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Murren to Rome on the train

We are going to go from Murren to Rome on a train and also taking a couple of train trips from Zurich to Zermat and Zermat to Murren. I was thinking about buying the Swiss flex pass and wondering how and if that can be used for the Swiss portion of the travel from Murren to Rome?

Then my other question is how do I buy tickets for the Italy portion? Do I purchase the Italy tickets in advance and do I just purchase those from Milian to Rome?

Our first trip to Switzerland and Rome so all advice will be very helpful.
Thanks

Posted by
16893 posts

The most "convenient" departures from Muerren to Rome take 8 hours with 4 connections, leaving about 6:30 or noon most days; others have more connections. The Swiss Pass covers you to Domodossola (or to Chiasso on the few departures that take that route). You can book the Italian portion of the ticket at a Swiss train station when you arrive there. If you book Domodossola-Milan and Milan-Rome tickets through trenitalia.com, then make certain that you will be able to print tickets at home, not have to pick up in an Italian station.

How to Look Up Train Schedules Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it (but not to buy tickets).

Posted by
7209 posts

Yep, you can buy the separate pieces of your journey on each of the national rail sites (SBB, Trenitalia) but if that's too much for you to figure out then you could just buy the whole journey in 1 click from the SBB site (which I trust a whole lot more than Trenitalia).

Have you ever been to Venice? It would be a huge shame to be so close and bypass it on your way to Rome. It's definitely a sight to behold.

Posted by
6898 posts

You don't indicate when you will be traveling. Thus, we can't advise you on the best fare options. The very easy way to do this is to buy your ticket from the Swiss either online at www.sbb.ch or at the ticket station. If you have a Swiss pass or card, just show it to the agent and they will make the adjustment. Your pass should be good to Domodossola, Italy. I've looked and the Swiss want 151CHF ($169) for this journey. If you have a pass or card, there will be some type of deduction. If you are using a day on your Flexipass, then you should only be paying for the trip from Domodossola to Rome as the Swiss see it. Unfortunately, they see it a bit higher than the Italians do.

Here's a second option if you have 90 days before you travel. For this option, buy Swiss transportation out to Spiez (Muerren/Interlaken Ost/Spiez). About an hour of travel. You certainly don't want to a day on your Flexpass for this one. Then, transfer to the EuroCity train going to Milan via Visp, Brig and Domodossola. You might have a train change somewhere along this journey but if your lucky, you change trains once in Milano Centrale. You purchase the train ticket from the Italians at www.trenitalia.com. I can see fares right now in August for 61Euro. The tickets are non-refundable but that's a really good price.

For what you are describing above, you may not need any type of Swiss pass or card unless you will be 1) traveling to the higher mountain tops and/or 2) you will be in Muerren for several days and you will be day-tripping out of there. You normally have to expect ticket fares to exceed about 240CHF before any kind of pass or card becomes cost effective. Zurich/Zermatt is 120CHF. Zermatt/Muerren is 97.20. Muerren/Spiez is 14.50CHF. You're close. If you expect to travel to the Jungfraujoch and/or the Schilthorn, you should consider either the Swiss Card or the Swiss 1/2-fare card. The Flexipass is not as useful in going to the Jungfraujoch or Schilthorn as you only get a 25% discount to these higher peaks. You get a 50% discount with either the Swiss Card or 1/2-fare card. For the Jungfraujoch alone, it's a $50 difference between 25% and 50%.

Posted by
6 posts

Thanks so much for everyones replies, I will look into the other options that were mentioned.

Thanks so much
Tom