Best airport to get to Wengen & car or train?

  • Removed user
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    1 August 2017 at 7:06:44 #812810

    Hello,

    I’ll be arriving by plane from Barcelona in September on my honeymoon. I have not booked the flights yet so flexible on which airport to fly into but looks like Zurich is the closest but Geneva and Basel have cheaper flights.

    I have already booked lodging in Wengen for 6 nights, I’ve been wondering if I should drive or take the train. We’ll have 1 large luggage each (so 2 total) and I have some back issues thus I would like to minimize having to lift the luggage if possible. Looking on sbb.ch, it seems like going from Zurich airport to Wengen would require about 4-6 transfers on train for a 3.5 hour journey which to me sounds like a lot honestly. The thing with driving is I would only have to load the car once vs having to load/unload 4-6 times. Yes, I see I’d have to park in Lauterbrunnen and take the train into Wengen but that’ll be the same either way.

    Questions:

    1. which airport should I fly into?

    2. what would be the best way to get into Wengen?

    3. if train to question 2, which pass would be best? In my 6 nights in Wengen, I plan to stay in that area and go on daytrips (haven’t had a chance to plan this out in detail yet)

    Thank you!

    -Matthew

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    Removed user
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    1 August 2017 at 7:20:33 #867704

    Hi Matthew and welcome to MySwissAlps!

    1. The timetable is showing me about the same time and transfer from either Zurich airport or Basel (3 to 3.5 hours with 3 or 4 transfers). I would go with the best airline price.
    2. It sounds like renting a car and parking in Lauterbrunnen may indeed be best for you.
    3. If you decide to train in the end and stay the whole trip in and around Wengen I would look at the Jungfrau Travel Pass. Or if you may want to travel a little outside the area take a look at the Regional Pass – Bernese Oberland.
    4. The thing to remember is even if you rent a car it will basically be parked in Lauterbrunnen for your trip. You can use it a little to visit some larger towns. But most of the mountain trips and some villages are accessed by cable cars/trains only so you won’t be able to use the car too much.

    Lucas

    Peterli
    Participant
    1206 posts
    2 August 2017 at 4:11:58 #867705

    My personal choice is the Euroairport at Bâle-Mulhouse-Freiburg. I always find the best fares to this airport and I like it for its relatively small size. I rent a car at the French end as I find the rates are much better. The only drawback is that your car may not have a vignette required for travel on Swiss autoroutes. As you drive into Switzerland from the airport there are people at the border checking for a valid vignette, and if your car does not have one, you are directed to the side and your buy one for CHF 40. A great deal.

    Are you bringing a GPS ? I bring one just in case my rental car does not have one. If you do have one, you can enter Berne and off you go. As you approach Berne, you can enter Lauterbrunnen and on you go. I sometimes enter intermediate points in order to ensure that my GPS chooses the route I prefer.

    No GPS ? Then just follow the signs for Bern (you’ll see Bern on the signs as you leave Bâle) and then Thun and Interlaken. As you approach Interlaken on the A8, watch for exit signs to Wilderswil and Lauterbrunnen.

    Removed user
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    17 August 2017 at 1:35:26 #867706

    Thank you both, sorry for the delayed response, was busy getting actually married. I think I’m leaning towards taking the train, seems like there are options where we would transfer twice from ZRH. Thanks again.

    Removed user
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    17 August 2017 at 7:53:57 #867707

    Congratulations! I agree that trains are usually the best option for Switzerland.

    Lucas

    Peterli
    Participant
    1206 posts
    17 August 2017 at 15:57:33 #867708

    Hi Matthew,

    Go for it ! And I hope you have great weather in Wengen and environs.

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