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Interlaken Ost to Mürren - & Schilthorn - and back to Interlaken Ost - tickets/reservations/cost

Posted by on

Hi,

We (2 adults/1 10yr old child) are arriving in Interlaken (from Milan) on 7/1 and staying in Mürren. We have Eurail passes, so will need to stop in Interlaken and buy tickets: Interlaken-Mürren 7/1 and plan to return 7/3 Mürren-Interlaken.

Questions.:
1. Should we (or even can we) buy the Interlaken-Mürrren tickets in advance online? We get a 25% discount with Eurail - does that mean I have to buy them the day of at Interlaken to get the discount? There is only a 25 minute transfer time - is that enough time to buy the tickets?

  1. Is it wise to buy roundtrip tickets in Interlaken to come back 7/3? Or should we just buy one-way on 7/1, then buy another one-way in Mürren on the day of our return? Is there an attended station/ticket machine in Mürren? We don't need flexibility in our schedules. Sometimes it is cheaper to buy a roundtrip vs. 2 one-ways - wasn't sure how it worked here.

  2. Our plan is to go to Schilthorn on Sun 7/2. When I called Rail Europe, they offered to sell me tickets Interlaken-Mürren-Schilthorn 7/1 and back 7/3. I explained that we were wanting to go to Murren (our hotel) on 7/1, then the day trip to Schilthorn on 7/2, then back to Interlaken on 7/3. The Rail Europe agent was very nice, but clearly was new and didn't understand the Schilthorn isn't an overnight destination. He said he didn't think we could go Int-Mur 7/1, then use the Schilthorn ticket Mur-Sch-Mur 7/2, then go back to Interlaken on 7/3. So, I didn't buy anything and wanted to ask the questions here.

Thanks for your advice.

Posted by
1450 posts

No need to buy any tickets in advance to get to Murren. It's also advisable not to buy Schilthorn tickets in advance because the trip is only worthwhile if the weather cooperates. Just buy your rail tickets on the fly.

Posted by
5697 posts

Buying tickets to Lauterbrennen/Murren in Interlaken Ost is easy -- and the train to Lauterbrennen runs so frequently (every half hour ??) that it's not a problem if you want to stroll rather than sprint to the train. Murren also has both attendant and ticket machine. No need to buy in advance. (And those tickets are pretty cheap.)
Schilthorn tickets are available at the lift station in Murren, but check the monitors for top-of-mountain views before you pay out big bucks for the tickets.

Posted by
21142 posts

Yes, trains from Interlaken Ost to connecting to Muerren every 30 minutes. Make sure you get on cars marked "Lauterbrunnen" as the train splits at Zweiluetschinen and the other half goes to Grindelwald.

Posted by
451 posts

Check the weather at the top before you go. The earlier you go the better. We went up very early. 45 minutes later the clouds rolled in and you could not see anything and we passed Gondola after gondola filled with people who could not see anything.

Posted by
32350 posts

mw,

It's unfortunate that the Rail Europe rep. wasn't better informed. You will get good solid advice on this forum!

To begin with, as you're going to be travelling from Milan to Interlaken Ost, did Rail Europe mention that you'll need compulsory seat reservations for at least the Italy segment of your journey? Reservations are NOT included with Rail Passes and you'll have to buy those separately. For travel in Italy, you'll be subject to hefty fines if you don't have a valid reservation, even if travelling with a Rail Pass! If you're just arriving in Milan that day, you'll also need to validate your Rail Passes prior to use.

When you arrive at Interlaken Ost (it's the second stop), you can buy your tickets to Mürren. Don't be too concerned if there's a train departing then and you miss it; there will be another one along in a few minutes. There are two possible routes from Lauterbrunnen to Mürren, and you'll need to know which route you're using when you buy tickets. The easiest is probably the Mürren BLM route.

The other route is via Post Bus to Stechelberg, and then two cable cars to Mürren.

Once you have tickets in hand, board the small Berner Oberland-bahn for the short 20 minute ride to Lauterbrunnen. As Sam mentioned, be sure to board a car that's going to Lauterbrunnen (usually towards the front of the train). Look for the red digital display, which can be faintly seen on the side of the coach in THIS photo.

When you arrive in Lauterbrunnen, walk across the street to the Cable Car station, walk up the steps and board the next cable car to Grütschalp (trip only takes a few minutes). When the cable car arrives at the top, transfer to the small mountain railway, which will be waiting. In a few minutes (~15 minutes as I recall), you'll arrive at the Mürren station, which is located at the opposite end of town from the Schilthornbahn cable cars.

If you need any more information on that area, the well travelled group here will be your best source.

Posted by
1 posts

We will be in Unterseen/Interlacken area for three days and plan to take a few cog railways/funiculars/regional trains while we are there. Do you recommend that we purchase either the Swissrail half-fare pass or the Berner Oberland Regional Pass? (Also, our son is 15.)

Thanks for the help!

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