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One Week: Zurich to Milan

Hi Everyone,

My wife and our two young adult children will be traveling to Zurich from the US arriving May 24 and returning to the US from Milan on May 31. We're planning to be in Zurich one night, taking a train to Lauterbrunnen on May 25 and departing Lauterbrunnen for Milan on May 27. We plan to use trains for the entire trip, except for the rare, possible taxi, if necessary. My instinct is to just buy train tickets when we need them, as we did when I last visited Italy a few years ago. I probably paid more than I needed to for them, but I like the flexibility. Still, I'm wondering about a few things:

Questions:

  1. Is there any significant advantage in or reason to buy our train fares for Zurich-Lauterbrunnen or Lauterbrunnen-Milan in advance?
  2. For our one day (May 26) in Lauterbrunnen, does it makes sense to buy some sort of pass so that we can train around to other mountain villages in the area (Grindelwald, Murren, Wengen, etc)?
  3. While we're in Milan (Evening of May 27 - Morning of May 31) we plan to visit the city, but also take one or two day trips out to other cities/towns within 1.5-2hours train ride. Is there a pass in Italy that would be best for this purpose or should we just buy day-of tickets at the station (or via mobile app)?

Thank you!

Posted by
862 posts

Aside from your train questions, I’d strongly recommend taking a night away from Milan or Zurich to add to Lauterbrunnen. 1 night is not enough to really experience the area because both of your days are travel days (getting from Zurich and to Milan). You’re going to want 1 full uninterrupted day to make the stop worthwhile.

Posted by
6 posts

@wanderweg - I probably did a poor job explaining our itinerary for Lauterbrunnen. We're arriving there early on May 25 and leaving early on May 27. So, we have a half-day on May 25 and a full day on May 26, to see the area.

Posted by
22143 posts

What time do you land at Zurich? It takes 3 hours and 11 minutes to get to Lauterbrunnen from the airport with departures every 30 minutes.

Posted by
6 posts

@Sam, we're staying in Zurich for the night. Heading to Lauterbrunnen the next morning.

Posted by
22143 posts

Sorry, just a suggestion to not waste any time in Zurich, but head straight to Lauterbrunnen. But do as you like