Travel by car from Interlaken to Grindelwald
Maria is planning to travel by rented car from Interlaken to Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen and wants to know if this is allowed under local traffic regulations. She is concerned about possible penalties since she will rent the car in Italy. It's confirmed that she can drive there, but needs a Swiss vignette for toll roads.
- You can drive a rented car from Interlaken to Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen without any issues.
- Make sure your rental car has a Swiss vignette to avoid fines; it's CHF 40 for a year.
- Be prepared for expensive parking in tourist areas like Grindelwald.
AI-generated summary-
Hello!
Please advise if I can travel by a rented car from Interlaken to Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen. The car will be rented in Italy (if it is important).
Is it allowed to visit this region by car by country/local road traffic regulations?
Or the only transport I can use is train and bus?
I really don’t want to pay a penalty.
I would be grateful for the answer.
Maria.
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Hi Maria, and welcome to MySwissAlps,
You can reach Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen by car. Mürren and Wengen (in the same area) are care-free.
You may want to read the webpage traveling by car in Switzerland as well.
Hello Chantal,
Thank you very much for your reply !
I have one more question. If I take the train, how much would it cost me to Grildelwald? Just 1 train ticket without any other additional options.
Thank you !
Mariya.
From Interlaken it will be around CHF 10,-.
You can use the Swiss railways timetable to check prices: http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable. Please do note that half fare prices are communicated. You have to double them to get full fare prices.
Hello Maria,
You can travel on all the roads that are open to regular vehicular traffic, so your car with Italian plates is in that way no different than a car with plates from any Swiss canton, or a rental car from some other country like France. If the car you rent does not have a vignette, you will need to buy one when you get to the Swiss border. http://www.ezv.admin.ch/ezv/i t/home/informazioni-per-privati/documenti-di-viaggio-e-tasse-stradali/contrassegno–tassa-per-lutilizzazione-delle-strade-nazionali-.html The cost is only CHF 40 for a year, a real deal when I think of the tolls that I have had to pay when driving on toll roads in Italy ! When you are renting your car, enquire if they can give you one with a Swiss vignette.
Thank you very much, Chantal!
Thank you so much, Peterli!
Il piacere è mio ! 😊
Just a follow-up to what I previously stated about vignettes, attached is a map from the Swiss Federation showing the road network where this is obligatory. I’m not sure why they have not updated it (very un-Swiss, I would say), as some of the roads shown with a dashed red line (such as the A 16 between Moutier and Bienne) are now complete. If you wish to see this map in closer detail you can download the original pdf by googling the title of my attachment.
Attachments:
I hired a car in Bellinzona and it had German plates anyway…
The only minus point with travelling by car to places like Grindelwald is parking, whereas the train drops you in town.
Thank you for the map!
We’re going to buy a Swiss vignette in any case.
Don’t want to get into a trouble:)
Are the parkings very busy and expensive there?
Parking, like all things in Switzerland, can get expensive yes. Be prepared for it. 🙂
Hello again,
<< We’re going to buy a Swiss vignette in any case. Don’t want to get into a trouble:) >>
No need to buy another one if your car already has one ! They look like the attached photo of one for 2018.
Attachments:
So is a ‘vignette’ required regardless of wether driving on motorway or not?
It is required for main highways. If you travel on the smaller roads around Switzerland you can get away without it – but this is quite uncommon
Hello Steve,
<< So is a ‘vignette’ required regardless of wether driving on motorway or not? >>
Please see the comment and map I added to this thread on May 9, 2018 – 6:03 PM in reply to Marjutag.
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