Swiss Train Connections
 

I am a novice train traveller visiting Switzerland (Florence to Wengen to Paris-Est) with a friend and our four teenage daughters. When looking at the schedules, the changes are so tight, for example arriving Interlaken (platform 2A) and departing from platform 8 seven minutes later, I am stressed just thinking about it. Is it doable??

Absolutely 97.8%.

The Swiss are used to these tight departing times. Get off the train, find platform 8 and hurry on.

You'll find it's not so difficult as it sounds.

It's not a big train station, you won't have a problem. Eight minutes is more than enough time if you already have your tickets.

Hi T,

Platforms are numbered

Station 1 |||| 2-3 |||| 4-5||||6-7
where the |||| are the tracks.

You will have to go downstairs, through the tunnel under the tracks and up the stairs.

If you are in reasonable health and don't have more than one suitcase each, 7 min is not very rushed.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

Toni, you need to know how to read the posted schedules IN the stations in case you do miss a connection.

Whereas I agree that it is unlikely you'll miss a connection please remember this:

know when your stop is coming up

sometimes it helps to MOVE toward the nearest exit door before the train stops to position yourself...you'll find other people doing this

know HOW to open the doors from the inside if you are the first one at the door.

The schedules are purposely timed so as not to waste people's time. Seven minutes is generously timed for somebody who is not very mobile and has luggage. You'll make it in two minutes, it's just a hop and a skip from one track to another.

Here's a tip - you'll see others do it: When approaching a station, gather your things and move towards the exits. It will speed up getting off - just keep an eye on your watch and know exactly when you're supposed to arrive so you get up a bit before.

Another tip: Swiss passengers do not form a line on the platform to enter the trains - they form a throng that seems disorganized, but it works - no pushing, but not hanging back either, just inch your way forward and get used to the subtle give-and-take. Now and then somebody pushy will forge ahead, to the bemused raising of eyebrows, but otherwise it's no problem.

Another tip: Know where to line up on the platform if you get there before the train. Big letters above say A or B or C - these are "sectors" and you will hear announcements that 1st class will be in Sector A, dining car in sector B, 2nd class in sectors C and D (for example - this may vary).

There are posters on display that also show that train composition, but announcements are done in German, French and English, so just listen and position yourselves accordingly.

The big trains stop only very briefly, so be ready and get with the program, time is money (meaning time is Swiss Francs...).

2nd class is plenty nice for most people, 1st class buys you a bit more space (wider seats) and usually a quieter ride.

It is customary to keep an item on the seat next to where one is sitting, and when the carriages fill up, it's perfectly okay to ask "Is this seat taken?" - the person will (more or less reluctantly and graciously) remove their item and let you sit, of course. This custom helps to spread out the passengers until the train fills up to the point where folks have to sit right next to each other.

It's okay to stand if the train fills up, and to move from carriage to carriage (at least for now - there is talk that in the future only pax with 1st class tix will be allowed access to 1st class carriags, even only for marching through...). For now a ticket allows you to travel on that route any time on the day(s) of validity. Soon it may depend on the time of day, peak-hour tix may cost more in the future.

If you have a reserved seat, you have to stick to it. Reserving seats is not usually done in Switzerland, but it is mandatory in adjacent countries on fast trains.

Hope this helps - enjoy the trains!

For your itinerary the Swiss Pass will save you lots of money and if your kids are 15 and under they get a free pass to match what their parents buy. For novice train travelers i always refer three excellent sites for Swiss train travel: www.swisstravelsystem.com links you to the Swiss Railways (www.sbb.ch), scenic specialty trains like the Golden Pass (which you could incorporate into a Interlaken area-Paris itinerary; lake boats, postal buses, etc. And www.ricksteves.com and two sites that give tons of objective info on Swiss trains and not just the usual pass prices and little else: www.budgeteuropetravel.com - this site lets you download their excellent free European Planning & Rail Guide that has a good chapter on Swiss trains. Swiss Passes are sold in Switzerland but they are currently cheaper for some reason when bought in the U.S. (compare prices in CHF or Swiss Francs at www.sbb.ch and the two U.S. sites i reference above. And www.sbb.ch will also show you why IMO a Swiss Pass is by far the best deal for any Italian-border to Wengen to the French border train trip.

And if worse comes to worse, find a conductor and tell him you need help. He'll get the train to wait 30 seconds to 1 minute for you.

Especially with 6 people trying to move around together, I think everyone having only a single small wheeled suitcase also will make this easier. Fumbling around with too large of luggage or too many bags per person will slow you down.

Yes that is sufficient time, but you do need to know what you're doing and move fast. As above, ask for help if you need it from train employees or even other passengers.

And if you do miss a connection (and Swiss trains are indeed late not unusually) there will be another train within if not 30 mins or soon an hour - you will not be stranded.

but like said above they do try to keep connecting trains from leaving until the other train comes in for some time at least IME

Thanks everyone for your responses. I have told everyone to pack light (or bear the consequences). I will make sure that our tribe is waiting by the doors. I had mental images of it being like a scene from The Amazing Race. We are travelling on Eurail passes as this is part of a much bigger trip. We are travelling next July and will be in Switzerland for only three short days but wanted to give the girls just a glimpse of how beautiful it is, I know that there will be a "next time". So, thanks for saving me from a sleepless night, there will be many more I suspect, so I hope the Swiss experts stay around to help with the itinerary.

The connections are doable if you are prepared and move briskly, which means very limited luggage.

You need to be at the door with luggage in hand when the train stops, pop down the steps (maybe) walk briskly to the next platform and get your selves and your luggage up quickly. If you have to climb those steep narrow stairs up into the train you may want to send one person up and pass the luggage up and have them push it behind them - just temporarily - so everyone has time to board. then you can find your seats and stow the luggage.

Hi toni, we had a great experience with Swiss trains in October like you with only seven minutes in between but had no problem. Another great thing is that the Swiss stations have ramps not stairs for going under platforms so makes it much easier to change platforms and at Wengen i remember that you can just cross the tracks..Enjoy your trip it will be fabulous.

We will be staying in Wengen. I have compared Hotel Alpenrose and Hotel Baren but am now leaning towards Hotel Alpenrose because they can guarantee me two mountain view rooms but Hotel Baren can not. Has anyone stayed there recently?

No but if i had a choice of a mountain view or no mountain view that would be my decider - i do not think there are any sub-par hotels in upscale Wengen

In Germany i've been near perhaps seriusly injured when trains suddenly pull out even though they may see me or someone trying to board late - and getting off too

my fault of course but still

in Switzerland IME the conductor waits until everyone is safely on board before pulling out and will hold the train if they see someone running to catch it, etc, not being some maniacs for punctuality as the Germans IMO (many German trains are late but if they are to pull out at say 9:17 then they may well pull out quite fast as soon as the second hand hits the 12.

We haven't stayed at the Alpenrose, because they did not have a mountain view room available for us.

I would always choose the mountain view.

The Alpenrose is a bit further from the train station, if that matters. It is a downhill walk to the hotel----and uphill back to the station.

One of the biggest keys of moving around quickly is having one SMALL bag and maybe a back pack or purse you can put across your body.

If this is part of a larger trip, than the "packing light" advice is even more important!

I think I will go with Hotel Alpenrose,as you say what's the point of being in Wengen if you are not looking at those mountains. Especially since we come from Sydney so it is certainly a sight we don't see every day. My children (huh, 21 and 18) have never seen snow so I have my fingers crossed for a fine day for the Jungfrau. Our 6 week trip goes Athens, Mykonos, Naxos, Athens, Bellagio, Vernazza, Venice, Castellina in Chianti, Wengen, Paris, London. Wooo, planning this is a military exercise as sometimes we are a group of 10 and at others (thank God) it is my husband and me.

Oops, Im not going up the Jungfrau, it's the Jungfrajoch. That would have been ambitious.

toni----if the girls have never seen snow before, it would be worth going up to Jungfraujoch even if it is not a fine day. You may not have the views, but you won't have the crowds either. The snow is always there.

My last trip up there, with several adults and kids ranging in age from 14 to 23, was in a late-July snowstorm. The kids had a ball playing in the snow with a multi-national groups of kids (including some Australian first-timers). We didn't take the walk out to the hut because of poor visibility, but the kids joined the queue for the snow-sliding toys (platters) while the adults had a discrete snowball fight. We also spent a long time in the ice palace, enjoying having it practically to ourselves.

Enzian, that is exactly the kind of fun I am after for the girls. Can I ask the inevitable clothes question, what did you wear for that excursion? Every time life gets too busy I imagine myself on some mountain path with the gentle tinkling of cowbells in the background, and I haven't even been there yet!

>in Switzerland IME the conductor waits until everyone is safely on board

It is EXACTLY the same in Germany.
Trouble is, both in Switzerland and in Germany there are no conductors on regional trains. The driver has to observe the platform through a mirror, which buts him/her at a disadvantage. But in this, too, there are no differences between any European country railways

hiwall - i believe that must be true and that my several experiences with German trains pulling out even with folks like me trying board were an anomaly. Has never happened in any other country, to me at least.

Actually i've noticed a new trend on European trains where, like in France, doors automatically close often a minute before departure - thus avoiding trains pulling out with folks trying to board.

hello tini---I'm sorry for not responding sooner; I didn't see your question until just now.

We have had very mixed weather each time we have visited Switzerland, so we are always prepared with Goretex rain jackets.

The day we went up the Jungfrau it was misty and cloudy as we rode the train up, and very cold at kleine Scheidegg. By the time we arrived at the top, it was snowing. The kids all had on jeans, fleece jacket, and rainjacket on top of that. They all wore running shoes (trainers to you?), not hiking boots, this meant they slipped around in the snow a bit, but that was all part of the fun. Their jeans and shoes did get a bit wet from the snow, and their hands eventually got cold, so that is when we went back inside to warm up. I had a hat and gloves (which I always carry in my daypack for hiking) so I was fine throughout the snowball fight.

I don't think it is worth investing in waterproof pants for that excursion, but if you could find inexpensive gloves (polypro or lightweight fleece) it might keep them pahhy and comfortable longer, expecially if it is a fine day and you take the 45-minute walk over the snow out to Mönchsjochhütte:

http://www-graphics.stanford.edu/~lu...d/jfj_glacier/

http://freespace.virgin.net/aw.mj/CH...36_edited.html

I too like to return in my imagination to hiking the green meadows and the sound of cowbells. You will find a path like that leading up from Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg, via Wengernalp, where you will see scenes like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thom_bouman/2927964492/

Or this:

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/TRAVEL/D....alps.cows.jpg

You can take this path downhill to return to Wengen if you like. It takes about 1.5 to 2 hours.

During the heat wave of a few summers ago - i was on the Jungfraujoch when the temperature was 30 degrees C or 86 degrees F

Locals could never remember such sweltering temps there where i think 32 d F is about the average high in summer - freezing. Bundle up.

Hey Enzian, thanks for the clothing info, I anticipate that is what we will be wearing also. Those photos, especially Thom's, wow! I hope to do the Mannlichen-Kleine Scheidegg hike and walk back down to perhaps Wengenalp then catch the train to Wengen.

The other walk on the list (depending on enthusiasm of younger generation) isAllmendhubel to Murren or Allmendhubel-Grutschalp and train to Murren. I am trying to keep the walks fairly easy but still incorporate best of ...

Are there any working cheese farms open to the public?

PalenQ, I'm hoping for cold weather while we are up there, it would be a good contrast for us, especially as we would have been in Tuscany prior to this part of our trip.

Well i'm sure it will be 'colder than a witch's txx face down in the snow in January