Gimmelwald to Cinque Terre

Posted by Chris (Cincinnati, OH, United States) on 04/21/10 06:36 PM

Hi all!

I have a Eurail pass and am looking at going from Gimmelwald to Cinque Terre. What is the quickest and most direct route. I was thinking that the Lauterbrunnen to Monterosso train would be the best bet. And then would need to catch a local train into the one of the five villages (probably staying in Vernazza).

Also I couldn't find any information on the Gondola schedule in Gimmelwald and was hoping someone could help me out. I'd like to know how early it begins running so I can figure out which morning train we will be able to make when leaving Gimmelwald.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Chris

Posted by Lola

Seattle, WA

04/21/10 07:03 PM

17446 posts

The Swiss rail site (sbb.ch) doesn't recognize Gimmelwald as a stop. Use "Murren LSMS" as your starting point---this is where the cablecar starts. The first one leaves there at 5:55 am so call it 6:00 am at Gimmelwald. This one will connect to a bus that takes you to Lauterbrunnen where you can take a 6:33 train to Interlaken Ost, arriving there at 6:54 am. You'll still have 4 more changes and about 7 hours of travel after that (using Vernazza as your destination).

Remember that your Eurail pass doesn't fully cover travel beyond Interlaken Ost (to Gimmelwald). I think it ocvers 25% and you pay the rest. It isn't a lot but be prepared to pay.

Posted by Chris OP

Cincinnati, OH, United States

04/21/10 07:17 PM

5 posts

Thanks Lola, that helps with the cable car.. I now see that there would be 4 stops.

Lauterbrunnen > Interlaken OST

Interlaken OST > Spiez

Spiez > Milan

Milan > Monterosso

And finally Monterosso into Vernazza. Whew thats going to be a lot of traveling. It's too bad we can't do it overnight.

Posted by Lola

Seattle, WA

04/21/10 08:29 PM

17446 posts

Yes, it is a long day! And no night trains because there are frequent train changes. The good news is that it is very scenic, at least as far as Brig. After that, no idea.

Also, that cablecar down from Gimmelwald to Stechelberg is exciting and spectacular.

Posted by Ken

Vernon, Canada

04/21/10 11:14 PM

32353 posts

Chris,

That's a bit of a long trip, but not really too bad.

Regarding the schedule for the Schilthornbahn,, click on www.schilthorn.ch/en/timetable-tariffs/timetable/ and then Fahrplan 2010 for the details.

Do you have information on the route you'll be taking from Interlaken Ost to Gimmelwald?

As you're travelling with a Railpass, you'll probably need reservations for at least some of the trains you'll be using to the C.T., so you might want to arrange those when you arrive at Interlaken Ost.

Using an arbitrary date, the shortest trip I could find to Vernazza departs at 08:01, arriving Vernazza at 15:27 (Time 7H:26M, 4 changes, reservations compulsory for some legs).

Happy travels!