We are doing a trip to both Switzerland and Austria, flying into Zurich and out of Vienna. This is a repeat trip to some of our favorite places plus some new ones. We plan to spend just a night in Zurich, two nights in Luzern and then 5 nights exploring the Bernese Oberland using Lauterbrunnen as a base. Here's where it gets tricky - it's about 10 or more hours by train from Lauterbrunnen to Vienna and we're not inclined to do that in one sitting. One idea we have is to travel 5 hours by train to Innsbruck, spend two nights in the Innsbruck/Hall area, and then have another 5 hour train travel day to Vienna. We're not fond of having long travel days, but not sure what the most palatable alternatives are. I did find an airline called SkyWork that flies Bern to Vienna, but by the time we get to Bern, travel to the airport, check in, etc. we could likely be in Innsbruck. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make the best use of our travel time so that it is enjoyable?
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33840 posts
If heading that way I would skip Innsbruck - I didn't much care for it, saw nothing interesting in the golden shed roof, Hall was OK but no better than many other small towns - and either stay up the cliff at Seefeld im Tirol or push on and stop a night or 10 in Salzburg - one of our favourite places anywhere...
Posted by
OP
Phoenix, AZ
107 posts
Now thinking of just flying from either Bern or Zurich to Salzburg. How bad is it to get to Zurich by train from Lauterbrunnen?
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33840 posts
Every half hour is a connection ... xx:03 and xx:33 from Lauterbrunnen, 6 minutes to change at Interlaken Ost (no problem this what you did in reverse to get there), and 9 minutes in Bern to cross the platform - takes you right to the Airport in a total of 2:43.
Posted by
OP
Phoenix, AZ
107 posts
I used the sbb site and didn't see all of those connections - maybe I typed in the wrong inquiry? It seemed like we had only a few choices with short connection times between them. What inquiry did you type in? We're starting to think that 3 trains and 2 planes (nothing nonstop, all change in Germany, different cities) and getting into Vienna at about 9:30 PM may make for a long and exhausting day. We were in Salzburg for 3 days last year and pretty much saw everything there - so we are thinking that breaking up the train trip in Innsbruck would be less annoying than flying. Do you know if the train ride from Lauterbrunnen to Innsbruck is pretty? That could be OK with us, and if we can find some nice hikes near Innsbruck that would be fine, we don't have to waste our time seeing a boring town. Thanks for any thoughts on this.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33840 posts
If you're not finding all the trains are you by any chance using RailEurope? Use rail.ch for the official dope. It takes you in English to everything from the Swiss Railways - the SBB/CFF/FFS (the German, French, Italian initials). Do you expect to go via Bern or Luzern? EDIT - I see you say you used SBB. Don't understand but have to go to bed for a 4am start at work tomorrow. Perhaps somebody else will pick this up before I get back home...