Trains in Lauterbrunnen/Interlaken

Hi Newbie! We were all new once, and where you are going can be hard to understand until you see how easily it works. For reference, your questions are pretty much answered by Rick Steves' Switzerland Guidebook. I hope you will pick it up as there is info we can not possibly cover here. BUT, I will try to answer your questions.

1. Go to Trainline.EU and book your trains. Easy and anyone can use it.
2. Book Paris to Interlaken East (Ost)
3. See #2
4. There is a local railroad to take you to Lauterbrunnen, the BOB. It runs frequently and is covered by the Berner Oberland Regional Pass if you choose to buy one to cover all the lifts and trains in the area.
5. Make your reservation using Trainline.EU from Interlaken Ost to Venice Santa Lucia. You will take an early BOB from Lauterbrunnen to Interlaken Ost. I think they start at 5:30AM.

Q0. Yes
Q1. Unless you want to arrive at midnight with no changes, board a train in Paris gare de Lyon to Zürich. Change trains in Basel for one to Interlaken Ost.
Q2. No, Interlaken Ost which is 3 minutes after Interlaken West and is the last stop.
Q3. See q2.
Q4. Go to the platform nearest the station building. Get on the BOB and ride in the half with Lauterbrunnen written on the door. Do not ride in the half marked Grindelwald.

Q5. How early is crack of dawn? It makes a real difference. If you give the month I can work out dawn, or do you mean after breakfast?

Trainline.eu does not sell most Swiss train tickets and these also don't require a reservation nor provide much benefit with advance purchase. If you like one of the departures that they offer for travel as far as Interlaken, then you can buy it there. Otherwise just book the reserved TGV from Paris to Basel, which is where you will usually change trains. The web sites that do sell Swiss tickets include www.sbb.ch and RailEurope.com.

It's easy to buy remaining the Swiss tickets in a train station and a Swiss Half Fare Travel Card would save money, assuming that you plan to take some higher-mountain rides around Lauterbrunnen. A Swiss Travel Pass for 3 or 4 consecutive days may not come out any cheaper but offers a little more hop-on convenience for your time within the Swiss borders. See https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/switzerland-rail-passes.

For booking the train to Venice, I'd buy that at a Swiss trains station which can calculate which parts are covered by a product above, usually from Domodossola.

Looking Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the Deutsche Bahn train schedule link and tips for using it. Unlike other ticket-sales shopping carts, this resource shows nearly all trains running in Europe, even though they don't sell most of them.

Thank you all so very much!

Hi! I have an add-on question: with my train searching, all I can find are trains from Paris to Interlaken West. If I book one of those, how, then, would I get to Interlaken East? Thank you!

I used Trainline.eu and found it would allow me to book through to Ost. If you end up in West, just get off and buy a ticket through to Lauterbrunnen.

chris,

To begin with, which website are you using to research train information?

To add to the excellent comments provided by the others, the easiest and quickest route from Paris to Interlaken Ost will be via Basel SBB. I'd suggest buying that ticket in advance as that will be via TGV (high speed train) so will be the most expensive portion. Trainline.eu currently shows one fare at €57 (I used a random date). Note that the ticket mentioned is non-refundable and non-changeable, so be sure of your details before you buy.

If you want to buy an online ticket from Basel SBB to Lauterbrunnen, use the SBB.ch website. You could also buy that ticket when you arrive at Basel, since the price should be the same.

One other question..... are you going anywhere else in the Lauterbrunnen Valley other than Lauterbrunnen?

One other point to mention. When you board the Berner Oberland-bahn for the short trip from Interlaken Ost to Lauterbrunn (about 20 minutes), be sure to check the small digital display on the side of the coach, to ensure the one you're riding in goes to Lauterbrunnen. Some trains split at Zweilütschinen and one part of the train goes to Grindelwald.

As Laurel mentioned, you may want to check your local Library or bookstores for a copy of the RS Switzerland book, as that will answer a lot of your questions. Many of the books are also available as E-books in several formats (Kindle, etc.).

Thank you all, very much, for your excellent help!