Solved

Requesting information on Paris - Interlaken - Rome Train travel

  • 7 September 2023
  • 3 replies
  • 192 views

Hello Friends, I’m travelling solo this November and Paris will be my base. I’ll visit Paris for a few days and then return to the same city at the end to catch my flight back home.

 

Now, I’m planning to travel to Interlaken to visit Jungfraujoch and the nearby villages and then proceed to Rome for another few days. I have a total of 3 weeks and I believe visiting the aforementioned three places would be easy [earlier I thought I could go to some other city too, like Munich/Barcelona for example]. 

 

I understand the below is possible but does this plan sound good, or could you please suggest a better idea as this is my first time visiting Europe?

  • Take train from Paris to Basel [using 4 days global flxe Eurail pass] and then take local train to Interlaken.
  • Purchase single day pass to Jungfraujoch [expensive but I’m not buying Swisspass as I’m just spending 4 days in the country with not many visits to mountain tops or intercity travel].
  • Take a local train to a nearby city like Bern/Spiez and change over to a fast train to Rome. Can I reach Rome in a day if I take early trains from these places? 
  • Return to Paris from Rome and if I have any spare days, detour via another country, or just go straight to Paris. Are there any direct trains or few changeovers? 

So based on the above plan, would you recommend buying Eurail global flexi pass [4/5 days]? I checked the direct train tickets via Omio or Trainline website but they seem to be close or dearer than the Eurail pass. Am I missing something here to find cheaper tickets? 

 

Thanks in advance. 

icon

Best answer by thibcabe 7 September 2023, 10:58

View original

3 replies

And just another question, is Jungfraujoch worth that high cost or do you recommend some other place like Zermatt/Matterhorn? Thanks. 

Userlevel 7
Badge +5

Choose how many days you may need a pass and go from there. I'd choose at least a 5 days pass : since Swiss tickets are quite expensive it is good value to use a pass day for a short journey such as Interlaken - Bern.

The Eurail pass gives you 25% discount in the whole Interlaken region including to Jungfraujoch (no need to use a pass day).

Jungfraujoch is certainly expensive. The view at the top is beautiful but most of the high-altitude journey is in a tunnel as opposed to Gornergrat.

In any case do not buy your ticket in advance. If the weather is bad you'll have lost 160 CHF... check the webcam before you go. The lowlands are usually covered by fog at this time of year and you may have to go up to find sun :)

Seat reservations for Paris - Switzerland : either the direct TGV to Basel (29€) or any TGV to Mulhouse/Strasbourg for 10€ + regional train across the border.

Between Switzerland and Rome you'll have to change trains in Milan. Use a reliable planner such as bahn.com, sbb.ch or their respective apps.

Seat reservations in Italy : 13€ on Frecciarossa trains -> 2€ booking fee on eurail.com, none with ÖBB.

The direct route between Milan and Paris is currently closed due to a landslide and it's unlikely that it reopens until November. Either you go via Switzerland or via the Mediterranean with an overnight stop around Nice (much recommended).

Userlevel 7
Badge +9

I would recommend you to go to Schilthorn instead of Jungfraujoch. Especially if you would happen to be a fan of James 007 Bond. If the weather is nice the view from the 360 degree turning restaurant is marvellous. 

https://schilthorn.ch/en/Welcome

 

Reply