Itinerary Advice for Single Mom with 3 Kids: Milan to Swiss Alp and then onto Montpellier

Fewest transfers from Wengen to Montpellier is 4 and it take 9+ hours. There is nothing that will get you there until late afternoon, so taking 2 days might be the best bet, Geneva might be a good stopover, or Lyon.

First suggestion: download the SBB app for train info.

We drove through Domo. and didn’t think much of it. I think I would go straight to Stresa. If you want scenery, take the ferry to the islands. The kids might especially like Islola dei Pescatore. The little alleyways felt like wandering through a Pirates of the Caribbean set, but in real life. Have some gelato. Skip some rocks. Take a swim. It will probably be very hot and some time in the water will be lovely.

We stayed in Wengen and loved it. Again the SBB app will show you the way from Stresa. If you will be using the BO Pass (which I recommend), you’ll need to buy tickets from Stresa to Domodossolo.

https://www.berneseoberlandpass.ch/assets/Uploads/BLS-BO-Pass-M-24-WEB-komprimiert_compressed.pdf

Check your geography. There is no train from Locarno to Stresa. You either go back to Domodossola, or back to Milan, and then to Stresa.
If you really want to integrate the Centovalli in your trip take a train from Milano to Locarno, then the Centovalli to Domodossola, and then continue to Switzerland from there. For that trip having a Saver Day Pass would be a good option. You would only need to add a ticket Milano - Chiasso.

All train times can be found on www.sbb.ch, so there is no need to be confused. It is however likely that times for July are not there yet, so just use a day this week for planning. Schedules do not change a lot.

Wengen to Montpelier I have actually done a few times. Its a long trip. You again can find the schedules on www.sbb.ch

Wengen to MPL is actually six short segments with enough changes that you don't get too bored. Wengen to Lauterbrunnen -> Interlaken -> Bern -> Geneva -> Lyon -> Montpellier. If you stay overnight in Geneva, it's more expensive than Lyon. But once you are in Lyon, you are only two hours from Montpellier. So, it's really a toss up.

It's 4.5- 5 hours Lyon to Montpellier plus however long from Wengen to Geneva and transfer time. You would need to leave Wengen by 5 am to be in Montpellier late afternoon.

Furthermore, Montpellier has two train stations: Gare Saint Roch in the center of the city, but also Sud de France which is 6 kilometers south of the center city and requires public or private transportation to the city center.

We have changed in Montreaux, too, when taking the Panorama Express from Interlocken. You could stay overnight there. So you have the choice of Montreaux, Geneva, Lyon.

I buy my tickets separately, using the half-fare card as far as Geneva, and the SNCF senior discount card from Geneva to Montpellier. There are all kinds of family cards, but I don't know the details.

Poor Interlaken. They chose an easy name for their town in the 19th century so that English speaking tourist would be able to spell and pronounce it correctly, and it still gets misspelled all the time...

Regarding spelling: Make sure that you buy a ticket to Montpellier, and not one to Montpelier...

Option 1) Take a morning train to Domodossola (around 2 hours). Then from there explore Domodossola and take the Centovallie Express to Locarno (another 2 hours). From there take a train from Locarno to Stresa (another 2 hours). This option is longer but from what I read it goes through the Centovalli (Hundred Valleys) Region and goes through Simplon Tunnel- which seems to be a "bucket list" train ride for many? I would only stay one night in Stresa and likely would need to leave that area by train for Wengen in the early afternoon?

I do not know where you got this information buy much of it is wrong. As WengenK said, the Centovalli railway connects Domodossola with Locarno, so if you wish to ride that train you go between those two towns, not Stresa. Look at this Swiss rail map and you can see the routes:

https://www.sbb.ch/content/dam/internet/sbb/en/freizeit-ferien/inspiration/internationale-gaeste/Geltungsbereich-Swiss-Travel-Pass.pdf.sbbdownload.pdf

And I cannot imagine how or why the Simplon Tunnel would be onanyone’s bucket list. The Centovalli Railway, yes, but a long deep and dark tunnel? I go out of my away to AVOID tunnels in Switzerland, especially the ones that go under the Alps, such as the Simplon Tunnel and the one following it on your way to Spiez and Interlaken, the Lötschberg Basistunnel. So I use the Gotthard Pass route between Milan and Luzern when connecting Switzerland and Italy.

As WengenK suggested, if Stresa and the Centovalli railway are musts, you could take the train from Milan to Locarno and catch the Centovalli train there, at the so-called FART station, which your children should find amusing. It is a combined station for the regional train and bus line known as Ferrovia Autolinee Regionale Ticinese.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locarno_FART_railway_station

At Domodossola you could ride the train south to Stresa (heading back toward Milan) for your overnight there. Then turns around the next day and take the northbound train through both tunnels to Spiez, Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen and Wengen. Depending on the time of day, you could have from 3-5 train changes on the way.

I think a better option, IF both Stresa and the Centovalli train are musts, is to just head straight to Stresa on July 4 and overnight there. Or leave on July 3 if you can. And then take the Centovalli railway to Locarno the next day. You can overnight there (it is a nice lakeside town), or you can board the Treno Gottardo for the route over the Alps (with one short tunnel near the top) to Luzern, another nice little lakeside town. Overnight there—-there are some nice options for children there, such as the Swiss Transport Museum:

https://www.verkehrshaus.ch/en/home.html

From Luzern, you take a direct train over the scenic Golden Pass route to Interlaken, changing there for Lauterbrunnen and then Wengen. So 2 changes total, and Bob’s your uncle.

Or you could skip Stresa and the Centovalli Railway and head straight to Locarno, 2.5 hours from Milan on July 4, and overnight there. Then proceed to Luzern the next day. There are several lakefront hotels within 2 blocks of the FART station, and possibly access to a swim spot. I will check on that.

Whatever you decide, you will want a Swiss Pass or Half Fare card for yourself, and a Free Family Card for the children. They will then ride for free on all the Swiss transport modes—-train, boat, and high mountain lifts. (Check to be sure you can have 3 children on one Family Card; we have only put 2 kids on the card and I don’t know if that is the limit.)

Yes, I saw the Montpellier variations in both posts here, but moved on. That would be a long, wet train ride. I always explain that the Americans lost an L somewhere over the Atlantic.

But thanks Wengen; I had gotten distracted. Whatever it was I wrote for Interlaken was done on the fly intending to check spelling and correct afterwards.