Please sign in to post.

Train from Wengen to Milan

Hello! I just returned from a delightful trip to Wengen with my son and his fiancé, and I will make a post about it soon, including weighing in on the Wengen vs Mürren debate since I have now stayed in both locations!

My reason for writing is that I am actually returning to Wengen in early October with a friend (yes, I know I am very lucky and must admit that it made my departure less sad this time because I knew I would be back in less than 2 months!). I am buying all my train tickets and feel set for the first 4 days, but on day 5 (October 7), we are traveling from Wengen to Milan. I went on their website to purchase the tickets (since the app doesn't work if you're crossing countries), and I found a couple of options, but when I try to purchase the best route, I get a message the says:

"Your journey could not be booked. The train is already fully booked or has been cancelled due to engineering work.
You have the following options:
We recommend selecting another connection.
For connections with changes: It may be possible to complete the purchase if you split the booking into the individual legs."

Any idea why this might be happening? I feel quite certain that the train isn't sold out. We had issues on this past trip with the train to Spiez being cancelled at the last minute when we were heading to the airport, so I am wondering is something is going on with that station? Any other suggestions about how to proceed? Thanks in advance!!!

Posted by
21139 posts

I just checked at https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html and you can buy (2) 2nd class tickets from Spiez to Milano Centrale for 84 EUR on the 2:05 pm train on October 7. There are also seats available on the 12:05 pm and 8:05 am EC trains for more money.

Posted by
148 posts

Thank you, Sam. I did just notice that I can also get that segment on sbb, but I can’t purchase the entire trip from Wengen to Milan. So I guess I get tickets for Wengen to Spiez and then from Spiez to Milan?

Posted by
21139 posts

Yes, especially if you have a Swiss Travel Pass or Berner Oberland Pass.

Posted by
2488 posts

There are engineering works on that rout all through fall. Because of that there are lots of last minute changes. And these changes are not communicated well between Trenitalia and SBB. Hence the booking issues. The error you get is the standard "I cannot find a seat in the system" error, and is really something that needs improving.

Unusually for SBB they are making a dog's breakfast of the on line booking here. But solving that is not a priority for them as Swiss do not book tickets for October in August...

Anyway, if you have a STP you only need a ticket from Domodossola, and the same if you have a BO pass and go over the Lötschberg mountain route.

Posted by
148 posts

WengenK, I can’t find any train options through Domodossola strangely, but my BO pass expires the day before anyway, so I think it doesn’t matter, right? I am allowed to book separate tickets for Wengen to Spiez and Spiez to Milan, so that’s probably what I’ll do. I have the Half Fare card, so I'm guessing I’m better off booking on the Swiss site?

I am concerned about the engineering works you mention. Could it end up foiling our plans for the day? When the issue happened this past trip on our way to the airport, I was able to quickly route us through Bern instead of Spiez, but it was a close call and could have resulted in a missed flight if I hadn’t found the option. Should I just buy the 2 tickets and hope for the best? Or is there another route I’m not seeing that would bypass the issue?

Thanks for your help! I thought my train plans would be easy now that I’ve traveled that region several times, but this issue is new to me.

Posted by
33814 posts

There is always an alternative route.

I haven't looked at the detail of this issue, but if, for whatever reason you can't go via Domodossola you can still go via Luzern (the scenic Brünig Pass via Meiringen from Interlaken Ost heading east. Then a variety of sub-routes depending on how much time you have for the trip to Milan.

Posted by
2488 posts

The Spiez - Milano trains pass through Domodossola. So if you search "Domodossola - Milano" on Trenitalia some of the same trains turn up as when you search Spiez - Milano.

But if your BO pass has indeed expired you can just book Spiez - Milano on Trenitalia, and Then Wengen - Spiez you just buy here on the day of travel.

Posted by
148 posts

Ok thank you all! I will book the trip with 2 separate tickets! Fingers crossed that the trains aren't impacted on the day of travel haha!