Como Travel Forum

4 of us are spending time at Lake Como, then have reservations in Wengen for a couple days. Having difficulty figuring out how to get there. I can get partial reservations from the Como S. Giovanni station to Lauterbrunnen through sbb.ch, but am nervous @ buying advance tickets unless we are sure we can get all the way to Wengen. Can we get train tickets when we arrive--or will it be too crowded in June? And is it easy to travel from Italy to Switzerland by buying a ticket in Italy? I'm doing the planning for our group and don't want to mess it up. Thanks for any help you can give us! Abels/Indiana
P.S. Then I hope it's possible to get from Wengen to Milan for our flight home????

It shouldn't be a problem to get your tickets in Como, though you might have a bit better luck at a travel agency in Como than at the train counter. If you take a EuroCity or Cisalpino, you will need to make seat reservations in advance (a day should be just fine unless you're traveling on a Friday or Sunday) to travel from Como to Chiasso. In Switzerland, no reservations are required.

Your best connection would be to take the 7:43 Cisalpino from Como San Giovanni to Arth-Goldau, then a train to Luzern, then connecting to the scenic "Golden Pass" train from Luzern to Interlaken. From there, you change to the BOB train to Lauterbrunnen (the train splits, so be sure to get on the part going to Lauterbrunnen and not Grindelwald), then another BOB train to Wengen. If you make all of your connections, you'll be in Wengen before 2PM.

I assume you're only able to get reservations to Interlaken Ost. Getting seats Berner Oberland Bahn trains from there to Lauterbrunnen and then to Wengen should not be a problem. Even if by some strange circumstance a train is full, another train will be along in 30 minutes. To save a bit of confusion, you might want to consider a Swiss Saver Pass for 4, which covers travel on trains, buses and boats throughout Switzerland for a certain period of time. Take a look at www.swisstravelsystem.ch or www.ricksteves.com/rail for details.

As for returning to Malpensa from Wengen, it depends on when your flight departs. You'll probably need to go to Lugano or Chiasso, then board a bus. I would plan for at least 6 hours to get from Wengen to Malpensa Airport. For details on buses from Lugano or Chiasso to Milan Malpensa, take a look at http://www.sea-aeroportimilano.it/en/malpensa/index.phtml?mod=per_mi_scroll&to=come_arrivare
Most likely, you'll need to spend at least one overnight closer to Milan than Wengen; I recommend Lugano.

Enjoy your trip!

Mark

Hmmm ...
When we went to Como from Milan, we actually took a train to Varenna, off Lake Como - this train was going to Tirano which is by the border with Switzerland ... but this is around the Bernina portion.

I am not too familiar with the routes here, but the main point I was trying to make is that possibly taking the boat to one of the towns around the lake "could" give you a good connection - I do not know for sure, but perhaps someone can post.

Actually, the question was how to get to Wengen from Como and to Malpensa from Wengen, not how to get to Como from Malpensa.

;+( ooops ... need to stop responding late at night and be more thorough on the OP

I think your journey may be ill advised, the trip will involve 3 or 4 changes by train from Como to Wengen taking approx 6 hours.

Cross border train journeys can be judged by using the website

http://www.bahn.de/p/view/international/englisch/international_guests.shtml

Regards,

Billy