First trip to Europe - Getting from Cinque Terre to Gimmelwald?

Just to clairfy a little bit: you go all the way to Lauterbrunnen by train, and then to Gimmelwald by postbus and cablecar. Basicially, you go from Cinque Terre to Milan, using either the Florence route or the Genoa one, depending which is more convenient. From Milan, you go to Brig, Spiez, Interlaken Ost, and Lauterbrunnen. There you take a postbus the short distance to Stechelberg, and catch the cablecar up to Gimmelwald. The best website for vieweing all the connections is bahn.de, not RailEurope. However, sue "Stechelberg" as your destination, as it may not recognize Gimmelwald. Or use Lauterbrunnen. From there it is easy; the bus an dcablecar are timed to connect seamlessly. It makes for a long travel day, and you might want to think about breaking it up with an overnight stop someplace nice. There are several possibilities.

Actually, you can take a train as far as Murren if you take the Bergbahn from Lauterbrunnen. (The first leg is technically a train.) From Murren its an easy, and spectacular, walk to Gimmelwald, slightly downhill.

You cannot get by train to Gimmelwald - you have to go to Lauterbrunnen, there may be another connection somewhere, but you have to go up in a gondola...google getting to gimmelwald fr Lauterbrunnen - I viewed it on wikitravel...Also, depending on where you are going fr in Cinque Terre, put in La Spezia or Monterosso (I use raileurope to check on schedules)....hmm, that wasn't working either - best way is probably to get yourself to Genoa/Milan or another large city and check fr there...eg La Spezia to Genoa is about 2 hrs approx... ohhhh, I don't want to erase all that... here's a quick of what I found using rail europe (searching La Spezia to Interlaken, then interlaken to Lauterbrunnen) La Spezia (or wherever in CT)-connect Milan- connect Spiez-connect Interlaken Ost (we actually stayed in Spiez when we went to Switz - a lovely little town!)then Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen...

That cablecar from Lauterbrunnen to Grutschalp is a train?
Or are you referring to the old funicular, which was taken down in 2006?

Tisha, As the others have mentioned, that's a fairly easy trip (I know as I've travelled that route). Using Monterosso as the departure point, you'll be travelling first to Interlaken Ost. That trip will be as short as 6H:52M, but involves 4 changes in Levanto, Genova Piazza Principe, Milano Centrale and Spiez (reservations compulsory for some legs). You can research rail journeys throughout Europe using This Website. When you arrive at Interlaken Ost (there are two stations at Interlaken), you'll transfer to the local Berner Oberland train for the trip to Lauterbrunnen. If you buy your ticket to Gimmelwald at Interlaken Ost, it will include all modes of transport. When you arrive in Lauterbrunnen, you have two choices. 1.) You can walk across the street and board the Post Bus (bright yellow, you can't miss it) for the trip to Stechelberg, where you'll board the Cable Car for the trip to Gimmelwald. That trip is steep and spectacular, so have your Camera ready! Gimmelwald is the first stop, so disembark and walk up the path to your lodgings (where are you staying there?). 2.) You can walk across the street and board the Cable Car to Grütschalp station, where you'll transfer to the small mountain railway that will take you to Mürren. When you arrive in Mürren, you'll have to walk to the far end of town and at that point you can choose to either take the Cable Car down to Gimmelwald OR hike down the paved trail (about 30 minutes as I recall). My suggestion would be to use Option 1, since your destination is Gimmelwald. As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd suggest reading Europe Through The Back Door as it provides a LOT of good information. Be sure you're "clear" on changing trains! Happy travels!

Thanks everybody for your responses!! They have really helped a lot! I especially want to thank Ken. Being that it is our first time visiting Europe, I needed all of those details!! :) I definitely plan on getting some of Rick Steves' guidebooks - Italy, Switzerland & Europe Through the Backdoor. I would like to be as prepared as possible so we can really enjoy our trip.