Ski & Winter · Logistics
Zurich Airport to the valley in under three hours by train, and the ski villages above are car-free anyway. The exact route, the gear logistics, and why this is the better version of a ski trip.
Land at Zurich. The railway station is inside the airport, follow the signs down the escalator. Board a train toward Bern, change once at Bern (across the platform, Swiss timing), continue to Interlaken Ost, and step onto the green-and-yellow Bernese Oberland train that winds into the valley. About 2h45 airport door to Lauterbrunnen station, and our apartments are a few minutes' walk from there. Trains run every 30–60 minutes all day; buy one through ticket on the SBB app and it covers the whole chain. The full arrival guide, including from Geneva and with kids, is on our Getting Here page.
This is not making a virtue of necessity. Wengen and Mürren, the two ski villages above the valley, are car-free, no roads reach them, so a rental would sit in a Lauterbrunnen car park all week while you ride the same trains as everyone else. The morning commute to the pistes, cog railway one side, cable car the other, is covered by your ski pass. No snow chains, no mountain-pass driving, no parking apps, no designated driver after fondue. For Americans used to I-70 on a Saturday, the contrast is roughly the whole argument, and it shows up in the budget too, see the cost comparison.
If your plan involves touring several distant regions in one trip, a car earns its keep on the connecting days. For a single-base ski week in this valley, it is an expensive parking ornament, spend the money on the hot tub apartment instead.
Common questions
No, and for the Jungfrau region a car is actively worse: Wengen and Mürren are car-free, so you'd park it in the valley all week anyway. The train from Zurich Airport reaches Lauterbrunnen in under three hours with two easy changes.
Train from the airport station (it's inside the terminal) toward Bern, change at Bern, on to Interlaken Ost, then the Bernese Oberland railway to Lauterbrunnen, about 2h45 total, departures every 30–60 minutes, one ticket.
Easily, the trains carry skis daily and have racks and luggage space. Or skip it: rental shops in Lauterbrunnen, Wengen and Mürren will have your gear ready, and SBB's luggage service can even move bags airport-to-station.
Zurich Airport to Lauterbrunnen runs about CHF 75–80 one way full fare, less with Supersaver advance fares or a Half Fare Card, and children travel cheap. Compare that with a week of US rental car, insurance, chains and resort parking.
Our apartment and studios are a few minutes' walk from Lauterbrunnen station, where the airport train arrives and the trains to both ski areas leave. No car, no problem, ever.
