Genève / Geneva to Wengen by train

Change trains in: Bern and Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen

Interlaken is where the network of mountain railways in the Bernese-Oberland connect with SBB's national rail network.
There are no direct trains between Genève and Interlaken.

The simplest and fastest option for the part of this journey, between Geneve and Interlaken, is to make only 1 x change of train at Bern.

In most hours the trains heading to Luzern from Geneve have good connections in Bern on to Interlaken, but in a few hours the optimum connection is instead available when taking the trains from Geneve that are heading to St Gallen.
In a few hours per day both options are available.

Changing trains in Bern:

The optimum connection in Bern between trains is only around 8 mins, but the connection is virtually guaranteed.

Changing trains at Interlaken Ost station:

You will have around 8 mins to make the connection into the train on to Lauterbrunnen at Interlaken Ost station, but again the connection is virtually guaranteed , n terms of the arrival and departure times of the trains.
You can be sure of making this connection, if you book tickets that are valid for the end-to-end journey.

Eight minutes may not be enough time to buy a ticket for the journey on to Wengen (via Lauterbrunnen) from the ticket desks at Interlaken Ost station.
Though if you will be travelling with any type of rail pass, including Swiss Day Passes, you'll need to go into the ticket office, to buy a discounted ticket for the journey on from Interlaken to Wengen.

The connection at Lauterbrunen into the train on to Wengen is a simple as can be.

Booking Tickets:

Tickets can be purchased up to 60 days ahead online for this end-to-end journey which involve taking a SBB train + the train(s) on to Wengen.

‘Individual tickets’ can be used on any train(s) on your travel date, but they tend to be comparatively expensive.

'Supersaver tickets' are cheaper, the portion of the journey by the SBB train can be discounted by up to 50%, but these tickets are train departure specific.
So if you book a Supersaver ticket and a flight delay etc, causes you to miss a train you are booked on to, you will have to book another full-price ‘Individual Ticket(s).
You can then apply for a refund of the Supersaver ticket, but the application costs CHF 10.

Hence it’s worth comparing the ticket price of a journey with the price of Saver Day Passes, there's a chance they'll save you money and can also allow for a less stressful journey.

Using Saver Day Passes:

Now that the Swiss Transfer tickets have been discontinued, an option worth comparing against tickets is a Saver Day Pass.

These passes allow for free travel on;

• the trains between Geneva Airport and Bern
• the train trains between Bern and Interlaken Ost

But on;

• the trains between Interlaken Ost and Lauterbrunnen
• the trains between Lauterbrunnen and Wengen
  they only provide for a 25% discount and the balance for the journey from Interlaken Ost and Wengen, needs to be paid prior to boarding the trains in the ticket office at Interlaken Ost station.

Though a plus of the Saver Day Pass is that they are not train specific, so can still be used in the event of a journey to Switzerland being delayed.
Though as they’re only valid for one day’s travel, the clue is the name, you’ll need to purchase another Saver Day Pass for your return journey.

However, they need to be booked at least a day ahead of your travel date, so won't be an option if you book tickets at the station on arrival in Switzerland.
They're also (much) cheaper the further ahead that you book.

Though if you will be making a day return trip from Geneve to Wengen, it's likely that that a Saver Day Pass will be cheaper than booking tickets for the outward and return journeys.