We are Americans, planning to spend about 11 days in Germany and a week in Switzerland. We will be renting a car for three or four of our German days. We are then going to Lauterbrunnen -- planning to take a lot of specialty cog trains and similar up and around the mountains in that area. We're finishing up in Lucerne and flying out of Zurich. Looked at the Eurail pass, which seems like it might be a good choice -- but was also intrigued by the separate German and Swiss passes, especially as I'm not sure the Eurail pass covers all those cog trains etc. in Switzerland. Alternatively, we can pay a la carte in Germany as we'll have a car for part of the time, and buy ONLY the Swiss pass... What do you think?
Posted by
Paris
6920 posts
You are indeed unlikely to need a pass in Germany. If there are long journeys in Germany for which you have a set date, you can find cheap tickets in advance (up to 4 months in advance if I remember correctly), and for regional journeys, each region has some sort of day pass that can prove very cost-effective.
And Eurail coverage isn't great in Switzerland, especially if you are planning to go to the Berner Oberland. The Swiss Travel Pass has better coverage. It is rarely the cheapest solution, but the premium charged for the convenience of the pass (no need to buy tickets from town to town!) is really reasonable. The cheapest solution is usually the Half-Fare Card, a card that costs 120 Swiss francs and gets you a 50% discount on every ticket (most mountain railways included), but with that you still need to buy tickets. And it usually is not much cheaper, most times I did the math on a typical week-long Swiss trip, it comes out at most 50 francs cheaper than the Swiss Travel Pass. So, without more details on your Swiss route, I'd recommend the Swiss Travel Pass.
Posted by
OP
117 posts
thank you so much! that sounds perfect. we are going Munich/Berlin/Freiburg by train during the German part of our trip... I think we can easily nail down the dates for the in-advance discounts.
We may take a side trip to Fussen from Munich. We will rent a car in Freiburg so we can easily get to some tiny towns where our ancestors lived!
We then go from Freiburg to Interlaken.
in Switzerland so far the plan is Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen (on the same day we arrive) and then four nights in that area. After that, train to Lucerne for 3 nights and then airport train to Zurich.
Posted by
4555 posts
up to 4 months in advance if I remember correctly
I believe Germany is an outlier and it is 3 months for bahn.com, unless it has changed.
Posted by
Augsburg, Bavaria
2354 posts
Actually it's six months, unless it has changed :)
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4054 posts
Nobody knows more about rail travel and how to do it best than the Man in Seat 61, a former railroader who now rules the rails. I am sceptical about rail passes in general as not worth the time and stress learning and then doing. But he knows best and for any trip I would start with his advice:
Posted by
DFW TX, USA
457 posts
Nobody knows more about rail travel and how to do it best than the Man in Seat 61
Second that ... his website is the Bible for train travel ... I love reading it just for fun.