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most scenic route from Paris to Interlaken -- is Golden Pass a must??

Posted by on

We are traveling from Paris to Interlaken, and I'd love to see some lovely sights from the train... My thought was to go to Montreaux overnight and then take the Golden Pass the next day to Interlaken (and from there to Lauterbrunnen)... but plans have changed a little, and Montreaux is the one stop that we're not absolutely sold on.

So my question is... Assuming we have the whole day to travel Paris to interlaken (actually Lauterbrunnen) and no particular deadline for arrival besides "before bedtime," is there a route that would be similarly beautiful to the "official" Golden Pass that doesn't require an overnight in Montreaux?

Or does it even make sense to make it a whole day trip that includes a STOP in Montreaux and THEN includes the Golden Pass? Seems like that would be super-tricky, but I've never tried!

Posted by
20980 posts

Not that tricky, but a few more train changes. The most direct way, Paris>Basel>Interlaken Ost>Lauterbrunnen, takes 6 to 7 hours.

The way with the Golden Pass goes Paris>Geneva (or Lausanne)>Montreux>Zweisimmen>Spiez>Interlaken Ost>Lauterbrunnen and takes 8 to 9 hours.

So take your pick.

Posted by
121 posts

It looks like we could go more directly but perhaps also quite scenically from Paris to Geneva to Interlaken... What do you think?

Posted by
20980 posts

Where else are you going after Lauterbrunnen? Maybe you will have other opportunities for a scenic rail journey, not to speak of the scenery you will experience while in Lauterbrunnen.

My druthers is take the fastest route. 6 1/2 hours is a long time to be on a train with 2 or 3 changes. The scenery from Spiez to Lauterbrunnen is pretty good.

Posted by
121 posts

maybe a dumb question... when I look at trains from Paris to Montreaux, the trains end in Lausanne... I assume you need to take a connector from Lausanne to Montreaux??

Posted by
20980 posts

I think I already stated that in my original post.

The way with the Golden Pass goes Paris>Geneva (or Lausanne)>Montreux>Zweisimmen>Spiez>Interlaken Ost>Lauterbrunnen and takes 8 to 9 hours

There are trains from Lausanne to Montreux about every 12 minutes and it takes 20 to 30 minutes.

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