Travel from Murren to Stresa

Hi, that’s the route that we took. We were staying in Wengen, and stopped for a long lunch hour in Spiez before continuing to Stresa. We didn’t have a Swiss travel pass, so I can’t comment on that criteria. I’ve only used Rail Europe once during all of our trips for purchasing tickets, and I remember that this was that trip.

Domodossola is the border crossing , your Swiss pass will take you to that point . You will only need a ticket from there to Stresa . Buy it from Trenitalia , and be aware that depending on the class of train making the run you may need a reservation . ( the train may be an EC train or a Freccia train , which require reservations )

Steven, I'm still confused about which ticket I buy. If I take the fastest rout it goes from Spiez directly to Stresa. Do I just buy a ticket from Domodossola to Stresa even though I wont be on that actual train?

I think I'm getting the handle on this (but please correct me if I'm wrong!). If I stop in Domodossola (which adds a 3rd change and an extra hour of travel time) the price of a ticket for 2 is about $9 vs going directly through Spiez which is $80.

You don't have to stop in Domodossola for the pass to be valid to that point . You only need a ticket from there to Stresa . The first time I did this trip , I came from Stresa to Lauterbrunnen via Domodossola . I only needed a ticket for the Italian leg ( with a reservation because it was a train that originated in Milan , and as an EC train it was required ) One further example - I will be in Switzerland in about a week with a 15 day Swiss Travel Pass . On the last day of the pass I will go to Munich from Luzern , but I only needed to buy a ticket from St Margarethen to Munich because the pass covers the trip to the border crossing ( St Margarethen )

I need to add this - When you buy the ticket , you need to buy it for the train you will be on . Locate the train ( train number and departure time , from Spiez ) When the train crosses the border ( Domodossola ) the number will most likely change . The best way to work this is to go to DB ( German State Railways) and put the information into a search ( Spiez to Stresa ) from there you can extrapolate the information for buying the ticket on Trenitalia .

Well that is way over my head...any help would be appreciated.

We did the Murren to Milan run in 2019. We had the Swiss Travel Pass. When we got to Spiez, we had 20 minutes before the train to Milan departed. We bought our tickets for that portion of the trip at the Spiez train station. I believe that ticket was technically from Domodossola to Milan...

Espo,

That's actually a fairly simple trip but there are a few changes (5 or 6, depending on which departure you choose). I used the Bahn.de website to check the route and I'd probably use the departure at 08:58, arriving Stresa at 12:35 (time 3H:37M, 6 changes). The change times all look quite adequate. There are many other departures if you'd rather depart Mürren at a different time.

In that situation, there are two methods you could use.....

1. The day prior to travel, check with the staff at your hotel to find out what hours the ticket office at Mürren station is open. I believe they have counter service from 10-18K on weekdays. Show them your Swiss pass and buy tickets for the trip. There are two ways to get from Mürren to Lauterbrunnen and I'd suggest choosing the "Mürren BLM" route. That involves the small railway to Grütschalp and then cable car to Lauterbrunnen.
2. If you have the SBB app on your phone, you should be able to buy tickets with that. I usually prefer to buy tickets from a "live person" in Switzerland, so I've never used the app (although I do have it on my phone) and don't know how the Swiss Pass is entered if buying online.

All trains from Spiez to Milan stop in Domodossola, so you are stopping there. Domodossola is the place where the Swiss train crew gets relieved by an Italian one. You can stay on the train though.

(Note, when talking about trains a "stop" means just that the train makes a stop, not that you change trains).

What you can do is book this with SBB as follows:

• Search Mürren - Milano
• Start a booking, and in the reduction field choose "GA". GA stands for GeneralAbo and that is the local equivalent of the Swiss Travel Pass.
• This way you only pay for the Domodossola - Milano part and get a reserved seat from Spiez to Milan.

Or you can:

• Search Mürren - Milano
• Look at the train details for the Spiez - Milano train. Noted train number, and when it stops in Domodossola
• Book that train from Domodossola to Milano on www.trenitalia.com

Advantage is that this is sometimes a bit cheaper. But we are only talking a couple of Euros here.
Disadvantage is that you will only have a reserved seat from Domodossola onwards. But you still can just board the train in Spiez, look for your seats, and if they are not occupied already take them. Or take just other trains nearby.

Last thing: These trains are often run with double sets between Spiez and Domodossola. Only one of those goes to Milano. Make sure you board the correct one. So pay attention to the signs, displays and announcements.

BTW: For the first option just going to a station (any manned station) in Switzerland will work to. So you could just arrange this at a convenient moment after you arrive....

Thank you WengenK. We are actually going to Stresa (not Milan) but I assume the instructions are the same. It's funny that the SBB website doesn't show the train actually stopping in Domodossola (at least not the route that has the travel time of 2:30). I think I will just buy the ticket at the Murren train station the day I leave.

The website does show the train stopping in Domodossola (as wel as in. Visp and Brig). But you need to click through to get the details. The first level of detail only shows the transfer points, not all the stops. Click on the + signs to see all the stops...

Thanks WengenK. I think I get it now.