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Zürich / Zurich to Interlaken by train
How to take the rail journey from Zurich to Interlaken
There are two rotes which can be taken when taking the train from Zurich to Interlaken.
(1) travelling via Bern
(2) travelling via Luzern.
The route through Bern now has direct trains, but in the hours when they are not available, straightforward connections can be made in Bern station.
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Routes
Option 1: taking a direct train
Journey Summary
1hr 56min
Daily
Travel Information
Final Destination: Interlaken Ost
All trains also call at: Spiez (connect for Zweisimmen) and Interlaken West
If your final destination is in central Interlaken, book tickets to and leave the train at Interlaken West, this station is much closer to the town centre.
Connect at Interlaken Ost for the ZB trains towards Luzern or the BOB trains to Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen.
From Zurich Flughafen/Airport
All but the first of these daily direct trains to Interlaken also departs from the station at Zurich airport.
7 x direct trains per day
The usual departure times from Zurich HB station are at 06:02; 08:02; 11:02; 13:02; 15:02; 17:02 and 19:02; note that there is a three hour gap between departures between 08:02 and 11:02.
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes - If you book Supersaver tickets.
You may need to search through the departures to find them using the ‘earlier’ and ‘later’ buttons; so try and be flexible with your departure and arrival times.
Online bookings open: up to two months ahead of the travel date
Seat reservations:
Seat reservations are optional on Swiss IC trains, so seats won't be assigned when booking online.
You can book reservations online for journeys by these IC trains, AFTER you have booked a ticket, by using the SBB (Swiss national railways) seat reservation service
Travelling with a rail pass:
Rail pass users can jump on any train, without having to make reservations.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| SBB | * |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
These trains typically depart from gleis (platforms/tracks) 31-32 which are in the lower level of Zurich's main station.
This is a journey of four distinct parts:
- Between Zurich and Olten the train will travel through a series of towns.
- Then between Olten and Bern, for most of this part of the journey the train will be travelling at up to 200 km/h on Switzerland's fastest railway.
- The train will reverse direction on departure from Bern and the highlight of the journey between the Swiss capital and Thun occurs as soon as the train departs Bern station and crosses the River Aare.
- The scenic highlight of the journey is between Thun and Interlaken as the Thunersee is on the left of the railway, so due to the reversal in Bern, sit on the right on departure from Zurich to make the most of these views.
Then for the final 15 mins of the journey, after departure from Spiez, the train descends down to travel right by the shore of the Thunersee.
Option 2: connecting in Bern
Journey Summary
1hr 55min (approx)
Daily
Travel Information
1 or 2 x connections per hour are available in the hours when the direct trains are not available.
Change trains in: Bern
On this routing the connecting time between trains in Bern station is around 6 mins, but the connection can be virtually guaranteed.
On arrival at Bern station, the easiest means of transferring to the platform/track/gleis, that the train on to Interlaken will be departing from, is to use the bridge which spans the station.
If at Zurich you board the train around three - six coaches back from the front of the train, you will be adjacent to this bridge when you disembark from the train on arrival at Bern.
The alternative route:
If you will be travelling with a rail pass SMTJ recommends taking the slower, but more scenic route via Luzern.
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
If you book Supersaver tickets, you may need to search through the departures to find these 'Supersaver' tickets using the ‘earlier’ and ‘later’ button, so try and be flexible with your departure and arrival times.
Online bookings open: up to 60 days ahead of the travel date.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| SBB | * | |
| Trainline | * | |
| Happy rail | * | |
| Omio | * |
Train 1
Journey Features
Good to Know
These are the express IC trains which are non-stop from Zurich to Bern, they also se the 'higher' speed line between Olten and Bern.
Final Destination: Geneve-Aeroport (on route IC 1) or Brig (on route IC 8)
The double deck SBB IC trains are used on this route; the brand new LD/Twindexx trains should now be operating on some departures that are heading towards Geneve.
From Zurich HB station:
These IC trains usually depart from gleis (platforms/tracks) 31 and 32 in the lower level part of the station.
Note that these trains should arrive in Zurich HB station around 7 mins before they are due to depart, so keep an eye on the departure time and don't rush to board by the nearest door (if you don't have to)
From Zurich Flughafen/Airport:
These trains depart from Zurich Flughafen/Airport station 11 mins before they depart from the city centre station - Zurich HB.
Train 2
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: Interlaken Ost
All trains also call at: Spiez (connect for Zweisimmen) and Interlaken West
If your final destination is in central Interlaken, book tickets to and leave the train at Interlaken West, this station is much closer to the town centre.
Connect at Interlaken Ost for the ZB trains towards Luzern or the BOB trains to Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen.
The single deck IC trains are used for these journeys, along with some ICE trains that will have commenced their journeys in Germany
This is a journey that saves the best until last!
There are lovely views over Lake Thun from the left of the train, when facing the direction of travel, between Thun and Spiez stations.
... this video was taken from a train travelling in the opposite direction.Then for the final 15 mins of the journey, after departure from Spiez, the train descends down to travel right by the shore of the Thunersee.
Option 3: the more scenic option, connecting in Luzern
Journey Summary
2hr 51min
Daily
Travel Information
1 x connection per hour
Change trains in: Luzern
The connecting time between trains at Luzern is around 15 mins and it is an exceptionally easy station in which to change trains, so a stress-free transfer is virtually guaranteed
If you will be touring Switzerland by train and in possession of a valid rail pass, then this is a more spectacular option for making a journey between Zurich and Interlaken.
Or if you don't have a rail pass and time is on your side and you want to see more than an hour of stunning scenery then seek out this routing on SBB's ticketing service and book an end2end ticket.
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
If you book Supersaver tickets.
You may need to search through the departures to find these 'Supersaver' tickets using the ‘earlier’ and ‘later’ button, so try and be flexible with your departure and arrival times.
Online bookings open: up to 60 days ahead of the travel date.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| SBB | * |
Train 1
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination : Luzern
From Zurich Flughafen/Airport:
There are now direct trains between the station at Zurich Flughafen/Airport and Luzern
You no longer have to change trains at Zurich HB station; though if you board a train at the airport, it will reverse direction on departure from Zurich Hb station.
The brand new Twindexx trains are now used on some departures.
From left of the train (when facing the direction of travel) there are views over Lake Zurich and Lake Zug, so it can be worth ascending up to the top deck of the double-deck trains used on this route.
Train 2
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: Interlaken Ost
All trains also call at: Meiringen and Brienz - connect for BRB trains
When joining the train at Luzern sit on the left (when facing the direction of travel) for the best of the views.
From this side of the train no less than four lakes can be seen - the train will reverse direction on departure at Meiringen, so you won't need to switch to the other side of the train for the views over the Brienzee.
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