Lauterbrunnen to Montreux and back

Hello Forum: My wife and I will be staying in Lauterbrunnen in the beginning of September and I was thinking of a "day trip" to Montreux using the Golden Pass train from Interlaken. Does anyone have any thoughts on whether or not this is too ambitious for a one day trip. Also, once in Montreux, are there any suggestions to make the most of a few hours before returning home?

Thanks in advance,

Gary

hello Gary - found this for you on sbb website - You take the Regio from Lauterbrunnen to Interlaken Ost.
Your journey starts at Lauterbrunnen on 06.09.12 at 08:33, you arrive at Interlaken Ost is on track 2A at 08:54.
Your journey continues by RegioExpress GOLDENPASS PANORAMIC from Interlaken Ost departing track 8 to Zweisimmen.
Your journey starts at Interlaken Ost at 09:08, you arrive at Zweisimmen is on track 7 at 10:19.
Your journey continues by Fast train GOLDENPASS PANORAMIC from Zweisimmen departing track 8 to Montreux.
Your journey starts at Zweisimmen at 10:25, you arrive at Montreux is on track 6 at 12:13.
Summary
The total journey time is: 3:40
This connection runs daily.
The number of changes is: 2
return as follows - You take the Fast train GOLDENPASS PANORAMIC from Montreux departing track 5 to Zweisimmen.
Your journey starts at Montreux on 06.09.12 at 15:45, you arrive at Zweisimmen is on track 8 at 17:32.
Your journey continues by RegioExpress from Zweisimmen departing track 7 to Interlaken Ost.
Your journey starts at Zweisimmen at 17:38, you arrive at Interlaken Ost is on track 8 at 18:49.
Your journey continues by Regio from Interlaken Ost departing track 2A to Lauterbrunnen.
Your journey starts at Interlaken Ost at 19:05, you arrive at Lauterbrunnen is at 19:25.
Summary
The total journey time is: 3:40
This connection runs daily.
The number of changes is: 2
I put in test date of 6th sep but it is a daily service. you could return later by faster route as follows
You take the InterRegio from Montreux departing track 3 to Visp.
Your journey starts at Montreux on 06.09.12 at 18:40, you arrive at Visp is on track 6/7 at 19:52.
Your journey continues by InterCity from Visp departing track 4/5 to Spiez.
Your journey starts at Visp at 19:57, you arrive at Spiez is on track 4 at 20:24.
Your journey continues by InterCityExpress from Spiez departing track 1 to Interlaken Ost.
Your journey starts at Spiez at 20:33, you arrive at Interlaken Ost is on track 7 at 20:54.
Your journey continues by Regio from Interlaken Ost departing track 1A to Lauterbrunnen.
Your journey starts at Interlaken Ost at 21:02, you arrive at Lauterbrunnen is at 21:22.
Summary
The total journey time is: 2:42
This connection runs daily.
The number of changes is: 3
you would have either 5 or 6 hours in Montreux which is plenty of time to enjoy a stroll by the lake and/or visit Chateau Chillon. Check Montreux website for opening times and other suggestions. Ask in Interlaken station a few days before your trip about whether you will need to make reservations on any of the trains you decide to use. They can make reservations for you if you need them. If you have a swiss pass the trip will be free but you will pay for reservation. You can do the same trip in ordinary trains without reservation. Check the sbb train timetable through link in this forum for times other than the ones I have suggested. Have fun! Maggie

Dear Maggie: I only hope that when I return from my trip, I'll be able to be as helpful to someone as you have been for me. Great information and thanks for the Chateau Chillon recommendation. I visited the Chateau over 20 years ago and it will be good to see it again.

Thanks for your help, Gary.

Dear Maggie/Forum: I've gone to both the Golden Pass website and the SBB website and I'm a bit confused by the pricing information appearing on each of the sites:
When you go through the reservation steps using the Golden Pass site, after you've chosen a seat to reserve it takes you to a pricing page showing a charge per seat of 5 CHF (I'm trying to keep it simple, but this is for the Interlaken to Zweisimmen leg only). I gather that if I went through with the purchase, this would only get me a reservation and not the ticket itself. Also note that the site has not asked whether I have a Pass.

On the SBB site, the pricing is 84 CHF for a 1st class seat on the Golden Pass train and it has a "Discount/Half fare, etc." box to check that reduces the amount to 42 CHF.

So if I have a 4-day Swiss Flexi-Pass, do I have to pay for the ticket at a 50% discount, or do I just have to pay for a reservation. My understanding was that of Maggie's, i.e. if I have a pass, I only have to pay for the reservation, but I don't see how that is done using the SBB site.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

Hello Gary,

If you book your seats through the Golden Pass website, which I would recommend, you would indeed pay for the seats only. You don't need other tickets if you're using a free travel day of your Swiss Flexi Pass.

Thanks Arno.