"Best" train route Interlaken to Salzburg
 

Hi, leaving mid week from Interlaken train station with the destination of Salzburg in the summer, please comment/suggest your ideal train route.

Will have seen Paris, Strasbourg, Bern, Lauterbrunnen up to this point. Thinking Interlaken to Innsbruck or Zurich (overnight) and then continue to Salzburg. Innsbruck seems cheaper for an overnight. Not sure I want to sit on a train for 71/2 hours straight. Night travel seems to have multiple connections which might make for a long night in the end.

Other ways you would break up the travel? Thank you!

Hi txkatherine,

I've taken the route Zürich - Innsbruck a few times, and I thought it was very scenic. It runs through the Tyrolian Alps, and I thought it was pretty enough to get marketed as a "scenic train" if it were in Switzerland.

You could overnight in one of the pretty villages along the route near Innsbruck.

Have fun as you plan!

s

First things first - from Interlaken to Zürich (Zürich is unavoidable) you can go via a change of trains in Bern or via a change of trains in Luzern. The latter route is much nicer - it takes you along the Brienzersee (“Lake Brienz”) adjacent to Interlaken and over the Hasliberg.

From Zürich you can take trains via the Vorarlberg route or via Munich from where it is less than two hours to Salzburg.

And you can also take a long-distance bus from Zürich to Munich (lvg 11:16 arr 15:30).

And along those routes there are many stations where the train stops and you can get off, to pick up again later or the next day.

Learn to work the timetables of the Swiss Railways at www.sbb.ch/en

When you bring up results, click on the + (plus) sign on the left to see the overall routings, and then click on the individual train numbers to see all the stops of that particular train.

With a map and a Google search you’ll find an intermittent stop that pleases you, I’m sure.

Interlaken - Innsbruck in winter:

shortest itinerary:
Interlaken - Zurich - St. Anton am Arlberg - Landeck - Innsbruck
most scenic itinerary:
Interlaken - Brig - Glacier Express - Chur - Klosters - Scuol-Tarasp - Landeck - Innsbruck.

Stop overs along these itineraries highly recommended

Zurich is too close to avoid a long train ride the next day- some stop in a cute Alpine village like swandav recommends would be nice - St Anton a famous ski resort or others.

For lots on trains and routes check www.seat61.com (good info on discounted tickets for Zurich to Austria); www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

There is a direct Zurich to Salzburg overnight train with sleeping accommodations - but gets to Salzburg about 5am - heads to Vienna so if Vienna is in your plans do that first then go back to Salzburg if your plans fit that.

Thank you all for the feedback! I'm on information overload as I've researched all the train routes and seat61, etc. before posting then I got to a point where I realized a practical answer would be from a "local". Totally overthinking it all :)

With a fresh mind, I'll consider your suggestions. I now want to be in Salzburg earlier on Thursday for the weekly food market, so back to the drawing board.

Thanks again!

Just remember that Swiss domestic tickets cost megabucks, so it's far cheaper to use Austrian Railways www.oebb.at to book one of their cheap advance-purchase international tickets from Interlaken Ost to somewhere in Austria as a through journey, from €39, which might cost only €10 more than starting the ticket in Zurich and having to pay for a full-price Swiss megabucks ticket from Luzern to Zurich. (i.e. Interlaken to Salzburg from €39, Zurich to Salzburg from €29, the €10 difference being far cheaper than a Swiss ticket for Interlaken-Zurich)

So it makes financial sense to have to stopover in Austria!

Ok, so I revisited and will bite the bullet and do one long journey to Salzburg.

Taking OBB the 12:03 from Lauterbrunnen-Interlaken-Bern- Zurich-Salzburg 20:03

I can get tickets for my family of four for 117 Euro and upgrade for reserved seating/ 1st class total 261 Euro.

I think by this point in our trip we will want a lazy day.

Now, I'll switch my posts for Salzburg and onward :)

Thanks!

Hi again,

I think that's the smart thing to do; I think a long journey is preferable to having a stop mid-way, unless you actually wanted to spend time at that stop. To me, breaking up a journey with an overnight someplace just adds too much hassle (getting from train station to the hotel, checking in and unpacking, then packing up and checking out, then getting back to the train station again) and too much wasted time. I think it's far better to have one (long-ish, if need be) travel day, then wake up in the place you wanted to be!

But, if it were me, I would have taken an earlier train and arrived in Salzburg earlier in the day. But that's just me!

Have fun!

s

Interlaken OST to Innsbruck Hbf is about 6-7 hrs. An overnight and an early train would take you to Salzburg about 2 1/2 hrs.Agree, it pays to get into town early.

I can get tickets for my family of four for 117 Euro and upgrade for reserved seating/ 1st class total 261 Euro.>

good move -for such a long ride first class for that price is a smart investment.

I can get tickets for my family of four for 117 Euro and upgrade for reserved seating/ 1st class total 261 Euro.>

What site did you book on - Austrian I presume -and was it a snap?

curious - thanks