Paris/Lauterbrunnen Valley or Gimmelwald/Cinque Terre.

Judy,

A few thoughts on your questions....

Gimmelwald is in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, so if you go there you'll be passing through the town of Lauterbrunnen. You'll also have to go through Interlaken to reach Lauterbrunnen, so really with one trip you're seeing all of them. If you just want a quick look at Interlaken, spend an hour or so there before boarding the train to Lauterbrunnen.

For incredible views of the Alps, I'd suggest staying in either Gimmelwald or Murren. There's a glacier across the valley that appears to turn pink in the later afternoon sun (although maybe that was just my perception after a few "cool ones").

If you want to see the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau and the Alps while sitting in a revolving restaurant having a fine hot meal, take the Cable Car trip to the Schilthorn from either Gimmelwald or Murren (Murren is one stop above Gimmelwald).

There's LOTS of hiking possible in that area. If you want a nice easy downhill hike, take the Allmend-Hubel Funicular from Murren and hike down through the alpine meadows. It's possible to hike down from the Shilthorn, but that would depend on weather and would be best for experienced hikers in good shape!

You could also visit Trummelbach Falls (falls are inside the mountain), which is also in that area.

Definitely, spend a few days in one of the communities in the valley before heading to the Cinque Terre.

Happy travels!

Judy through the tube, you will get much discussion on which place in the valley or on the sides of the valley has the best views. The entire area displays the alps on steroids. You will go through Interlaken going to and from the Lauterbrunnen Valley. For limited time and the desire to see a lot, I would suggest staying in Lauterbrunnen as that is where the main train station for the valley is located. However, Murren is my favorite. On one side of the valley, you can take the cog train to Wengen and up further to the top of the Jungfrau. Beautiful views everywhere. It does take 2hrs to get up top and 2hrs to get back down. Or, you can take the gondolas on the other side of the valley and ride up to Murren, Gimmelwald and up to the top of the Schilthorn. More magnificient views. In Murren, you can stand on the edge of the cliff and look down 2,500 feet into the valley floor and in one sweep of your eyeballs, you slowly look up to the top of the 12,000' Jungfrau. Quite stunning. For maximum views, you can paraglide from up high on the Schilthorn down into the valley below. You MUST-DO it all :).

As for the Glacier Express, its a long long ride from Brig to Chur. My wife and I rode this scenic train on my birthday. The problem was that in movies and on the Travel Channel, you always see those magnificent bridges and tunnels. But on the train, you can't see the tunnel because you are inside it. You can't see the bridge because you are going over it. You are not in the helicopter that took those great pictures. Still, the scenery is just great.

Thank you for responding!

I checked out the schedules for traveling. My goodness, from Paris into G/LV requires changes at least 5 times through the NIGHT. For G/LV into Cinque Terre, requires more transferring through the night.

Has anyone does this before? I have never transferred around transportation 5-7 times throughout one night---by the time you get to your final destination, how are you going to have a good night sleep? You are going to be so exhausted?!

Maybe I did not read the charts correctly, but I think I did. Any suggestions?

"by the time you get to your final destination, how are you going to have a good night sleep? You are going to be so exhausted?!" In short, you won't!

But a clarification- in my opinion, the view of the Alpine peaks isn't any more spectacular in the Berner Oberland than hundreds of other destinations. It's the unique geologic features of the Lauterbrunnen Valley itself (sheer cliffs on both sides with waterfalls cascading over the edges) that makes the location such a draw. Some of the drawbacks, however, are that the region is somewhat isolated, and bad weather tends to obscure the views a little more frequently than similar resort areas in France, Italy and Bavaria. And, this is probably the single most expensive little corner of Europe.

So, you're going far out of your way... at a less than ideal time of year... to a very expensive region... where weather can often disrupt your sight-seeing plans...when you have little time to spare.

My advice? Save the Berner Oberland for a future trip when it's more convenient for your itinerary. Fortunately, though, your direct line of travel from Paris to the Cinque Terre goes straight through the French Alps. Have you considered Chamonix or one of the other French resort areas? You can do much of the same activities here for far less money.

Actually, I think Cinque Terre is out of my way. From Cinque Terre, I am going to go to Venice--> Florence--> Rome--> Paris--> London--> US.

Originally, my initial plan was to do the following:
US-->London--> Paris--> Geneva--> Milan--> Venice--> Florence--> Rome--> Paris--> London--> US.

But I realize that Milan/Geneva does not sound that fascinating relative to Cinque Terre/Gimmelwald. Thus, I am thinking of changing my schedule. It is impossible to change the time anything post Venice b/c I have already made Florence museum reservations. In addition, I have already booked my return ticket from Paris to London.

Sorry to bother you with these details. But I think I am up for the cross-continental hopping.

I think I will take the day train b/c there are fewer transfers and they won't mess with my biological clock---if I don't have a good night sleep, I get really cranky :(

You do have a lot of train travel. You can reduce your train changes but picking a few choice train runs. For example, there is a 7:58am train from Paris-Gare-de-Lyon to Interlaken Ost with one train change in Bern. Then, you have the Jungfraubahn train into Lauterbrunnen (20 minutes). If you are staying in Murren, you have a gondola/cog train ride up. Still, you have planned 3 back-to-back 6.0hr train rides just before you take the 12.0hr ride from Venice back to Paris.

Taking the day time train is definitely much better---fewer train changes and besides, we usually arrive in early afternoon so that the whole day is not wasted. I can walk around the town/half day hiking.

... if you have good weather... but even still, Rome to Paris by way of the Berner Oberland is still a significant detour.

My current trip looks like the following:

US--> London--> Paris--> Gimmelwald--> Clique Terre--> Florence--> Venice--> Naples/Pompeii--> Rome--> Paris--> London

Of course I will be taking side trips to the countryside from the big cities (Normandy, Monet's Garden, Edinburgh, Bath, Tuscany Hills)

I don't know when I will be able to travel again,perhaps, that is why I want to see as much as possible.

I was in Europe (on a real vacation in winter 2004) and have not really traveled since then (Sure, I went abroad but they were non-vacation trips)

If there are must do/eats in these towns, please let me know. Btw, I just purchased Rick Steves' Best of Europe book 2009!

Best wishes!

I made a mistake in my previous post about my trip. It should be:

US--> London--> Paris--> Gimmelwald--> Clique Terre--> Venice--> Florence--> Naples/Pompeii--> Rome--> Paris --> London

Judy,

My trip was somewhat in the reverse direction (C.T. - Gimmelwald - Paris) but I was using "fast" trains (TGV) as much as possible, and travelled during the day. The trip length seemed manageable, but I'd have to review my notes.

I'll post further information later if I find anything significant.

Cheers!

Awesome! Thank you for letting me know. I will be sure to take the fast train whenever possible.

Btw, did you make reservations/passholder for any of your trips? If so, how far in advance did you make them? How much did they cost?

I plan on putting in reservations/passholders (for the rest of my trip) once I get into Paris. I will stay in Paris for 4 days. Hopefully, that should give me ample of time before I take the journey into Switzerland? What do you think?

Judy,

Reservations fees on the "fast" trains are usually compulsory. These fees are not covered by the Eurail Pass, so you'll need to pay separately. I'd suggest finding the nearest SCNF Boutique or large rail station and arranging the reservations as soon as you arrive in Paris. That way the details will be out of the way and you can enjoy your sightseeing.

Regarding some of your rail journeys, I checked briefly using an arbitrary date, and these are some trains you might consider:

> Paris to GImmelwald - there's a train departing Paris Est at 08:24, arriving Interlaken Ost at 13:57 (Time 5H:33M, one change in Basel, reservations compulsory). That's a really good travel time, considering the distance travelled! Although I only checked the route to Interlaken, the travel time from there to Lauterbrunnen and area is not significant. You can buy a ticket at Interlaken that will cover all modes of transport to Gimmelwald (train, Post Bus and Cable Car from Stechelberg).

> Gimmelwald to Cinque Terre - this trip is a bit more complicated, but still reasonable by train. The trip I'd probably choose departs Interlaken Ost at 08:01, arriving at La Spezia Centrale at 15:18 (Time 7H:17M, 3 changes in Spiez, Brig and Milano Centrale, reservations compulsory). Each of the changes is less than half an hour, so not too bad. I searched using La Spezia Centrale as the destination, as you didn't specify which of the five villages you were staying in? The local train runs to the villages frequently so that shouldn't be a problem.

You indicated that you'll be travelling from Rome to Paris towards the end of your trip. That trip would probably be better via budget airline, as the rail trip will be about 16 hours, with perhaps one change in Milano. You might check flights with Vueling from Roma FCO to Paris CDG.

Cheers!

Judy,

One other point to note - if haven't done so already, it would be a good idea to download Rick's free PDF Rail Guide from this website so that you have a really good idea how the rail systems work. Some rail trips, especially those with multiple changes can be "challenging" so it helps to be completely up to speed on how things work.

Some of the same information is included in the "Rail Skills" chapter of the Guidebook Europe Through The Back Door.

Happy travels!

Hello Judy. I think you did not make a mistake in your trip itinerary (direction of travel) that you posted May 5 at 7:19 p.m. I think it is best to go from Gimmelwald -> Cinque Terre -> Florence ->Venice ->Naples ... Fly from Venice to Naples. I assume that you plan to fly from Rome to Paris. If you will be in Europe for two months (60 days) you will have time to go to all of the places on your list. I do not recommend doing any night trains.
The Cinque Terre is a good place to slow down and rest : be at a Cinque Terre village for four nights.
For most people, I think two whole days in Rome is sufficient. One whole day in Florence could be sufficient : I think some of the art in Florence is over rated. One whole day in Venice is sufficient.

Judy, the day you fly from Venice to Naples, ride in a bus from Naples to Sorrento. (Have overnight accomodation at Sorrento. Visit Pompei from Sorrento).

A new questions building upon the previous one:

If you have been to Cinque Terre (within the last two year), do you think it is still a place with charm and soul?

I have heard that that special magic was lost amongst the tourists, etc. Would you go there again or not?

Judy, went to CT last spring. Wouldn't go back. The path from Monterosso al Mare to Vernazza is challenging, but very beautiful. Aside from that, I would say the area is very overrated. Vernazza is charming, but very small. There is so much to see in Venice, I would spend the extra time spread between Venice, Paris, and London. While an unpopular opinion, we loved Milan. The Domo is spectacular, in many ways more so than Florence and Venice. La Scala is worth seeing.

I was at the Cinque Terre in the year 2004. I recommend going there, because it is at the Mediteranean Sea. I liked the path between Corniglia and Vernazza. I think that path has not changed since I was there. (It is in a park).

Hey Judy, we are doing a similar trip this August, and are breaking the Paris --> Lauterbrunnen leg up into two parts, taking a late afternoon train to Montreux, then the Golden Pass line the next day into Interlaaken and then on the Lauterbrunnen. There's an a.m. Golden Pass train and an afternoon one (9:45 and 1:45 I think), that puts you into Interlaaken about 3-4 hours later (around 1 or 5, depending on which you take).

It costs you an extra day on your rail pass, but we had an extra to burn and will get to visit Castle Chillon in the morning before continuing on to the Berner Oberland.

Judy, you are in for a treat! I think Murren has the best views as it is on a high ledge - my apartment had a balcony with a clear view of snowy mountains just across the narrow valley - wonderful! You take the train from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen, and then a lift up to Murren. There are lots of hikes; taking a lift up to a mountain peak and hiking down is fun! I would not bother with Interlaken. Be sure to sit on the right side of the train as you head down from Bern to the Cinque Terre - there are lots of tunnels, but the glimpses of the sea are incredible.