Easiest transport method from UK to Interlaken
A traveler is planning a nostalgia trip to Interlaken and then Venice, wanting to travel quickly and cheaply from Birmingham. They are looking for the best transport options, as they prefer fewer changes due to their age and the length of their travels.
- Flying to Zurich or Geneva and then taking a train to Interlaken is the quickest route with only one change.
- The Swiss Travel Pass can be beneficial for unlimited travel on trains, buses, and boats if you plan multiple journeys in Switzerland.
- Consider staying overnight in Milan when traveling to Venice to minimize travel stress.
- Avoid traveling on weekends for better flight prices; Tuesdays are usually cheaper.
AI-generated summary-
I am really getting confused. My husband who will be 82 and I will be 74 when we next travel to Interlaken, need the quickest and cheapest way to get to Interlaken (where we want to spend 7 nights at Hotel Hardermannli where we spent 1977 and 1997) and then to go to Venice for a few nights – THIS IS A NOSTALGIA TOUR.
We need to get from Birmingham – could go by train to London.
Then want to get from there to Interlaken….quickest and cheapest way to travel.
From Interlaken after 7 nights at our hotel, want to get to Venice – again the quickest and least hassle – we are over 20 years older since our last adventure. We took a train in 1997 to somewhere via our Swiss Pass, spent a long time waiting at a very boring place for the train to take us – think to Milan, and then Como. PLEASE we do not want many changes….at our age. This time happy to spend a night at Milan if that is the easiest for us to get a direct train then to Venice. Hoping you can help us. ps We are happy to do our own thing for the week in Interlaken.
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Hi Princessmary and welcome to MySwissAlps!
Well the quickest route from the UK to Interlaken would be a flight to Zurich or Geneva and then a train from there. http://www.myswissalps.com/ai rports
There are no direct trains from either city’s airport to Interlaken but you can limit it to only one change in Bern (from either airport). From Zurich this takes about 2 hours and 15 min and from Geneva the trip is about 3 hours.
The timetable will give you exact details for your trip(s): http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable
From Interlaken to Venice, you can do it with 2 changes (Spiez and Milan) and takes 6.5 hours. Milan is about half way to Venice if you want to overnight there.
Lucas has not quite given you all the options
There are some more alternatives, but you need to choose which will be the least hassle in terms of how many and where you have to change between modes of transport
Easyjet flies Birmingham – Geneva, but as Lucas says you then need to travel Geneva – Interlaken via a change of trains at Bern
Another alternative is flying to Basel. From Basel there are direct trains to Interlaken. But the problem with Basel is that it is the only one of Switzerland’s three main airports that does not have a dedicated railway station, so you have to get a local bus (route 50) from the airport. The upside is that Basel is a smaller and quieter airport than Geneva or (especially) Zurich.
Wonderful plan to return to those places after many years!
Many options indeed, but I think the ones Lucas suggested are the most viable: frequent flights and trains, and trains directly from the airport as 1960man says. I think there are even flights from London City to Bern, so closer to Interlaken, but Bern airport does not have a train station so that’s less convenient.
Another option is all the way by train, but the distance is too long to make that a quick option in spite of the high speed trains. The change in Paris and probably London will make this less convenient, but it’s the best in terms of scenery.
Thank you all for your wonderful help.
Because I am trying to do the best with our budget (please note we are going to be away from home in Chelsea, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia for approximately 3 months!!) Our son living in Birmingham will be 50 on 13 July, and his wife 50 on 9 September…..hence the long time away. I was born in Tayport, Fife, Scotland and want to spend at least 3 weeks there since I haven’t had more than a day or two since I left aged 10 in 1955.
Checking on current flight prices – it would seem that if we flew on a Tuesday, it is much cheaper than on the weekend. eg Easyjet Manchester to Geneva on Tuesday 16 July is only $A106 each one way. I haven’t checked other airlines or departure airports as yet. All help will be appreciated.
I have booked Hotel Post Hardermannli for 7 nights from 16 July, and decided to train it to Milan and stay for a night (close to the railway station) before continuing on to Venice by train. Found Glam Milano with breakfast and dinner included….but when I had to change the dates – it went up more than $100….eeek. so keeping an eye on that and other hotels.
Hi Princessmary,
For more information on flights into Switzerland (and ticket searches) have a look here: http://www.myswissalps.com/tr avel/toswitzerland/pla ne
I’m sure you will enjoy your night in Milan – a nice stopping point on your way to Venice.
Hello Princessmary
We have been travelling from Birmingham to Switzerland regularly for some years and always fly with Swissair direct from Birmingham to Zurich. While we are obviously familiar now with Zurich airport, I doubt you will have problems there as everything is so well sign-posted (we are in our mid-70’s by the way). I would advise you to find a direct train to Thun and change there to the Interlaken train as the station is much smaller than Bern so the change is easier to manage. Look for the direct train on the sbb timetable by entering Zurich Flughafen as your starting point and Thun as your destination then separately check times from Thun to Interlaken – there are direct trains from there as well as some that require a change in Spiez which you can avoid if you don’t want too many changes.
Hope you enjoy your nostalgia holiday.
Maggie
Yes, you are absolutely right to avoid flying at weekends, because UK – Switzerland is a ‘short hop’ distance so nowadays people can commute between the two countries, and even do a day trip. Hence weekend fares are more expensive. Always try to travel Tuesdays – Thursdays
Not technically ‘Swissair’ now of course, but ‘Swiss’ (the original Swissair famously went bust in 2001 following some dubious management decisions)
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