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Spiez to Murren

I am trying (and failing) to book train from Venice to Murren on June 20. The problem seems to be in getting connecting trains from Spiez. I kind of give up! So now I'm thinking of Plans B & C. Please, if you know the area, can you advise?
Plan B: Reserving train from Venice to Spiez and hope there are local trains I can figure out how to use, without reservations, that will get us to Murren.
Plan C: Reserving train from Venice to Spiez and use Uber or similar ride share service. Is this even a viable option?

Thank you for the time you take to help me,

Patty

Posted by
21020 posts

Just buy the ticket to Spiez. Trains from there are almost continuous. You buy continuing ticket on line and a ticket is good on any continuing train that day from www.sbb.ch/en.

Trenitalia can only sell tickets for trains beginning in Italy and stopping in Switzerland. They cannot sell tickets for Swiss trains wholly within Switzerland.

Posted by
17 posts

Thanks, Green Bay. I'm not sure what you mean by "You buy continuing ticket on line and a ticket is good on any continuing train that day". Are you saying that I buy another ticket online, in addition to the Venice-Spiez one?

Posted by
8876 posts

What website are you looking at for train schedules? I looked at Trenitalia and see that I could book an itinerary from Venezia to Interlaken Oct, which is a bit closer than Spiez to your final destination. Hundreds of people go up the valley from Interlaken by local train everyday, so it's not that complicated and doesnt need advance purchase or reservations. You can buy the ticket all the way to Mürren from there which may include the bus to Stechelberg and gondola up to Murren (via Gimmelwald). No cars up the mountain in Mürren so Uber can't help. All this sounds like its remote wilderness, but it's quite a populated and well-worn route.

Posted by
21020 posts

If you are looking at the Trenitalia site, you can get a nonrefundable ticket that will probably be less than at the sbb site, but check the prices.

Posted by
17 posts

I tried that on SBB.ch and after choosing the route, class, fare, and it was time to pay I got a message that I was unable to reserve from Spiez and I had to call a number. I'll try Trenitalia. Someone on this site that I was private messaging with told me that when using Trenitalia you have to adjust for the time zones. He said: " Keep in mind that the app registers the time where you are CURRENTLY located. You need to adjust the time relative to Venezia. If you are on the east coast then you need to adjust the time back by 6 hours." This does not sound right to me. Can you confirm?

Posted by
17275 posts

You need to buy Spiez to Mürren on SBB.ch.

There will be 3 changes on the way—Interlaken Ost, Lauterbrunnen, and Grutschalp. The train from Spiez to Interlaken could be an IC ot regional train. If the latter, there are no reservations. If an IC or ICE train, reservations may not be available until 30 days in advance, but you really don’t need them. Or wait until after May 20.

The rest of the journey involves a regional train to Lauterbrunnen, a cablecar up to Grutschalp, and another small train the rest of the way to Mürren. No reservations possible.

Posted by
21020 posts

You cannot reserve from Spiez to Muerren. They are Swiss trains and only a few (IC trains) even allow reservations. It would be like trying to reserve a spot on a subway train for a specific time. In Switzerland, you just buy a ticket and get on the train and sit where you want. In fact, one leg (Lauterbrunnen to Gruetschalp) is a gondola lift that runs continuously like a conveyor belt.

Posted by
32336 posts

Patty,

I've travelled that route and I vaguely recall that when I arrived in Spiez, I just walked into the ticket office and bought my ticket to the Berner Oberland (in my case, it was Lauterbrunnen). You can certainly buy online at SBB.ch if you wish. If you're travelling with a smartphone, you might download the SBB app.

One point to note. There are two routes to reach Mürren, either via the Schilthornbahn or the BLM railway. If you're planing to use the route that was suggested in an earlier post (Lauterbrunnen - Grütschalp - Mürren), you'll need to specify "BLM" when you buy the tickets. You'll see both options listed on the website.

Posted by
2444 posts

While it appears that Trenitalia can now sell tickets to most places in Switzerland, this is currently still broken. If you try to book Venezia - Interlaken for example you will notice that sometimes you get offered weird routings.

So indeed just book till Spiez. And you do not have to "hope that there are local trains you can figure out". This is Switzerland. You can rely on our public transit, and find out all about it on www.sbb.ch...

Posted by
11697 posts

Book to Spiez. Try to get the 8:18 AM departure with only one change in Milan. Buy this on SBB.CH/EN. Other departures take multiple changes or get you in quite late, so best to get up and out for this long travel day.

Once in Spiez, go into the station and buy a Berner Oberland Regional Pass that will cover your entire stay. If you have a Swiss Half Fare card, that will give you an additional discount on the pass and that HFC will be applied to the portion of your Venice-Spiez journey that is in Switzerland.

Nothing is reserved from Spiez to Mürren. You get on the next train to Interlaken Ost then change at Interlaken Ost to the Lauterbrunnen train and then on via one of the routes to Mürren as described in the Rick Steves guide, which you should have as he makes all of this easier.

Posted by
17 posts

Thank you everyone for your input. I'll book Venice to Spiez and use public transport in Switzerland from there. I feel really good about that now. But, I still need an answer to this question:
Someone on this site that I was private messaging with told me that when using Trenitalia and SBB.ch you have to adjust for the time zones. He said: " Keep in mind that the app registers the time where you are CURRENTLY located. You need to adjust the time relative to Venezia. If you are on the east coast then you need to adjust the time back by 6 hours." A second email from him says "As far as inputting time, use the date of June 20 and a time of 00:15 "
This doesn't seem right to me. Can someone confirm? I do not want to be booking a train for 00:15 local time. Thank you!!

Posted by
2444 posts

The search will default to current time. So when filling out the search form enter the date and also the time you want to travel. Then double check before paying that you indeed reserved the correct tickets.

Tickets for transport in Switzerland are normally always valid a whole day, so picking the right departure is not important, just pick the right day.

Venezia - Spiez I would book in Trenitalia, not SBB as someone suggested. That should be pretty straightforward.