Travel by Train from Switzerland to Italy

I'm looking at our first class ticket for two from Milan to Interlaken Ost. It's 130 Euro. Expect 2nd class to be a bit more than half of that cost. The cost from Milan to Bologna shouldn't be that bad.

Joanna, based on the Rail Europe website, the one-way adult Fare for travel from Interlaken Ost to Bologna is US$106.00. The shortest journey I could find at www.bahn.de was 06H17M, with two or three changes.

If you leave fairly early, the journey should indeed be very scenic!

Happy travels!!!

The best site for timetables for all of Europe is www.bahn.de. Click on "Internat. Guests" for the English version. After you enter departure and arrive points you'll get summary timetables. Click on "Details for all" to see the connecting points.

Your best daytime route is Interlaken Ost-Spiez-Milano Centrale-Bologna Centrale. Using www.sbb.ch/en, I found a fare of 9.80 CHF (€5.90) for Interlaken-Spiez. Using www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html I found a standard 2nd class fare of €42 and a youth fare of €33 for Spiez-Milano. Using the same site I found 2nd class fares ranging from €20-26, depending upon the type of train, for Milano-Bologna. So your minimum total is €68-74.

Don't rely on Rail Europe for either fares or routes. Their fares are inflated and their timetables don't show all times and routes.

On train changes, expect train changes at Spiez and Milan. The train from Interlaken Ost to Spiez is about 30 minutes. Hopefully, you can transfer to the higher-speed Eurostar, Eurocity or Cisalpino trains that run from Spiez to Milan and from Milan to Bologna. Here's a sample schedule. Note that that this schedule does not show regional trains which are slower and have more stops. Note also that you will need seat reseverations for these types of trains.

I forgot to mention above that I'm showing you a Trenitalia schedule so that you can see train numbers, times and changes. You can use this information in Switzerland to buy the tickets but you'll probably pay in Swiss Francs.

Joanna, one other point to make is that if part of your rail journey involves "fast trains", then reservations will be mandatory. This will of course add slightly to the cost. I would highly recommend that you ensure you have reservations, as if you're caught without them it can be very expensive (I know that from experience!).

Cheers!!!

How lucky you are that you are going that way. We went the opposite and it was the train from hell. For all that told you to make reservations I will tell you why. We got on the train in Milan. We had first class ticket and reservations. People were in our seats. No trouble removing them. First class was over sold. We had seats, others didn't, even if they were traveling first class. They had to stand the whole way. Also when we got on the train that was two and one/half hours late the Americans getting off had been robbed. That part was in Italy. Make sure that you buy locks for your luggage and a chain. Good luck. I'm sure you will be fine going the opposite direction.