Getting to Gimmelwald

Lots of train routes from Milan. Yes, you have no choice but go to Lauterbrunnen. From Milan its to Brig, then Spiez, then Interlaken Ost, then Lauterbrunnen, then to Steckelberg on the bus. then to Gimmelwald on the cable car. You can use www.sbb.ch for routes from Milano Centrale. I hope you are not looking on Rail Europe.

To find connections past Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen and then Gimmelwald, you may need to look at Swiss Rail, as the train from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen is a private line that may not show on Bahn or Trenitalia: http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html. If you put in Florence as your start and Gimmelwald as your end, it should show you the entire route (trains, buses, lifts, etc).

From Lauterbrunnen, you have two options (both detailed in Rick's Switzerland book). You can take a bus to Stechelberg, then a lift to Gimmelwald (easier). Or, you can take a cable car to Grütschalp, a train to Mürren, walk 10 minutes (paved, largely level) to the other side of Mürren to the lift station, and take it down to Gimmelwald. The second way is VERY scenic, but not recommended with luggage. You can even walk downhill from Mürren to Gimmelwald (paved and not too steep), but again, not something I'd do with luggage

You will not have a rental car...that's GOOD news. Congratulations on traveling in Switzerland the best way which is on the series of trains, buses, boats, gondolas, etc. It's a great system.

Sam is exactly correct. Do NOT use RailEurope to find your trains. It's a pitiful excuse for booking train tickets. You'll be in Italy when you begin your journey so you can look at www.trenitalia.com (Italian Trains) or www.sbb.ch (Swiss Trains) to see the schedules. Just type Florence or Firenze (Santa Maria Novella station) as your starting point and Gimmelwald as your destination. Trenitalia may not recognize Gimmelwald or even Lauterbrunnen...Interlaken Ost might be as close as it can get. Doesn't matter because you MUST go through Interlaken Ost to get to Gimmelwald.

If you purchase train tickets to pick up at the station make sure you'll actually be IN THAT COUNTRY to pick up the tickets before you depart. Don't know why some people buy train tix and choose to pick them up at the station before they ever even arrive in that country.

Thank you so much for the replies. Yes, I was looking at Rail Europe, with no luck. I found routes using the other suggested train sites, but goodness, it's involved...I think we would take 6 trains! We only have a couple nights in Switerland so may need to rethink our plans.

denise,

As noted in the previous reply, do not use Rail Europe for researching schedules or whatever. Use the Bahn.de website (good for trains all over Europe) or the rail websites for each country.

Using Venice as the departure point and an arbitrary date next week, one of the easiest trips appears to be a departure from Venezia S. Lucia at 08:12, arriving Gimmelwald at 16:00 (time 7H:48M, 6 changes, reservations compulsory on some segments). Six changes may sound onerous, but they're necessary to reach Gimmelwald and not really that difficult.

The trip from Florence will be a bit shorter, about 7 hours.

You could pre-purchase your tickets as that may save some money if they're bought well in advance (especially for the Italian trains). If you buy P-P tickets in Italy, the agent may only be able to sell tickets as far as Spiez. Once you reach there, it's easy to go inside and buy the remaining tickets to Gimmelwald, and they will include all modes of transport. If buying tickets online from SBB, be sure to specify "Gimmelwald Schilthornbahn" as your destination (that's the first route described by Harold in a previous reply).

Responses have been enormously helpful, thank you! Denise

Once you're past Interlaken Ost, you are on narrow gauge railways, lifts, cable cars, etc. These only go short segments, so you have to keep changing, but they're all coordinated. If you are lost (even for a moment), don't hesitate to ask for help, but you'll see, lots of others will be making the same transfers. And while reading about it makes it seem complicated, once you've done it even one time, it will be very simple.

The only points of possible confusion:
1. You must get off at Interlaken Ost, not Interlaken West if your train also goes there.
2. At Interlaken Ost when you change to the train for Lauterbrunnen, that train splits. You must get on the section marked for Lauterbrunnen. The other section goes to Grindelwald, which is not the same as Gimmelwald, so you do not want that.
3. At Lauterbrunnen, ask around if you can't find the bus stop for buses to Stechelberg (it's on the road "above" the station - you'll see what I mean when you get there). You get off the bus at the Schilthornbahn stop (ask the driver to tell you).

Describing the route all the way to Gimmelwald or Murren DOES sound complicated to people who have never been there. After you arrive and see the little trains and gondolas you'll see how EASY it really is.

The Italian and Swiss web sites will give you portions of the trip, and sell tickets, or you can print the entire schedule from the German web site. How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it. You will always go through Lauterbrunnen, but one schedule search to Gimmelwald can reflect all the connections. These connections go quite smoothly. Of course, packing light is always advised.

good day all, i will travel to gimmelwald by 4th week of may :) i researched but still don't have clear thoughts about the prices of transportation, may i know how much is the bus from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg cable car station and price from of cable card to gimmewald, i want to make a rough range so i know how much will it cost me... thank you very much

www.sbb.ch seems to be having trouble with pricing this route. If you go by the Grutschalp cable car and the BLM train to Muerren and walk the 10 minutes to Gimmelwald, its 11 chf, so it shouldn't be a whole lot different.

The Schilthorn cable car is privately owned therefore the prices are not calculated on the SBB website. Look here for prices:

http://schilthorn.ch/cmsfiles/Tarif-Einlageblatt2015_1.pdf

Last year we trained to Interlaken then exchanged for a train to Lauterbrunnen. It was about a 30 minute wait for the next train. There's a bus in Lauterbrunnen that will take you to the gondola station.

It's a lot simpler than it sounds.

To add to my previous post, this is the most direct route to Gimmelwald.....

• Train to Interlaken Ost
• Transfer to Berner Oberland Bahn for the short ~20 minute ride to Lauterbrunnen. When boarding note the digital display on the side of the car to ensure the car you're taking goes to Lauterbrunnen (as I recall, some trains split at Zweilütschinen, with the end cars going to Grindelwald). I believe the current fare from Interlaken Ost to Lauterbrunnen is CHF 7.60 PP.
• Upon arrival in Lauterbrunnen, cross the street and look for the Post Bus, which will be timed to connect with the train. It's bright yellow, so you can't miss it. The trip will be ~19 minutes. I believe the current fare from Lauterbrunnen to the Stechelberg station of the Schilthornbahn is CHF 4.40 PP.
• When you arrive at the Cable Car station, walk up the stairs and board the large Gondola for the short ride to Gimmelwald (which is the first stop). Be sure you have your Camera ready, as the views are spectacular! I believe the current fare from Stechelberg to Gimmelwald is CHF 6.20 PP.

NOTE that the above fares may be reduced if you're travelling with one of the Swiss Passes (ie: Half Fare Card or whatever).

Happy travels!