I think I can purchase that ticket on the SBB app? Is that correct? Or should I do it on France's train site? Some of the times are already sold out on the SNCF website it looks like for June 17th. Will that show up as sold out on the SBB website? I don't want to screw up these tickets for my daughter and myself. We plan to leave from Gare Est. Thank you
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32350 posts
I haven't tried, but you should be able to buy your tickets from Paris-Est to Mürren on the SBB website. There are numerous departures on 17 June, and one of the shortest appears to depart Paris at 10:52, arriving Mürren at 17:28 (time 6H:36M, ~6 transfers). I specified the Mürren BLM route as that's probably the easiest and quickest (that's one of two ways you can reach Mürren).
The number of changes appears to be complicated but it's actually quite straightforward. Swiss rail shows all the platform numbers so it's very easy to move from one train to the next. When you arrive at Lauterbrunnenn, you'll need to walk across the street to the cable car station for the short trip up the hill to Grütschalp, and when you arrive there you'll walk a few steps and board the small BLM mountain railway. Your SBB tickets will include all modes of transport.
This fairly recent video will give you some idea on the trip from Lauterbrunnen to Mürren - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92jpr98LPs0 .
Posted by
Wengen
2494 posts
Why from Paris Est? The main station for trains to Switzerland is Paris Gare De Lyon.
Go to www.sbb.ch (you cannot buy international tickets in the app yet) and book just "Paris" to "Mürren" there. Make an account first (confusingly called a "Swiss Pass Login" even though it has nothing to do with the Swiss Travel Pass) and after purchase your tickets should be in the app as well.
SNCF can't sell you tickets all the way to Mürren. And enter "Paris" as origing, and let the system pick the stations for you. The best options involve a TGV from Paris Gare De Lyon to Basel. Make sure to sell Mürren correctly.
What you can also do is just book Paris to Basel on SNCF. Andvantage there is that it is easier to see which departure still has tickets, and what the price is. Going via Strasbourg adds a transfer, but is sometimes cheaper. Then buy a ticket on SBB for the Basel - Mürren part. You can safely buy a "Supersaver" ticket, with a departure about 10 minutes after your arrival. Supersaver tickets are cheaper than normal tickets, but you must buy them in advance (they get more expensive as you get closer to the travel date).
EDIT: I see some good fares on SNCF for Paris - Basel for your travel date that SBB will not be able to sell, so splitting the ticket in Basel may be your best option.