Cinque Terre to Interlaken -- trying to find the best route???? Help!

Joe,

The short answer is "Yes". Could you clarify if you're going to be travelling to each of those locations in the order you specified?

Corniglia to Monza: about 4 hours by train (usually 2 changes)

Monza to Iselle: almost 8 hours by train (again, probably 2 changes). The station that was listed was Iselle di Trasquere - I'm assuming that's the correct one?

Iselle to Interlaken Ost: about 2 hours by train

Interlaken Ost to Murren: about 20 minutes to Lauterbrunnen, another 20 minutes or so on the Post Bus to Stechelberg and then 10 minutes or so on the Schilthornbahn to Murren. The first stop on the Schilthornbahn is Gimmelwald, so you'll walk off one Gondola and board the next one for the trip to Murren.

I believe one can also take a Funicular from Lauterbrunnen to Grutschalp and then a small train to Murren. I've never taken that route, so don't have much information on it.

Happy travels!

There is another "Iselle" that is a 20-minute bus ride from Domodossola, so a shorter trip from Monza. To continue to Interlaken, return to Domodossola and continue north to Brig and the route to the Berner Oberland

And to clarify, the transport from Lauterbrunnen up to Grutschalp is a cablecar, not a gondola. Much easier to manage with luggage.

But why do you wish to go this way? Are you stopping in those places in Italy? Otherwise you are just adding a lot of extra time to your journey.

Lola, what do you mean by cablecar? From Lauterbrunnen up to Grutschalp used to be serviced by a funicular. It was replaced by a gondola a few years ago. So I'm curious as to what you mean by cablecar.

The two terms have specific meanings. A cablecar (Luftseilbahn) or aerial cableway is a large car on a fixed cable; they are ussally paired for counterbalance, although the one from Lauterbrunnen up to Grutschalp is not. A cablecar has a driver within and comes to a complete stop at the station. The entry from platform to car is generally completely flat and level, making it easy for roller bags and luggage, as well as transport carts used by the locals. This cablecar also has a luggage cart they attach if you want your luggage transported for you all the way to Mürren.

Other cablecars are the Schilthorn and the one from Wengen up to Männlichen.

A gondola (Gondelbahn) is a much smaller car on a cable that runs in a continuous loop. The operator stays in the station. There are cars at intervals and they hold 4 to 6 people, with little or no room for luggage. Think ski lift. Gondolas run continuously and do not stop for loading---you climb in as it moves through the station. You'll find gondolas at Grindelwald, going up from Grindelwald Grund up to Männlichen, and the First gondola which is very popular.

If you read German there is a good explanation on the German wiki site:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luftseilbahn

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gondelbahn

When they tore down the old funicular and replaced it with a cablecara, they didn't change the name---it is still called BLM, for Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen-Mürren. And the train schedule doesn't show the transfer between cablecar and the little train that runs from Grutschalp to Mürren.

Lola, thanks for that detailed definition.

Now that we have ruled that out. What is the best way by Eurail to get from Cinque Terre (Vernazza), Italy to Murren, Switzerland? Thanks.

Joe, I thought that question had been answered on your earlier post, but I see that the answer is confusing.

Basically, you want to get to Milan, and then take a train north into Switzerland, where you will change trains several times and finally take the cablecar and train up to Muerrne.

You would start by taking a train north from Vernazza to Genoa (not all the trains thru Vernazza go all the way to Genoa, so you may have to change once). At Genoa, change to Milan. There, take a train into Switzerland at Brig, and continue (either on that one or maybe change) heading north to Spiez. Then go Spiez to Interlaken Ost to Lauterbrunnen to get to that cablecar.

I know it sounds confusing but it works. You just have to pay attention to the stops and be ready to get off and transfer when you need to. It really helps to see the whole thing listed out on the route schedule. You will also see that you have alternatives, some with more train changes than others.

I prefer the Swiss one at www.rail.ch for planning purposes. Just put in Vernazza and Muerren as your start and end points, pick a date (doesn't have to be your actual date, but should be the same day of the week) and departure time, and it will do the rest.

It is a long trip, and you might want to consider a stop along the way to break it up.

One more thing---use "Muerren BLM" to be sure to get the cablecar route rather than the longer one by bus to Stechelberg.

It's going to be more than 8 hours, with a minimum of 6 changes.

Thanks everyone for all of your input! I think I may have finally figured out what we are going to do. It will be a long day of travel!

Yes, it will.