunnels which are too small to occupy the length of a dash on the map). Actually, the reason I said the Luzern route was a bit more scenic is not because of the trans-Alp sectio, but because the section between Luzern and Interlaken, over the Brunig Pass, is very nice. But I wouldn't take the longer journey and add several hours to my trip on that account. When are you going? That might make a difference. When we went over the Gotthard Pass route we didn't see a thing in the southbound direction due to clouds and rain. On the return journey it was nice. We've only done the other journey from Interlaken as far as Brig, not into Italy, but we've done that one many times in our 4 trips to Switzerland. If you'd like to break the journey from Venice into two days there are some nice stops along the way.

Lola, we're big Italophiles, but this is the first time into Switzerland other than to change planes in Zurich, hence the confusion. The trip is in September next year, open jaws, into Rome and out of Zurich, so we thought we'd finish off by going from Venice to Interlaken to spend a couple of days in the Berner Oberland and a final day in Zurich....but I'm curious about the stops along the way you mentioned. Feel free to elaborate. Thanks for the tip on the Swiss rail map. It's a big help in visualizing the routes.

If you take the route via Brig there are a couple of our favorite places in Switzerland eigher right on the route or a short (15 minute) train ride away. Bettmeralp is a car-free village perched high above the Rhone Valley, with views south into the Italian Alps. Just over the ridge behind the village is the Aletschgletscher, the largest glacier in Europe. You can hike up the ridge or ride a cablecar up for the views. You can see photos here: www.bettmeralp.ch To get there from Brig, ride the train east a short distance to Betten, about 10-15 minutes. Thee you take a large cablcar up some 4000 feet to reach the village. Our other favorite is Kanderstg, right on the train line going north from Brig to Spiez, if you avoid the Basistunne route via Visp. We like to stay at the lake above town, at a rustic mountain inn that serves great food, much of it from the family's organic farm. www.oeschinensee.ch You reach the lake by hiking up or ride (yet another) gondola. The town of Kandersteg is 2 hours by train from Zürich. And if you include Interlaken, try to stay in one of the villages (Lauterbrunnen in the valley or Wengen or Mürren above) instead of Interlaken itself. The smaller villages have better views and lots more charm.

Thanks again, Lola. Everyone on the helpline should be so lucky as to get answers this concise. This is all very interesting and most helpful. We might have to steal a day from somewhere else on the trip and allow time for a stop at one of these places.