MyBailey

Just wondering if it is tricky to get from Bern to Wengen by train? Is it a straight shot or do we need to transfer..thanks so much

P_Peppington

No. You would travel from Bern to Interlaken. You would then take the train from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen. At Lauterbrunnen you would get on the train to Wengen/Kleine Scheidegg.

There are two train stations in Interlaken--Ost and West. I don't know what station the train from Bern uses, but the train to Lauterbrunnen leaves from Interlaken Ost.

Go to sbb.ch and plug in your route and it will tell you the times, stations, transfers, and prices.

P_P, posting in Fodorville for over 10 years

PalenQ

the mainline normal-gauged trains from Bern to Interlaken terminate at Interlaken-Ost (east) station and they have to because beyond that the tracks are narrow-gauge and thus physcially trains cannot go thru - so you get off the big train and clamber onto the tiny BOB Berner Oberland Bahn train right on the next platform usually and like P Pepp says take it to Lauterbrunnen where again, due to even smaller gauged tracks to Wengen you have to get off the bigger train and clambor onto the even tinier train standing right on the next platform.

Thus seemless transfers - you do not really need schedules as trains Bern to Interlaken should run at least hourly - at times you may have to make another easy change at Spiez and hourly or so at least Interlaken-Ost to Lauterbrunnen and onto Wengen.

buy a thru ticket at Bern unless of course you have a Swiss Pass - for lots of great info on Swiss trains, passes, half-fare cards, etc I always spotlight these IMO Uber great sites - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com and www.ricksteves.com. If traveling to other venues besides the Berner Oberland then investigate the Swiss Pass IMO and if comparing them to regular fares use the U S dollar prices as Swiss Passes are considerably cheaper for the exact same pass if bought Stateside than in Switzerland and the differential can make a pass bought here cost-effect if not for ones bought in Switzertland. But if you are only going from Bern to Wengen and back then just buy regular tickets IMO.

PalenQ

If buying regular tickets in say Bern be sure to cancel your own tickets before boarding you first train - many Swiss trains run on the honor system - sans conductors or ticket checkers and thus you must stick regular full fare tickets in a cancelling machine to invaldiate them so they cannot be used again. You will see a large black eye ball in a large yellow eye set poster in many cars reminding you of this - spot checks are made and if you have not validated your ticket you will or may be considered to be riding without a valid ticket and charged the fare plus fined - often being a tourist in tourist-friendly Switzerland can get you out of something you did not realize but not always so cancel that ducat before boarding. (Unless things have changed recently that has been the case!)

PalenQ

If buying regular tickets in say Bern be sure to cancel your own tickets before boarding you first train - many Swiss trains run on the honor system - sans conductors or ticket checkers and thus you must stick regular full fare tickets in a cancelling machine to invaldiate them so they cannot be used again. You will see a large black eye ball in a large yellow eye set poster in many cars reminding you of this - spot checks are made and if you have not validated your ticket you will or may be considered to be riding without a valid ticket and charged the fare plus fined - often being a tourist in tourist-friendly Switzerland can get you out of something you did not realize but not always so cancel that ducat before boarding. (Unless things have changed recently that has been the case!)

MyBailey

Hi..not sure what you mean by canceling our own tickets. We will probably buy a Swiss half fare card when we get to the Zurich airport, which we hope to use all around the country. From the airport we are going to Bern for a few days, then on to Wengen. I thought we could use the half card where ever we went. is this not correct?

swandav2000

Hi MyBailey,

Yes, you can use the HFC for all of your trips within Switzerland.

However, the HFC does not replace having a ticket -- it only allows you to buy the ticket at half fare. So you still have to buy a ticket for each journey. And when you do, and you are on a train without a conductor, you need to validate your ticket.

Have fun!

s

PalenQ

Yes indeed - most Swiss train tickets are open-ended - meaning there can be used on any train within the validity period, which I am not sure of but probably more than a few days - anyway so a ticket allows you to use any train - just hop on - not just a specific train and since there are no ticket checks on many trains, at least IME, if you do not cancel the ticket yourself you could give it after using it to someone else or use it again or even refund it - so you much cancel it yourselrf - you are indeed your own ticket taker in this regard.3

And if you trip comports to a 4- or 8-day period then at least investigate the consecutive-day Swiss Passes - Half-Fare Card costs about $150 to start and some passes do not cost all that much more - passes cover travel to and from Wengen 100% - unless you will basically remain in Wengen, which at least would bore me to death - you may be traveling around - like down to Interlaken to do a lake boat ride on either lake bookending Interlaken - and these IME are fabulous rides, especially on nice days when the ice-girdled Jungfrau Massif is out in glory high above the lakes - or on the not unusual rainy days hop the train via Interlaken to Bern or Lucerne, cities that can be better enjoyed in wet weather whereas Wengen and environs may be a muddy mess, etc.

P_Peppington

Really?

I have never been issued an open-ended train ticket in all my travels in Switzerland. (And my sister graduated from Le Rosey School--our family travelled to Switzerland to visit her often.)

All my Swiss train tickets clearly have the destination printed on them. For example: Zurich Flughafen to Zurich Bahnhof. Wengen to Interlaken. Kleine Scheidegg to Interlaken via Grindelwald.

The date is always stamped on the ticket.

Maybe these open-ended tickets are sold at the MACHINES in the train stations?

I have only ever bought my tickets from an actual person at a ticket counter--which I would assume YOU MUST do if using a HALF-FARE CARD.

So, I don't know how you could be accused of re-using a ticket if the specific destination and date is stamped on it.

Just wondering, guv.

Pippy

PalenQ

PP - please explain to me the large yellow eye balls with black around them that exhort passengers to have valid tickets - a ticket with a date on it need not be used on a specific train but is good for any train that date at least that is what I believe - you go buy a ticket and use it on any train that day - if you do not use it you can refund it - maybe things have changed in the past few months - the date stamped on the ticket is I believe the beginning of the period of validity and I would assume it cold be used later than that date - how long I don't know and there is a chance things have changed recently and you are correct that when you buy a train ticket it must be used on one speciric train and if you do not take the train you are just out the money - in that case there would be no need to validate your ticket.

I will have to enquire to see which is the current case, which I believe is as I stated but again could have changed.

kappa1

I know for a (short) distance such as Geneva - Lausanne (ca.60km), both oneway and return tickets are valid only for the date printed on them. If I intend to stay over night in Lausanne, then I cannot buy a return ticket (I think it used be ok until sometime ago but no more).

From Swiss Railway site :

Validity of tickets purchased at ticket offices or machines.Standard tickets purchased at a ticket office or machine are valid for one day or ten days, depending on the distance of the journey they are intended for:
Distance One way Return
Up to 115 km 1 day 1 day
From 116 km 1 day 10 days

Validity of tickets purchased on the Internet (OnlineTickets).The validity of ordinary tickets purchased on the Internet (available as OnlineTickets only) is different to the validity of standard tickets purchased at a ticket office or machine. In addition, customers have to specify their travel dates when purchasing standard tickets online. Subsequent changes or exchanges are not possible.
Distance One way Return
Up to 115 km 1 day 1 day
From 116 km 1 day 1 day each way *

* Return journey possible up to 10 days after outward journey.

kappa1

I know for a (short) distance such as Geneva - Lausanne (ca.60km), both oneway and return tickets are valid only for the date printed on them. If I intend to stay over night in Lausanne, then I cannot buy a return ticket (I think it used be ok until sometime ago but no more).

From Swiss Railway site :

Validity of tickets purchased at ticket offices or machines.Standard tickets purchased at a ticket office or machine are valid for one day or ten days, depending on the distance of the journey they are intended for:
Distance One way Return
Up to 115 km 1 day 1 day
From 116 km 1 day 10 days

Validity of tickets purchased on the Internet (OnlineTickets).The validity of ordinary tickets purchased on the Internet (available as OnlineTickets only) is different to the validity of standard tickets purchased at a ticket office or machine. In addition, customers have to specify their travel dates when purchasing standard tickets online. Subsequent changes or exchanges are not possible.
Distance One way Return
Up to 115 km 1 day 1 day
From 116 km 1 day 1 day each way *

* Return journey possible up to 10 days after outward journey.

kappa1

I think a long time ago (until 10years ago or more?) at least for cetain long distance, one way ticket was valid for 1 month and return for 2 months. Compared to those days, I feel train travel is getting more and more difficult even in Switzerland. For example, once you buy a ticket, today you might have to pay a fee if you wish to cancel/change it. Also in a hurry, you hop on a departing train without ticket, you can ask the conductor to sell a ticket on board. You used to pay a penalty of CHF5.- addtionally. Now it costs CHF 10.- . This is relatively a recent change, a year or so, it seems to me. Was a surprise when I found it out a hard way.

PalenQ

kappa1 - thanks for that info - still unanswered though is whether folks have to cancel the tickets before boarding the train - like the ones valid for ten days - if not what would prevent them from using them say several times within that period.

Or even on a day ticket - giving it to someone else after they returned, etc.

but thanks for that great info.

kwren

We bought a couple of different types of tickets this past trip. One type was good on any train. It had the destination on it, but no time. We went downstairs, skipped the first train which would have meant running and no time for getting something to eat. We had to validate that ticket.

Another type we got had reserved seats and was bought with the half fare card. We forgot to validate those and panicked, until someone sitting near us said that if we had a reserved seat on that specific train, we didn't need to validate the tickets.

PalenQ

thanks kwren for the info - some tickets at least have to be self-canceled others may not.

PalenQ

and brings up another q - many tickets do indeed have to be validated it seems, so for a Bern to say Wengen ticket do you have to cancel it yourself once before boarding in Bern - then again in Interlaken-Ost when changing trains, then again in Lauterbrunnen when changing trains?

I say this because I think you can stop off on many full fare tickets any length of time within the validity period - conductors often punch tickets more than once along the way so I guess to be safe it would not hurt to stick it in the machines each stage?