We will be checking out of a hotel in Utrecht on a midweek day in August 2026. Our plan is to travel by train to Switzerland. We have only 3 nights to spend once in Switzerland before we have onward travel plans in northern Italy. I really want those nights to be in the Lauterbrunnen Valley. However, I am wondering how feasible that is. From what I can tell it would take 8-10 hours by train to reach it. Does anyone have more specifics? Or ever made this route? My other concern is leaving lauterbrunnen after 3 nights and needing to reach Milan by a reasonable time in the afternoon that day. Thoughts?
Posted by
Green Bay
22922 posts
Train schedules maybe changed a bit after the middle of June after the semiannual schedule adjustment, but currently you can do it in 9 1/2 hours with only 2 train changes, at Frankfurt and Interlaken Ost. German ICE trains have been running chronically late, but once you reach Interlaken Ost, there is a train to Lauterbrunnen every 30 minutes. That leaves Utrecht Centraal at 7:06 am and gets to Lauterbrunnen at 4:26 pm. Pick an itinerary with the fewest changes.
Fewest changes would be a 9:06 am departure from Lauterbrunnen, with train changes at Interlaken Ost and Zurich, arriving at 3:50 pm. There may be better options when you get closer to your travel date.
Posted by
Belgium
194 posts
FYI, you can also save a night in the Utrecht hotel by traveling with the Nightjet (from Utrecht Central Station to Basel SBB). From there, take the train to Interlaken, then change trains to Lauterbrunnen.
https://www.nightjet.com/en/#/home
https://www.nsinternational.com/en/trains/nighttrain
Posted by
Wengen
3520 posts
Utrecht - Lauterbrunnen is easy to do by train. its a route I take regularly.
Flying is not going to much faster, and will be more expensive. (Its three hours from any airport to Lauterbrunnen...)
There are a few changes to the schedule next year, so use a date in January to look up times. We do not know yet if Lauterbrunnen - Italy will be affected by works on the Simplon route in August yet, as Italian schedules for the summer have not been published. So it is to early to tell what the schedule for your trip to Italy will be. But it will be possible, and a detour via Zurich will probably not be needed.
You can do Utrecht - Mannheim - Basel - Interlaken - Lauterbrunnen. Departure usually 9:02. You can already book that now, but do not be surprised if there are small changes to the schedule between now and august.
Do not be put off by the short transfer in Mannheim. It is same platform, and if your inbound train is late you can take the next one to Basel, which is about half an hour later. From Basel to Lauterbrunnen trains run every half hour as well. Train tickets are for a route, not a train in this part of Europe.
For Lauterbrunnen - Italy you will have to wait till the Italian summer schedule is published. So probably till May or so.
Posted by
Wengen
3520 posts
Lauterbrunnen - Milano is normally under 4 hours. Best departure is rather early, at 7:01, but that makes it possible to reach about any place in Italy still during day time.
If you are looking up times and only seeing routes via Zurich you are just to early, and looking at an incomplete timetable.