Need assistance with Switzerland 3 day itinerary !!!

Posted by Al (Las Vegas, NV, USA) on 11/27/07 11:41 PM

Hello to you all. I´ve been reading this site for quite some time now, however I need assistance with this portion of a Rick Steves Itinerary. What is the best way of completing this itinarary. I am coming from Reutte In Tirol, and when I finish I am leaving to Munich. It is as follows:

Switzerland (3 days)

For the best of the Swiss Alps, establish a home base in rugged Berner Oberland, south of Interlaken. The traffic-free and quiet village of Gimmelwald in Lauterbrunnen Valley is everything an Alp-lover could possibly want. Switzerland’s best big city is Bern and best small town is Murten. Europe’s most scenic train ride is across southern Switzerland from Chur to Martigny.

Posted by Chris

Renton, WA, USA

11/28/07 12:19 AM

81 posts

Suggest you use the Die Bahn website: http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?
(for the English version). Type in "Reutte in Tirol" in the "From" field, "Gimmelwald" in the "To" field.

Since this is not a round-trip, only fill in the date and time of "Outward Journey".

Click "Search Connection". The program will ask which station or stop for "Reutte In Tirol"; (select from the drop-down menu) and the age of travelers.

Click on "Search Connection" and the program will return several itineraries based on the date and time
you entered.

Look at these carefully. Note the time of travel, which is somewhere between 8.5 and 10 hours, and the number of changes, perhaps 7 or 9. This seems like a lot, but keep in mind you are traveling between two fairly remote places.

Click on "Details for all" and the itinerary explodes into each step of the journey, including short walks and gondola rides.

This site does not show fares outside Germany by the way. More...

Posted by Chris

Renton, WA, USA

11/28/07 12:31 AM

81 posts

Do the same research for the Gimmelwald to Munich leg; Munich being a bigger city it would be good to know which station is nearest to your destination.

You do not have to do all of this in advance, by the way. When you get to Austria, go to the train station and tell them you want to travel to Gimmelwald on this day at that time, and the ticket agent will sell the whole itinerary to you.

I would also have that agent set up the Gimmelwald to Munich itinerary, as you won't have much time between connections on the way to Gimmelwald to duck into a ticket office.

By the way, Gimmelwald is worth every mile, minute and change it takes to get there. Good luck!

Posted by Pauline

British Columbia, Canada

11/28/07 05:29 PM

188 posts

Do I understand correctly that you want to leave Reutte, do all of the above in Switzerland and arrive in Munich 3 days later? Switzerland IS a small country, but you may be spending alot of your time in transit just to get from Germany to Western Switz and back again. Gimmelwald and surrounding area is certainly worth a minimum of one day. If you check out the sites below, you can gauge suggested times for various activities and sights.

www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/germany/germ22.htm
(Day 12 to Day 15)

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/switz/switzerland-best.htm