How To Get To Rome From Interlaken

After our holiday in the Jungfrau region of Switzerland, the wife and I had to go to Rome from Interlaken for the next part of our Europe holiday. Based on my research and personal experience, below are the four ways to get to Rome from Interlaken.

Method 1: Train

Taking a train is the best method to go Rome from Interlaken. Compared to the other three methods below, it is significantly more convenient, efficient, and affordable.

You will also get to enjoy scenic views of the Swiss Alps and Italian scenery along the way.

There is no direct train between Interlaken and Rome so you will need to transit at Milan.

The Swiss and Italian trains will not sell out so you can buy tickets on the day itself using cash or credit card. However, I recommend buying in advance online so that you will have one less thing to worry about.

Journey Time: ~ 7 hours (inclusive of transit)
Cost: ~ USD 120

Step 1

For the first leg of the journey, you need to take a train from Interlaken to Milan. Book your ride on Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) from Interlaken Ost to Milano Centrale. SBB is the national railway company of Switzerland.

There are various routes available, but I recommend choosing the “Via Spiez” route because it only requires one train change, and has the shortest journey time of around 3 hours. The train fare costs about CHF 70, but can be cheaper if you book further ahead.

Step 2

For the second leg of the journey, you need to continue taking a train from Milan to Rome. Allow at least 30 minutes for transit in Milan.

Book your ride on Italo or Trenitalia from Milano Centrale to Roma Termini. Italo and Trenitalia are the two main railway companies in Italy.

The journey will take about 3 hours and does not require any train change. If you are taking Trenitalia, make sure you choose the Frecciarossa trains; these are the newer high speed trains and are generally more comfortable.

The train fare will cost about €45. For this journey, there isn’t much difference between the two train companies; just choose the one with the cheaper fare.

Milano Centrale is well-known for pickpockets, so make sure you keep an eye on your belongings!

Method 2: Plane

The wife and I took a plane to get to Rome, which we regretted later on because it was more expensive and slower than taking a train.

The only consolation was that we managed to buy some Lindt chocolates at Zurich Airport and got fantastic aerial views of the majestic Swiss Alps.

Journey Time: ~ 9 hours (inclusive of transit)
Cost: ~ USD 520

Step 1

For the first leg of the journey, we took a train from Interlaken to Zurich Airport. We booked our ride on Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) from Interlaken OST to Zürich Flughafen.

We chose the “Direction Basel SBB” route because it only required one train change. The journey took about 2 hours and 15 minutes. The original ticket price was CHF 74, but we only paid CHF 37 using our Swiss Half Fare Card. If you have a Swiss Travel Pass the train ride is free.

Step 2

From Zurich Airport (ZRH), we took a SWISS Airlines plane to Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO) in Rome.

We paid CHF 386 each for the 1.5 hour flight. The plane seats were comfortable and the flight staff were generally quite friendly.

Step 3

At Leonardo da Vinci Airport, the wife and I went to the taxi stand where there was a long line of people queueing.

We made sure that we took the official Rome taxis because we did not want to be scammed by third party drivers.

It was easy to identify the official taxis: they were white with a “TAXI” sign on top, and had the words “ROMA CAPITALE” along with their licence numbers printed on the doors. Click here to see a picture of the taxi.

After waiting for 20 minutes, we got a taxi which brought us to our Airbnb in central Rome (near Pantheon). The journey took about 45 minutes, and cost us a fixed fare of €48.

It is also possible to take the Leonardo Express Train from the airport to Roma Termini. It takes 30 minutes and costs €14. However, we chose to take a taxi instead because we were carrying multiple pieces of luggage.

Method 3: Bus

Taking a bus from Interlaken to Rome will be a very long journey of around 16 hours, and you will need to change bus once in Milan. The bus fare will be about €35. I do not recommend this route unless you are on a very tight budget.

A faster option would be to take a bus from Interlaken to Milan (5 hours, €16), before changing to a train to Rome (3 hours, €45). As you can tell, you spend a little more but you will save about 8 hours.

You can book your bus tickets from FlixBus and your train tickets from Italo or Trenitalia.

Method 4: Car

Unless you have your own car, it is not feasible at all to drive from Interlaken to Rome.

This is because if you drive a rental car between two countries, the rental company will usually charge you a “drop fee” which can be an astronomical amount.

For example, Hertz charges a drop fee of about CHF 800 for pick up in Interlaken and drop off in Rome.

Note that the drop fee is on top of the rental cost (around CHF 120), and you will also need to pay for road fees and petrol costs.

If you have your own car, driving from Interlaken to Rome will take around 10 hours. You can use ViaMichelin to map your route.