We will be in Cinque Terre Mid May, 2024 -- Traveling by car. What is the recommended travel route by car from CT to Lauterbrennen considering any possible road closures at that time of year. Also any recommendations of best place to use for Base in the BO area. How many days do you recommend to spend in that area. ( 71 and 74 yr olds in decent shape) We always use Rick Steves recommendations and look forward to your response.
Thanks
Joey H.
Will you be returning to Italy?
No. We will be going toward Paris and return car there.
I hope you are renting it in France.
Will start in Rome (4 days) then (Lease Car)
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/car-parking-in-florence-area
Your lease lets you drop the car in another country without a punitive fee?
To address your question re: routing, this may offer some help
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/switzerland/driving-from-milan-to-lauterbrunnen-in-late-may
Joey,
I've only done that trip by train so can't help with routing suggestions. One thought that occurred to me is that if you're renting the car in Italy, you need to make sure that you have the Swiss highway vignette, as there could be heavy fines if you're caught without it. You'll have to determine whether the vignette applies to the roads you'll be using - https://www.ch.ch/en/travel-and-emigrate/holidays-in-switzerland/motorway-vignette/ .
The best home base for the Berner Oberland would be Lauterbrunnen (IMO). It's the transportation hub for that area so easy to get to both sides of the valley. There's parking available and some nice hotels within easy walking distance. You might want to have a look at a copy of the RS Switzerland guidebook..... check your local library or larger book stores.
When I look at your route on your other thread, the first destination where you might need a car is Colmar, France. When you say "lease a car", is it a standard car rental, or is it one of the leasing programs of some European automakers? If it is just a standard car rental, you might save a lot of money starting the rental in Colmar!
Now, back to your question.
I would take the A10 past Genoa to the A26 due north, and cross into Switzerland via Simplon pass (no issue in May,) typically kept open year-round). Then drive to Goppenstein for the Lötschberg car-train shuttle. The other side, Kandersteg, is not far from Interlaken.
The other main option, without a train shuttle, would be to go via Milan, Lugano and the Gotthard tunnel, but Nufenen pass might not be open yet in which case you would have to drive all the way north to Stans, then south over Brünig pass.
Third option, valid if Nufenen pass is closed, is via Aosta, the Great St Bernard tunnel, and Bern.
Either option is a very long day.
You need to purchase a toll sticker (vignette) at the border to drive on Swiss motorways. The motorways are realistically unavoidable.
I agree with Ken on making Lauterbrunnen your base as it is a hub and cars are not permitted in Mürren and Wengen. Your car will likely remain parked most of the time as the trains, buses, and gondolas are the way to get around. Some hotels have parking and, in my experience, most of the vacation rental apartments have parking as well.
As to how long to stay, we have spend as few as 4 nights and as long as 28 in one of the three towns. For th long stays, always Lauterbrunnen as it is more efficient to get to either side of the valley as well as out to Interlaken and beyond for day trips.
When deciding how long to stay somewhere, I like to list out all the activities we want to do from hikes to day trips and then figure out how many days we need to accomplish our objectives. these days we rarely stay anywhere for less than a week as we like to settle in, get to know the area, and not pack and unpack all the time. Allowing a few days for possible bad weather in the mountains is also a good idea. If you only allow 3 days and it is cloudy and rainy all the time, you miss a lot. Staying a week or more offers the likelihood of at least SOME good weather.
We lucked out in May this year with 10 days of good weather in the Lauterbrunnen area. It is still off-season for a lot of the high elevation hikes, but you can still get to many of the high areas for views. Some restaurants and hotels don’t open until late in the month or even June 1, but there is still plenty to do and see.
