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Travel By Train from Lauterbrunnen Valley to Cinque Terre

Hello! I am in the early planning stages for my first trip to Europe. I'll be leaving in the beginning of September 2014, and will be staying for 16 nights. I'm still fine tuning my itinerary, but I know for sure that I'm flying into London, staying 5 nights, train to Paris, staying 5 nights, train to Lauterbrunnen, staying 2-3 nights and then originally I thought I'd take the night train to Amsterdam and stay 3 nights, but I'm re-thinking that idea now. After reading lots of opinions and reviews on traveling to both Amsterdam and the Cinque Terre, I think I'm leaning on ending my trip on the Italian Riviera, if I can make the transportation to the CT and my flight home make sense. I want the last few days in Europe to be relaxed and with no particular agenda, plus I love the water/beaches. Would it make sense to leave early on a Thursday morning (7:00 am) from Lauterbrunnen, train to Interlaken, train to Spiez, train to Milan, train to Genoa and then the train to Vernazza? I think that's where I'd like to make my home base for my last 3 nights in Europe. I guess what I'm really trying to understand is will all these trains, it looks like my trip would from Lauterbrunnen to Vernazza would take me 8-9 hours! I tried looking for an overnight option, but I'm not finding anything. Any suggestions for travel would be appreciated. I haven't looked at any flying options and would really prefer train travel, if I can justify the time it will take to get there! I figured if I can make my trip to the CT happen, I would fly home out of Milan, too. Does that make sense also? Thanks so much!

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7209 posts

Some people rave about the CT, but the scenery you'll encounter in the Bernese Oberland (Lauterbrunnen) will blow the socks off the CT. If you want to see CT then go for it. But personally I wouldn't change my plans (eliminate Amsterdam) just to see the CT.