travel from Roma to Interlaken?Jungfraujoch?Grindelwald

It is a 7+ hour trip by train, but a flight would not be any better as thee is no airport close to Interlaken. You would have to fly to Zurich and take a train from there. The best train route is rome to Milan to Spiez to Interlaken to Grindelwald. If you take the 8:00 am train from Rome to Milan, you will arrive in Grindelwald at 15:09. You whould wait until the following day to go up the Jungfraujoch so it will be daylight. It take 1.5 hours to get to the Jungfraujoch from Grindelwald. the cheapest fares are obtained by purchasing your tickets in advance on the website. For Rome to Milan and Milan to spiez, use Trenitalia. You should be able to find an Economy or Super Economy fare of 9 or 19 euros from rome to Milan. from Milan to Spiez, look for a Smart2 fare. Beyond Spiez you are on regional trains and there are no advance purchase discounts. And for the Jungfraujoch trip itself, which is very expensive, there are no discounts unless you purchase Half Fare Card for the Swiss travel system (it costs 110 CHF).

Hello, thanks for yr information, in Jungfraujoch, if I don't want to ski, do you have any suggestion for sightseeing, for location transport of Jungfraujoch, do you suggest me to by swiss Gold pass or swiss flexible ,if I 5 days stay in switerland. ? besides, I want to end of my journal at Jungfraujoch and flight back to Hong Kong, please suggest which airport neaset to Jungfraujoch ?please advise ???? thanks JJ maria

JJ, Visiting the Berner Oberland in February means you'll be there in the middle of ski season. Lola provided good information on the trains to use. Travelling from Rome will be a somewhat "long" day but it's certainly possible. Note that your destination station will be Interlaken Ost. When you arrive there, you'll need to transfer to the local train for the trip to Grindelwald or other towns in that area. An alternative would be to stay in Lauterbrunnen, but if you'd prefer to be closer to the Jungfrau you could stay in Wengen (which gets more sun than Lauterbrunnen). The trip to the Jungfraujoch is expensive, but it's very unique (a remarkable engineering feat considering the railway was started in about 1896!). I was there in September so the experience is somewhat "fresh" in my mind. Visiting the Ice Palace, Sphinx etc. is quite interesting. If you have any issues with high altitudes, note that you'll be almost at 12,000 feet at the Sphinx. I found that I moved considerably slower when I was there. As mentioned you might be able to save some money on the trip to the Jungfrau by using one of the Swiss Passes. You'll have to do some "number crunching" to determine if buying the Pass will save any money. I'd suggest pre-booking accommodations soon, as some Hotels will be booked up with skiers. Zürich is probably your best bet for an outbound flight. The airport is only about 10 minutes by train from the city centre, so is easy to get to. Happy travels!

If they are going to Grindelwald they would not head to Lauterbrunnen. They can head up to the Jungfrau from either Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen, and jj specifically mentioned Grindelwald. So they will want to be sure and get on the correct train (or correct cars if the train splits) to go where they want. If they ar sure they are going up the Jungfrau, a Half-Fare Card works better (gives a better discount) that a Swiss Pass, which only give 25% discount. Jungfrau is a fine place for a non-skier because they can enjoy the snowy landscape without learing to ski, either from inside the building (nice and warm) or they can go outside and walk on the snow. There are paths where you can walk without skis or snowshoes.

@Sasha, "or they can go outside and walk on the snow." There was NO walking on the snow the day I was there in September, as there was a fierce blizzard raging that day. I tried venturing outside (briefly), but it was hard to even remain standing! The weather was beautiful and sunny at Kleine Scheidegg, but not the same at the top. With that particular trip, it's a case of "you pays your money and takes your chances". Although the OP mentioned Grindelwald, I wanted to suggest other options as that's not necessarily the best choice for visits to the Jungfrau. Cheers!

"not necessarily the best choice for visits to the Jungfrau." Not necessarily, but just as good. Grindelwald to Jungfrau is 1 hour 35 minutes, 177 CHF full price. Lauterbrunnen to Jungfrau takes 10 minutes longer (1 hour 45 minutes) and costa 80 cents less, 176.20 CHF. Views are comparable whichever way you go. Half Fare Card cuts either cost in half. I assumed they specifically mentioned Grindelwald as that is their destination and where they intend to stay. Despite what Rick says about "touristy Grindelwald" that is not a bad idea. It is a larger town with more to offer a non-skier, and more shops and restaurants. I was afraid you didn't make it clear that Lauterbrunnen is a "suggested alternative" to Grindelwald; the way you wrote it sounded like that is the correct way to go no matter what. I don't think it is right to just give them directions to take the train to Lauterbrunnen when they specified Grindelwald, unless you explain that you are suggesting Lauterbrunnen as a better choice and say why. Otherwise your directions are very confusing. So I wanted to straighten that out. jj is not a native Englilsh speaker and we need to write clearly.

Also, Grindelwald gets more sunshine in winter than Lauterbrunnen. Grindelwald is on a gentle south-facing slope in a broad valley. It is not shaded by cliffs in winter the way Lauterbrunnen is. I have friends who stayed in Lauterbrunnen in the winter and they said by the time the sun climbed over the surrounding mountains and cliffs, it hardly reached their hotel at all before going down on the other side. It was OK because they were off skiiing most of the day, but could feel a bit gloomy.

@Sasha, Perhaps I didn't word my original reply clearly, so I've revised it. Hopefully that more accurately conveys the point that travellers can stay elsewhere other than Grindelwald, which tends to be more "touristy" and expensive than some other locations (IMHO). If travellers want to be really close to the Jungfrau, they could certainly stay in Kleine Scheidegg or Wengen. The trip from Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg is as short as 26 minutes, while Grindelwald is as short as 32 minutes, so the time is comparable. Cheers!

Ken, I know what Rick says about Grindelwald being " too touristy" and I don't agree. I have stayed there and it has a lot to recommend it. Rick is so stuck on his romantic vision of Gimmelwald as heaven he can't see the advantages of other places. Grindelwald is famous and many people around the world have heard of it, and want to go there. It is every bit as good a base for a visit to the Jungfrau as other villages in the area, and in winter it may well bethe best option for a visitor who wants to enjoy the area but does not ski. Why do you think it is more expensive or less worthy of a stay than Wengen, especially in the winter? As for Kleine Scheidegg, that may be fine for a one night stay or the adventurous, but it is pretty darn isolated and not for everyone. Jj asked specifically about going to Grindelwald so I assume they have done the research and know what they want. I don't think itis my place to talk a complete stranger into going someplace else when I know nothing about them and what they seek from the experience. And besides, as I said above,in winter Grindelwald has a more favorable ( sunny) position then some of the other villages, and may well be the "best" choice for a non- skier tourist.

@Sasha, "I don't think it is my place to talk a complete stranger into going someplace else when I know nothing about them and what they seek from the experience." I wasn't trying to talk the OP into anything, but merely making alternate suggestions in case they hadn't been considered. Cheers!

That's better now. Cheers!