Tickets from Rome to Interlaken this summer

JimmyR

Hello!
My wife and I will be in Rome this summer at the end of August, and want to travel by train from Rome to Interlaken. When will tickets be available for this trip? I have tried to buy and find that they are not yet available, but would like to purchase in advance.
Thanks!
JimmyR

Danhiel

Hallo JimmyR

Engineering works are planned on the line Roma - Firenze until August 28th, 2026. Trains will be rerouted via the old line, expect a longer travel time.

You could already buy tickets now from Milano to Interlaken, but, with separate tickets, you have other passenger rights in case of problems.

Kind regards
Danhiel

Tafunge25

I think the sales start 90 days ahead of the travel date, so in just a few weeks. But note that due to construction works, it might be that trains need to be rerouted. Then, sales only open when it is definitively clear where exactly the train is going to operate. There are engineering works bein carried out in summer on the route between Milano and Domodossola, so if you are planning to travel via Domodossola, Brig and Spiez, that might be an issue. If you plan to travel via Lugano and Luzern, I don’t think that will be a problem (or at least I don’t know of any construction works planned on that route)

JimmyR

Thank you! That is exactly the route I had planned. I will keep a watch on it and re-route if I have to. I appreciate your response!

Krist

What date is your trip? If you tell us we can have a look if you will be affected by engineering. (I know where to look for that for example…)

And if I may ask, what are your general plans in Switzerland? Have you already looked in to getting a Swiss Travel Pass or the Half Fare Card? That is something to consider before buying your train ticket from Rome, as this affects what the best ticket is.

JimmyR

Hi Krist
We plan on leaving Rome on Thursday, August 27 and travelling to Interlaken. We’re actually going to Grindelwald, but with the assumed late arrival, we are just staying in Interlaken that night and going up to Grindelwald the next day.
We have two nights in Grindelwald before moving on to Zurich to visit old friends for a few days before heading back home to the USA.
I have looked into buying a Half Fare card for each of us, but looking at prices for travel using earlier dates as a reference, I don’t believe we will be travelling in Switzerland enough that it will save us much money. At least, that is the way it looks to me! The Half Fare card didn’t seem to save much on the Rome-Interlaken trip, and that is the most expensive one.
Thank you for your help!

JimmyR

Hi Danhiel

Thank you for your reply! Of course, we are planning on travelling on August 27! Just our luck!

Krist

If you make it to Interlaken you can as well go all the way to Grindelwald. Its only half an hour more, and trains run till quite late. Just leave Rome early enough.
The Half Fare Card also gives you 50% off on mountain railways. One trip up the Jungfraujoch already pays most of it back :-) Consider that as well. And pay attention when looking up prices for travel in Switzerland, as the price display defaults to half fare.

Normally I would for this trip leave Rome on the 11:20, which gets me to Interlaken at 18:29, and Grindewald at 19:10.
With the engineering works planned I would expect you will have to leave Rome an hour or so earlier.

JimmyR

Hi Krist Thanks!

The reason for going to Interlaken first is we have reservations in Grindelwald for that Friday and Saturday and weren’t able to get anything that wasn’t prohibitively expensive, and figured that it will be late anyway and we’ll be tired, so we grabbed a much less expensive place in Interlaken, and just plan on going up to Grindelwald the next day.
Also, we will be at a wedding up around Orvieto and the shuttle won’t bring us back to Rome until around noon or a bit later. I have even checked just going from Orvieto, but so far have not found anything that looks good from there. At least we still have a bit of time to plan.

Krist

So you will be in Orvieto? That changes everything. Orvieto is hafl way between Rome and Firenze. Having a shuttle take you back to Rome makes little sense. I would in stead see if you could organize transport till Firenze. Maybe there are more wedding guests that need to go to somewhere north afterwards.

JimmyR

Hi Krist

Yes, I am looking into this also. Still, not finding anything that works yet. Perhaps in a few more weeks when they get their schedules together.

Our daughter is getting married in a venue near there, and they have a shuttle picking guests up in Rome, and bringing them back. I am also considering renting a car in Orvieto and driving to Firenze or Milan if there are construction problems with the lines, and catching the train there.

Krist

Normally there are intercities from Orvieto to Firenze, and that is how you would start your trip north. But those intercities are not open for booking yet either. Probably because they are still working out the schedule for the building site.

Krist

I now found out what is planned: They are doing some work on a tunnel in the section on the HSL between Orvieto and Chiusi. Both the old line and the new fast line actually pass though Orvieto, and just north of it there is a link that allows trains to switch from the new line to the old line, then in Chiusi they can switch back.

The old line carries the IC and regional services, the new line the FR services. The deviation probably adds something like 20 minutes to Roma - Firenze trains, and all trains now must use the same tracks between Orvieto and Chiusi. And since the FR trains come from Napoli or further, and continue beyond Firenze they basically need a complete new timetable for the whole route. And Trenitalia is not know for being quick with that…

My suggestion is to just wait till mid June, and then look again.

JimmyR

That is great information! Thank you so much for finding this out for me. You guys are the best!