Berner Oberland

Hello,
My husband and I will be heading to Switzerland from Munich for 4 days next month and we are looking for some recommendations of must see things and places in the Berner Oberland. We are thinking of going to Interlaken & Gimmelwald right now.

I would love to see some beautiful castles. Are there any nearby or on the way?

If there are other areas in Switzerland that you would like to recommend aside from the Berner Oberland area, please share!

Oh, it might also be helpful for you to know our route out of Switzerland... We will be heading to Cinque Terre, Italy.

Thanks very much!

Personnally I would skip Interlaken and head into the twin valleys beyond. Gimmelwald is a pleasant small village but I would not make it the center of your activities. Murren, Wengen and Grindelwald all have much to offer.

Strongly urge you to research rail pass packages. Swiss Rail or the local multi-day package. Either will save you a lot of money.

The Uberland is one of the great treasures of the planet. Enjoy.

The Bernese Oberland is not only Interlaken - just like Minneapolis is not only The Walker Art Center... Consider that Interlaken is mainly a huge train station where heaps of tourists gather, however not in April, one of the worst month to come to Switzerland, expect rain, sunshine, snow and fog - all in one day. I suggest to browse this website, it contains tons of info and suggestions about Willy Tell's own country: http://bit.ly/2svJfI

Agree with the others; Interlaken is a transport hub and not that appealing once you've done a trip on one of the lakes; skip it. Lauterbrunnen is also another village near to the ones that #1 cited, whilst the website that #2 cited is excellent.

I also agree with the others, def consider getting a tourist pass of some kind; walk up tickets for trains are bloomin' expensive. Some of the train journeys in Switzerland are notable; examples include the golden mountain railway which could potentially be done; refer to http://www.seat61.com and choose Switzerland for info. If you intend to do the Schilthorn or the Jungfrau, check the weather forecast first; if the weather forecast is crap don't bother going up; you'll see nothing.

It's nowhere near Switzerland, but have you done the Neuschwanstein castle yet?

Thanks all for the information and recommended websites you provided, very helpful.

I'm curious to know the best way to reach Murren. Do you have to go through Interlaken? Or maybe I should ask, is going through Interlaken the best strategy to reach Murren?

I'm having a hard time figuring out my transportation options via train from Fussen, Germany (gotta see Neuschwanstein Castle and the others in this area, thanks Fwoggie!) to reach this area (Murren, Wengen, Gimmelwald, Grindelwald). Any help is appreciated.

Refer to http://www.sbb.ch <--- swiss train system, it'll tell you how to get to Murren, but I would think (off the top of my head) that going via Interlaken is the way forward.

To get to Neuschwanstein Castle from Fussen, take the bus RVA/OVG 73 in the direction to Steingaden / Garmisch-Partenkirchen or the bus RVA/OVG 78 in the direction to Schwangau until you reach the stop Hohenschwangau / Alpseestraße. See http://www.rvo-bus.de .

From Fussen to Murren/Wengen/Gimmewald, refer to http://www.bahn.co.uk for a europe wide timetable.

DB timetable
From: Munich
To: Fuessen
To: Hohenschwangau
To: Interlaken Ost

Hohenschwangau is the bus stop for Neuschwanstein Castle. You can travel from Munich to Hohenschwangau on a Bayern Ticket. EUR 29,00 for 2-5 persons traveling together. You can buy it online or on spot from the ticket machines or for EUR 2,00 more also at the counters. Bayern Ticket covers all local public transport in Munich, the trains to Füssen and the buses from Füssen to Hohenschwangau.

Füssen is the end station (the Alps!) of a branch line. And Interlaken is deep in the Alps. This means a number of train changes and a travel time of nearly 8 hours at least. You can get discounted specials from Füssen to Interlaken Ost from EUR 39,00 if you buy in advance (at earliest 92 days in advance).

A slower but most scenic route option:
Füssen dep 09:07 RE
Kaufbeuren arr 10:07
Kaufbeuren dep 10:20 ALX
Lindau Hbf arr 12:01
Lindau Hbf dep 12:31 RB
Friedrichshafen Hafen arr 13:17
Friedrichshafen Hafen dep 13:41 ferry
Romanshorn arr 14:22
Romanshorn dep 14:34 IR Pre-Alpine Express one of Switzerland's scenic routes
Luzern arr 17:20
Luzern dep 17.50 IR Brünig part of the GoldenPass route
Interlaken Ost 19:56

For the first part till Nonnenhorn (between Lindau and Friedrichshafen) you can use another Bayern Ticket (EUR 29,00). Nonnenhorn to Friedrichshafen Hafen is EUR 3,90 per person. You can buy these tickets already in Füssen.
For the Swiss part of the trip you may consider one of the offers of the Swiss Travel System.
Ferry Friedrichshafen - Romanshorn is EUR 8,00 per person (EUR 4,00 with a Swiss Pass). You pay when boarding. If you don't use a Swiss Pass you can buy however also a ticket from Nonnenhorn to Interlaken Ost (or the other final destinations mentioned in the previous answers) at the counter (e.g. in Füssen, Munich or Lindau). You have to tell them however the route (or take a printout of this schedule with you). This ticket includes the ferry. Was once even a real train ferry. That's why the ferry is still connecting directly a train station with another train station.

These 2 scenic routes in Switzerland are slow. Esp. the Brünigbahn which is a narrow gauge cogwheel train. You have to query with the DB or SBB timetable step by step as otherwise the timetables will route you on flatter and thus faster routes. Albeit the recommended scenic route is the shortest (does not equal to fastest) route.

Timetables for abalada's route:
Swiss timetable (http://www.sbb.ch/en/):
click on ADVANCED SEARCH, then enter
FROM: Fuessen
TO: Grindelwald
VIA: Friedrichshafen
SECOND VIA: Uznach
THIRD VIA: Sarnen

BTW: on your way from Switzerland to Genoa, you could pass the Alps there where they are the most attractive, that means via
either
Chamonix Mont Blanc - Courmayeur - Aosta - Turin
or
Martigny - Gd St-Bernard Tunnel - Aosta - Turin
or
Visp (close to Zermatt-Matterhorn and Aletsch Glacier) - Domodossola (close to Macugnaga - Punta Dufour) - Milan (fastest route)

There are plenty of scenic castles along all these itineraries, particularly the castles of
Spiez, Wimmis, Thun, Laupen, Romont, Gruyeres, Rue, Oron, Chillon, Aigle, St. Maurice, Brig, St. Pierre, Aymavilles, Sarre, Quart, Fenis, Ussel Graines, Issogne, Verres, Bard, Isola Bella, Castello Sforzesco di Milano .....

Thank you so much for the very helpful information everyone! You helped me out so much.

Edited by: minneapolisgal