Please sign in to post.
Holiday Sale! Save 20% Storewide!

Train- 4 country eurail flexipass vs 3 country (Germany,Austria,Switzerland) + France

Posted by on

Hello,

Sigh. I read much of the Rick Steves materials, but was planning to use a travel agent. That did not work...:-(
Now here I am, months behind, making my own plans. yikes. My head is swimming with all the variables for buying
train tickets. I'm reading people's comments and the faqs and still am unsure about the following:

Our itinerary over 3 weeks, 9/8-27: Berlin_ Nurnbergopen/undecided daysBiel, SwitzerlandBayeuxParis.

It seems like the 10 day, 4 country, eurail pass would be perfect! (quoted at @$1400 for 2 adults)
However, does the seat reservation issue and how passes are regarded mean I should just get a 3-country and reserve seats--if I still can--for the France portion? And does this mean I can reserve a 2nd class ticket? With Eurail we have to purchase 1st class.

Specifically, I would like to go from Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, leaving either 9/20 or 21st to arrive in Bayeux by evening of 21st.
It appears the only route is to go through Saarbrucken, Germany, to access the French trains. No trains directly from Switzerland to Paris? I cannot find one.

Many thanks for information on this!

ps We watch your shows regularly and you make it look so easy to get a train ticket!

On 9/23 we need a train reservation from Bayeux to Paris.

Posted by
21143 posts

Chill. A rail pass is probably a waste of money. Some journeys, like Bayeux to Paris are cheap enough that a pass would cost more, and there is really no need for a reservation. You can get a TGV at Basel or Lausanne to Paris. Buy online at www.capitainetrain.com for cheap advance purchase nonrefundable tickets. Berlin-Nuremberg at www.bahn.com. Map out your journeys and you can buy in advance. Local trains in Switzerland, just buy at the station.

Posted by
16895 posts

There are many 1- and 2-country options but no more 3-country pass in this area. As of April 1, the Select pass was changed to always cover 4 neighboring countries, with France as one of those options. You have not described 10 days of train travel, so it's hard to estimate whether a pass would be a good value for you. You can get an overview of standard 2nd-class ticket prices at http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/cost-maps. You might find that some variation of Swiss Pass is a good value for time focused there, plus a couple of advance-discount tickets for longer, planned routes in Germany and France.

There are TGV trains departing directly from Zurich, Basel, Bern, Lausanne, and Geneve to Paris. How to Look Up Train Schedules Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it. This will show the fastest connections and which sections require reservation. With a Select pass, the seat reservations for the "TGV Lyria" (departures from Swiss cities) are expensive this year, while the reservation price from Strasbourg is only $14 per person. Trains from Bayeux to Paris do not take reservations.

This topic has been automatically closed due to a period of inactivity.