I will be arriving in Zurich from the US at 8:30 a.m. on July 5th in the morning. Should I rent a car from Zurich to drive to Colmar and around Alsace region? Or should I take a train? THere are 2 more people traveling with me. Will it save $ to rent a car from Zurich and drive to Colmar and visiting Alsace region? Or is it better to take a train? Any recommendation on train?
Thank you,
Hannah
Thank you so much! if we were to rent a car in Alsace, can we rent a car in Colmar? I am trying to find info but not able to. Any website do you recommend?
After visiting Colmar, we will be returning back to Switzerland, and I can drop off the car then.
Thank you!
Hannah
Driving on unfamiliar roads right after a transatlantic flight (in a jetlagged state) isn't really recommended. Having said that, it would be faster than the train. Having looked at your other threads, it appears you'll only be going to Colmar, and only for 1 night before driving back to Switzerland; is that right? How much did you intend to do in that time, consdering the jet lag you will be dealing with on the first day? Where else in "the Alsace region" were you planning to visit?
If you rent a car in one country, and return it in another, that incurs a large surcharge.
Either rent and return in France (and take trains there and back), or rent in Zürich airport and return in Switzerland.
But, if you are only going to be in Colmar one night, after travelling from Zürich airport, you only have ½ day. That is barely enough to see round Colmar, no hope of seeing anything else in Alsace. So a car would be unnecessary.
If you have 3-4 nights available, a car would be useful to explore the villages of Alsace. And you could do a day trip by train to Strasbourg one of the days.
I don't drive on my jet lag day. I plan a lot of walking. I'd take a train to the region, then rent a car for touring the small towns. I really don't think it's practical to do it by bike unless you want to stay in one of the small towns and don't plan to go further than the "next town over" in one day. If you buy your train tickets well in advance, the price is pretty good.
