Italy to Switzerland
 

I am planning an ambitious trip from Rome to Zurich, and would like to know the best way to get from Cinque Terrra to Interlaken by train.

Did you check the rail sites?
Swiss rail is http://www.sbb.ch/en/index.htm

I did a quick search for you (Vernazza to Interlaken) and it looks like you'd take a train to Milan and then head to Switzerland. It is about 8-9 hours.

Here's the Italian site:
http://www.trenitalia.it/en/index.html

They are showing a route from Vernazza to Zurich and change trains to Interlaken but it is about 11 hours.
http://www.trenitalia.it/en/index.html

I picked a random date and departure time, you might find some better info by playing around with it.

Hope this helps you get started.

Another place to look--

http://www.cisalpino.com/

thanks for the leads. I was hoping I could get to Interlaken without going all the way to Zurich first.

You will take the local train to Genoa and then the intercity to Milan. From Milan you can go to Interlaken. The entire trip will take about 8 hours. It's a pretty trip.

Using Cisalpino, MonteRosso to Spiez, then change to a train for a 20 minute (or so) leg to Interlaken, or to a bus for a 40 minute trip.

Check www.cisalpino.com and http://www.sbb.ch/en/ for schedules.