Hello All,
Semi-seasoned traveler here, but having a difficult time processing the logistics here.
We'll be arriving in Lucerne with a car, and then we're headed to Murren for a few nights before flying out of Zurich (to CDG).
Do we drop the car off in Lucerne and then train to Murren? Makes the most sense, but what I'm more concerned about is getting to Zurich (from Murren) for our 12:40 PM flight. Trains look to take 4-5 hours?
Any insight would be appreciated.
Eric
You might want to leave in the afternoon your last day in Murren and stay near train station in Zurich old town the night before your flight or even Lucerne.
Train from Mürren to Zurich airport takes 3h21min. Not "4-5 hours". Train times are exact, not approximate in Switzerland, and you can find that out on www.sbb.ch. You can rely on those times.
Note however that Mürren to Paris takes 6h40 by train. Travelling to Zurich and flying to Paris is actually a costly and time consuming detour.
Any way you can do Mürren first, then Luzern? Yes, I know the car is the issue.
Everybody travels differently. For us, we like the low stress approach. We go to zurich the night before and spend the night there and explore zurich a little. I think it's different if you already live there and have a place to stay versus if you're paying for a hotel room. But again, everyone travels differently.That's just how we like to do it , others would get up at the crack of dawn and go in the morning. I will just add a caution, on our trips it has taken us a long time to get through security and to the gate at ZRH.. well over an hour. That is when we are flying back to the US. Don't know if it would be faster if you're traveling somewhere within EU.
will the car be rented in Switzerland or would you benefit from returning it to the country you rented from?
So, the confusion is understandable. The cable cars are not always reflected in the various booking apps. To get to Zurich by public transport you need to first determine how to get from Mürren to Lauterbrunnen. Lauterbrunnen to Zurich is pretty straight forward from there.
You have two (well three actually) choices from Mürren. The two best are either a train along the ridge and then cable car to the village of Lauterbrunnen, or a cable car directly from Mürren into the valley at Stechelberg, then a bus to Lauterbrunnen.
If you wish to keep your car, there is overnight parking available in the valley. A car will get you to Zurich faster.
If your next stop is Paris, I agree with the "take a train" recommendation. If CDG is just your transfer, my bias is spending the night in Zurich before your flight. The old town there is nice and an easy way to spend an afternoon/final evening.
I assume you've already made all your travel plans, so not able to change anything at this point.
IMHO, given the destinations you're visiting it would be easier to travel by train and forget the car. The Swiss transportation system is excellent! However, if the car is already booked, I suppose you'll have to continue with that. During your visit to Mürren, you'll need to park the car in Lauterbrunnen or Stechelberg, and take one of the lifts. If I were doing that trip, I'd park in Lauterbrunnen and use the BLM route to reach Mürren. You'll need to specify "BLM" when you buy the tickets. That involves taking the cable car that's right across from the rail station in Lauterbrunnen and then connecting with the small mountain railway at Grütschalp for the final leg to Mürren. It's a very quick and easy trip.
I may have missed when your trip will be taking place? I've not checked to see if any of the lifts will be out of service for maintenance.
I would have probably used the high speed TGV from Zürich to Paris also as it's so quick and easy. I assume you're departing from CDG after that?
The trip from Mürren to Zürich airport is less than 3.5 hours depending on which departure you choose. For example, using an arbitrary date there's a train departing on the BLM route at 07:28, arriving ZRH at 10:44 (time 3H:21M, several changes, price shown tonight at CH$35.80 PP).
