From Cinque Terre to Murren, Switzerland

According to the swiss rail website (www.sbb.ch/en) it s a four and a half hour journey from Milan-with three changes; plus the journey from where you are staying in Cinque Terre to get to Milan.

Don, this is an easy train trip. However, there are a few quirks. First, the Italian train stations will only sell you a ticket from Italy to Interlaken Ost. So don't ask for a ticket to Murren. The reason is that the Swiss want to be paid in Swiss Francs for the remainder of the journey into Murren. I've been through this and it is not difficult.

Second, there are not many ticket offices in the CT. I believe that there is one in Corniglia and Monterosso. The rest just have self-service machines. You may want to buy your tickets before you go into the CT.

Your journey will involve 2-4 train changes to just to get to Interlaken Ost. CLICK HERE to see a sample train schedule to Interlaken Ost from Monterosso. Check out those train changes. You're looking at an 8.5hr. trip to get to Murren.

Next, buy your ticket to Interlaken Ost. When you arrive there, you walk over to the ticket office and buy your tickets to Murren. You can use your credit card or Swiss Francs. To get Swiss Francs, you have about 16 minutes to change trains at Spiez. While in the station, run around to the other side (it's a small station) and there's an ATM. It dispenses Swiss Francs. This part is fun. Then run back and get on the train.

At Interlaken Ost, you walk a few feet to track 2B and catch the train into Lauterbrunnen. You'll be on the Jungfraubahn which is part of the Swiss train system. This is a 25-minute ride. At Lauterbrunnen, you walk across the street to the Lauterbrunnen BLM (funicular). From there you gondola up to a midway station where you transfer to a cog train for a short ride up to Muerren. It's a great adventure and you'll enjoy every bit of it. Trains and gondolas run frequently so you won't have any problems there.

Hi Larry,
Thank you for the advice. I am traveling with my wife and young daughters and was a bit worried about the connections and timing.
With appreciation,
Don

Don, as the others mentioned, this is a fairly easy trip. It would help to know which town in the C.T. you will you be staying in?

Using Monterosso al Mare as an example, I found a train departing at 06:55, arriving Interlaken Ost at 14:28 (7H33M, with changes in Milan and Spiez). Reservations compulsory for two of the trains on that route.

When you arrive at Interlaken, you can buy tickets to Murren at the station (you might have to "take a number" and queue to the ticket window). If your "number" indicates that you should go to window "A", don't go to "B"! They seemed to be very strict about that! You'll be boarding the blue & yellow Berner-Oberland train to Lauterbrunnen.

There are a couple of different ways to get to Murren. Do you have a preference? The most interesting is probably the Schilthornbahn from Stechelberg. At Gimmelwald you disembark and board the next Gondola, which will take you to Murren. There's also a small railway (I believe from Lauterbrunnen).

Cheers!

Hi
We will be staying in Vernazza. I should also ask about getting to Vernazza from Venice. Any suggestions on the most efficient route?
Thanks

Don, I have the quirks on that one as well. First, understand that Vernazza doesn't get as many trains stopping there a day as Monterosso or Riomaggiore. Next, there is a great 7:52am train out of La Spezia for Venice with a train change in Bologna. It's the fastest run from the CT to Venice. My wife and I took this train to Venice.

Even better, you can catch this same train in Monterosso at 7:35am. Here's the quirk. This train goes from Monterosso to La Spezia and does not stop at Vernazza.

If this run is attractive to you, you can catch either the 6:36am or 7:16am train out of Vernazza to La Spezia. You might want the earlier train as there is a McDonalds in the La Spezia train station where you can grab food to take on the train.

CLICK HERE to see the schedule. Of course, you can take a later train.

Hi Larry,
Thank you for that information. But how about the reverse? What's my best bet if I am starting in Venice and headed to Vernazza?

Don, Oops, I read it the other way around. Most train runs out of Venice for the CT will go through Milan or Florence. Very few other options. The average trip is a bit longer and there are more train changes.

CLICK HERE to see a typical train schedule to Vernazza from Venice.

Just a note on Swiss Rail. Have you looked at their passes. They have some good family pass options. We took a longer route to Murren from Vernazza (a couple of weeks, actually), but used our Swiss Pass from the border onward and didn't have to worry about getting money/paying for tickets, etc. Italy is cheap point-to-point, but not Switzerland. I think most Swiss Rail Passes will get you as far as Murren, with discounts to go higher up. We loved the flexibility of riding the Swiss Rail system whenever we wanted. If you are only going to Murren, there are passes that go from the border to your destination, then back to the border - many, many options.