Travel by train

cody, Travel by train is the "best" method (IMHO) and whether it's the "cheapest" will depend on a number of factors. If you can pre-book at least the Italian portion of the trip, significant savings are possible. However, with pre-booked tickets you'll be "locked into" travelling on a particular train at a particular time. If you miss that (for any reason), you'll have to buy new tickets at full price. One of the quickest trips I could find was a departure from Firenze SMN at 08:55, arriving Interlaken Ost at 14:28 (time 5H:33M, 2 changes at Milano and Spiez, reservations compulsory on first two legs). That's probably the one I'd use. You can check the rail details on the German Rail Website. I'd have to check other sites to get some idea on the prices. If you haven't travelled by train in Europe before, it would be a good idea to have a look at the "Rail Skills" section in Europe Through The Back Door. There are some potentially expensive "pitfalls" that you should be aware of. Good luck with your planning!

Best and cheapest are two words that don't go together at least when discussing travel by train in Italy. In Italy, the cheapest form of train travel is by the Regionale trains that run throughout Itay. The best is the high-speed trains that run between the large cities. These high-speeds run on the same tracks as the Regionales. But, the base fares on the Regionales are half that of the fares for the high-speeds but the Regionales generally take twice as long. The tracks between Naples, Rome and Florence carry both the high-speeds and the Regionales. You get to choose. Secondly, if you are willing to accept non-exch/non-refundable tickets, you can go online to www.trenitalia.com and buy high-speed train tickets on the runs above for as low as 9Euro. That's cheaper yet than the Regionale trains. But, all of this is next year and things could change. For Florence to Interlaken, the best way to go is by EuroCity train to Spiez where you would change trains for Interlaken. You would also change trains 1-2 more times along the way depending on the train run.

Larry has it. I'd work out my route using the EuroRail site. Then buy the tickets via Italiarail and Swiss Rail sites. It'll be cheaper that way. RER tickets can't be purchased very far in advance and there's no discount for advance purchase so I'd get any of those when in Italy. The most direct route is from Florence to Milan to Brig to Spiez to Interlaken. You might consider stopping for the night somewhere along the line and/or working out a scenic route to make all the train riding a virtue. The Bernia Express runs from Tirano to Chur for example. Tirano is a short RER run along Lake Como from Milan. From Tirano a travel up the Bernina Express Route through St. Moritz to Chur. From Chur you could take the Glacier Express Route to Brig. Head from Brig to Interlaken via Spiez. Spend the night in Tirano, St. Moritz, or Chur This takes you way out of your way to the east, but it's gorgeous Alps all the way from Tirano. Not quick, but very scenic.

Thank you everyone for the responses. It will be very instrumental in planning this trip. :)