I am hoping someone can advise me on renting a car or riding trains in Switzerland. We are planning a 2 week trip to Italy and Switerland. We will be going from Milan to the Interlaken area(Berner Oberland) for 3 nights and then back to Milan. Would you recommend renting a car for those days or take the train only?
Posted by
partout
71 posts
Hi Jane,
I recently spent four days in the BO without a car and had no problems, so I recommend the train (both within the BO and getting to/from Milan). I just plugged in some random dates for taking the train from Interlaken to Milan, and there are several trips that take less than four hours (some only three).
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
Jane, Switzerland has more miles of train tracks per citizen than any country on the planet. You can get to most any city or town by train. In the valley where Lauterbrunnen is located, you can't even drive in many of the small towns (i.e. Murren, Gimmelwald and maybe Wengen (although you can park your car in Stechelberg near Lauterbrunnen). No tourist cars permitted. Where you find the odd town or city that does not have a train station, they have post buses to make up the difference. There's really not many places in Switzerland that you can't reach by train or bus.
Posted by
Arctophilia, Northamptonshire, England
35595 posts
Don't drive, don't drive, don't drive. And, if you hire a car in Italy and drop it in Switzerland you will pay through the nose. And, if you drive up using the Gotthard Road Tunnel be advised that it is over 10 (yes 10!) miles long. And you will need a CHF40 Vignette to drive on motorways in Switzerland at penalty of very large fines. And, as said by another poster, you will park it because you can't drive to the higher villages. So, to summarize, don't drive. (Written by one who drives his own car to both Switzerland and Italy every year - but its my car and I know where I'm going)
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32516 posts
Jane, Unless you're planning to visit some out-of-the-way locations not well served by public transport, I'd highly recommend using rail travel. Especially in Switzerland, it's really the quickest and most efficient way to get around. Using well planned rail journeys will get you to all the places you mentioned, and you won't have to worry about parking, tolls, etc. For example, the trip from Milan to Interlaken (gateway to the Berner Oberland) is as short as 3-hours, with one change in Spiez. From Interlaken Ost (east), you'll use the small Berner Oberland train for the trip up the Lauterbrunnen Valley. Happy travels!
Posted by
OP
Baton Rouge, LA, USA
16 posts
Many thanks to ya'll for your responses. It looks like the train is the way to go!