Need Help with Travel from Menaggio to Lauterbrunnen

The first timetable you posted was Invernale, Winter in Italian, so I would not expect it to be valid in June. There will be a revision. The 2nd is out of date I believe, so exact times may have changed.

Glacier Express does not run through Lugano, but there are regular trains doing the trip to Luzern, usually with a change at Arth-Goldau, at least every hour.

I believe there are also buses to Como San Giovanni station which is on the same rail line to Lugano and through the mountains. If you take a fast ferry, you will have to get to Como San Giovanni by bus or taxi from the boat dock.

BTW "fer6" indicates Monday to Saturday. "F" means Sunday and holidays, no indication means 7 days a week.

Get train schedules at www.sbb.ch/en. They will be revised effective December 9.

You could also take the ferry across the lake to Varenna (a short 15- minute ride with frequent service) then ride the train from there to Milan ( on hour) and reach Interlaken via the Brig/ Spiez route. There is at least one direct train a day from Milan to Spiez, and others with a change at Brig. At Spiez you change to a train heading to Interlaken Öst and continue to Lauterbrunnen as planned.

It's so difficult to get to by train. I suggest renting a car in Lugano and driving. I always prefer to have a car when visiting mountains as it allows you to get out and see the most interesting sights at your own pace.

Forget those named trains, they are extra trains on top of the normal timetable,and they don't go where you want. The normal timetable is at least one train per hour, from anywhere in Switzerland to anywhere else, and you can look this up on the SBB site here: https://www.sbb.ch/en
Lugano to Lauterbrunnen takes just under 5 hours, and there are departures at 42 minutes past each hour (I just looked it up).

The only problem is then the local bus from Menaggio to Lugano. It exists, but I don't know the times.

You could hire a car, but that would be difficult in Menaggio, and you would need to return it to Italy. It all depends on how you are getting to Menaggio, and where you are going after Lauterbrunnen (and by what method of transport). And if your hotels in Menaggio and Lauterbrunnen have parking.

I don't think there is any controversy about the C-12 bus going, just the precise times for next June, which are not published yet. The current schedule shows 7 trips a day beginning at Menaggio Piazza Roma and ending at Lugano Stazione Nord (north end of the Lugano train station). That is for Monday to Saturday, and trip takes 1 hour and 6 to 8 minutes. 5:45, 7:25, 8:30, 10:40, 14:35, 16:00, and 17:35.

Sunday there are 5 trips at 8:15, 10:40, 13:30, 14:35, 17:35.

So for planning purposes, should be some thing like this. Swiss trains do not need reservations, so worst case, you have to wait another hour for the next train.

Edit - It occurs to me that you may be referring to the Gotthard Panorama Express that includes the boat ride from Fluelen to Luzern. That train departs Lugano at 9:23 according to this years schedule, so the 7:25 C-12 bus would work with that.

My suggestion would be the same as Lola mentioned. It’s probably the easiest and quickest solution.

The boat ride from Mennagio to Varenna is short, the train from Varenna to Milan is only about an hour, and the train from there to Interlaken is also relatively short.

Thank you everyone for your responses and for sharing your expertise. This is so very helpful. We will plan to take the C12 bus from Menaggio to Lugano and then the train from Lugano to Lauterbrunnen as detailed on the SBB site. Should we purchase these tickets in advance from here in the U.S. or wait and purchase at the train station?

Normally, Swiss trains are always the same price, but you can get Super Saver tickets for a discount within 30 days of your planned departure. These are train specific, meaning you must travel on the exact trains listed on the tickets. Normal full price tickets can be bought right before your travel and are valid on any trains on that route for the rest of the day.

A more important question is: What are you going to do when you are in Lauterbrunnen, and where are you going after you leave Lauterbrunnen? Then some kind of pass may be in order, or Half Fare Cards. How many people are traveling together and are any of them children under 16?

To answer your question regarding, we are staying 3 nights in Lauterbrunnen. We plan trips up to Schilthorn one day and to Jungfrau the other. After Lauterbrunnen, we plan to rent a car in Interlaken and drive to Fussen, on up the Romantic Road in Germany, and then back down to Munich. We will be in Germany for 6-7 days and fly back to U.S. from Munich.

We are 2 couples, ages mid 40s to mid 50s.

The trip to the Jungfraujoch from lauterbrunnen and back will be about 190 CHF per person.
The trip to the Schilthorn (Piz Gloria) from Lauterbrunnen and back will be about 114 CHF per person.
The train trip from Lugano to Lauterbrunnen will be about 92 CHF per person.

That totals out to 396 CHF per person. If you each buy a 30-day Half Fare Card for 120 CHF, your cost per person will be 318 CHF.

You do realize that to rent a car in Interlaken and drop it in Municn, the rental fee will include the cost of transporting it back to Switzerland and the loss of rental income on the car for the time it takes to do that. So get a firm quote for the rental. Then look at taking a train the closest point in Germany, which would be Lindau, and rent there.

Thank you for the info Sam! I had not priced the car rental yet and did not realize the restrictions. I will look at train from Interlaken to point of entry in Germany as you suggest.

Can you tell me which Lindau I search for specifically on the sbb site? There are several.

You might want to think about spending a night in Lindau.
https://www.lindau.de/en/

There is only one Lindau. The multiple listings you are seeing on the SBB site are different locations in Lindau. The main station is called "Lindau Hbf". Hbf = Hauptbahnhof = Main Station. When a German town has multiple stations, the main one is always called "Hbf".
And definately spend some time in Lindau.

I looked up the car rental and there is a nearly $400 drop off fee!! I will definitely be taking the train. Thanks for the great advice everyone.

I've been comparing costs of various travel options and the Swiss Travel Pass seems like a good option given that it will cover the train from Lugano to Interlaken and nearly all of the trains/buses/cable cars we'll be taking during our planned activities in Lauterbrunnen. We are leaning towards Schilthorn (which it would cover fully) instead of Jungfrau and then hang gliding and hiking. My question for the forum - will the Swiss Travel Pass cover our train from Interlaken to Lindau, Germany? Or a portion of that journey? Or will that ticket be entirely separate?

The Swiss Travel Pass will cover most of the journey to Lindau, but not the short stretch that cuts through Austria on the east shore of the Bodensee, and the short way to Lindau in Germany. The STP gets you as far as St Margarethan, so buy a ticket and show your STP and you only pay for those parts.