Berner Oberland to Venice?

jennifer,

A few thoughts on your travel plans.....

• Nice to Berner Oberland - that journey will be a bit on ordeal by train, as the trips range from about 10 - 17 hours, with multiple changes. One of the easiest routes will be a departure from Nice Ville at 07:24, arriving Interlaken Ost at 17:28 (time 10H:04M, 3 changes, reservations compulsory on first segment). An more pleasant option would be to take a one hour flight from Nice to Geneva (have a look at easyJet), and then train to Interlaken Ost (about 2H:45M with 1 change). When you arrive at Interlaken Ost, you'll have to transfer to the Berner Oberland train for the short trip to Lauterbrunnen (~20 minutes). Where to go after that will depend on where you choose to stay.
• Berner Oberland to Venice - that route is much easier by train. You could use a departure from Interlaken Ost at 08:00, arriving Venezia Santa Lucia at 14:40 (time 6H:40M, 2 changes, compulsory reservations on the last segment).
• What type of Swiss Pass to buy - that's a difficult question to answer, as which pass to buy will depend to some extent on what you plan on seeing in the area. You'll have to do some number crunching and work out the costs with and without a pass. The Half Fare card will provide a 50% reduction, so that might be a good "general purpose" pass to buy?
• Where to stay - you'll get different answers to that question, as most here have a preference. I prefer to stay in Lauterbrunnen, as it's the transportation hub for the valley and therefore easy to get to both sides of the valley easily. Mürren is another popular choice and as it's up on the side of the mountain, the views are fantastic. Gimmelwald is just below Mürren and also popular but it's a smaller place and therefore the accommodations and restaurants are more limited. However, I've stayed there and found it very pleasant. If you're looking for really low cost accommodations, there are Hostels in both Lauterbrunnen and Gimmelwald.

Use the bahn.de website for checking rail information in Europe. As you plan on travelling in July, it would be a good idea to get cracking and get some accommodations booked!

It takes a few train connections each direction to get to/from this mountain valley. However, connections with Switzerland go like clockwork. How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it. Flying from Nice to Geneve reduces travel time, but there will still be connections.

Lauterbrunnen is centrally located on the valley floor. Gimmelwald and Muerren are higher up the mountain, so you have better views from your home base and might even have that fabulous view without leaving your hotel room. It only adds a half hour each way to go back down to Lauterbrunnen on a day that you're visiting the other side of the valley.

Swiss Travel Pass choice also partly depends on how long you will stay. 3 consecutive days for $230 or 4 consecutive days for $274 are the cheapest versions of this pass, covering trains, buses, boats, and museums, plus 25-50% off higher mountain rides (such as Muerren-Schilthorn). Or the Swiss Transfer Ticket Combi costs $220 to cover your two main trips between and border or airport and Muerren, then provides 50% off other transport tickets you buy during your stay.

rome2rio is a quick reference source for overall questions like "how long will it take" and "what are the options"

Hi OP!

I've been trawling this forum to see if someone asked this question before posting myself. I intend to travel from Nice to somewhere in Switzerland (Lauterbrunnen, Grimmelwald, Murren, Interlaken, Burn or Lucerne), then to Venice as well but in June 2016. You received some great advice above, and I had thought I'd fly from Nice to Geneva, then catch a train, but I was thinking of catching a train back to Geneva and flying to Venice, but it makes more sense to take a 6 h train to Venice.

Please let me know how you go!!