Europe Trip Train or Car

Going by car from Basel to Venice is out of the question due to expensive drop off fees country to country. Have you considered flying into another Swiss city, as Basel's up north on the French border.

You can buy point to point reserved train tickets in Italy on Trenitalia.com 120 days early at a good discount. If you're going to be in Lake Garda, you could pickup a rental car in Milan and turn it in at Venice. It's doubtful there are any car rental offices in the Lake Como area.

Rail travel in Europe was cheaper when we lived in Germany from 1987 until 1991. However, government don't subsidize rail travel as much and air travel within Europe is much cheaper due to deregulation.

I have not researched rail passes in our recent travels of Europe, but I would opine that with five persons, you would most likely do better renting a car then taking the train..

Switzerland is one of the most expensive countries in Europe for just about anything.

I suggest using Kayak to check the price of auto rental. One thing that can be a problem with car rental in Europe is renting a car in one country and dropping it off in another can cause huge fees. Therefore, you might be better renting only for Switzerland, taking a train from near the Italian border to Venice.

Of course, you need to research the pricing for each method of transport.

We have not taken trains in Europe in the past six years, except for going from Venice to Florence, which was not overpriced.

If you rent a car in Switzerland, make sure you return it before you cross into Italy, because dropping the car in a different country costs a fortune in drop off fees and from what I read you plan to fly home from Italy.

For train prices and schedules check below.
http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en&HWAI=JS!ajax=yes!&
Children under 16 generally pay half.
The Basel station is called Basel SBB.
Murren is Murren.
Nowadays a US$1=CHF1 so it's easy to figure out.
See if the rail passes make sense for you, but personally I think with 5 people you'd save if you rented a car and dropped it off in Lugano or Mandrisio (Europcar has an office in Mandrisio) before going to Italy. Italian trains are very cheap, and you won't really need a car at Lake Como (use ferries from Como or go to Varenna from Milan). Venice obviously has no cars.

Switzerland is expensive. No way around that.

Hi kb.. for the Swiss portion of your trip and/or Lake Como, you could rent a car at Swiss airport and drop the car at Lugano train station (before or after Lake Como visit, if you do that), then train from there to Venice via Milan. Enjoy your trip!

We travel as a group of 5-9 people in Switzerland exclusively by train. I we never wanted a car in Switzerland.

Your two younger children will be free on all transport if the adults get some kind of Swiss pass or card and request the free Family Card. The Half Fare Card for 120 CHF is generally the best choice--- you would need threes of them, and all tickets you buy will be half-fare.

You don't need a car or get to Como, but you might want one to go to Garda. In that case, rent in Milan, drive to Garda, and then on to Venice and drop it there.

Actually if you return the car in Lugano (CH), you could take the bus directly to Menaggio on Lake Como. That is much more direct. That way you save yourself a lot of time compared to going all the way to Milan (or Como) and then up the lake.

After the short bus ride, you can stay in Menaggio, which is one of the best villages to stay in, or take a ferry across to Bellagio or Varenna.

The bus schedule Lugano-Menaggio is below:
http://www.menaggio.com/ita/e-lakes/Orari_bus.pdf

The bus to Menaggio departs from the Parking lot called Parcheggio Campo Marzio, just a few minutes via taxi from the Lugano train station where most rental companies are.

Consider taking the bus.

Modern buses are air-conditioned (unlike many trains), you're guaranteed a seat (unlike trains) and they have Wi-Fi on board. So if you're considering driving, the bus might be an attractive alternative.

The German company FlixBus has a massive network and also offers a special 99 euro fare which allows you to go to any five cities on its network.

When comparing rail costs in Switzerland with and without the half-fare card to car-rental rates, be aware that the SBB website normally assumes that the purchaser holds a half-fare card. To see the full rate for a trip, click on the "Fare/Buy" button for one of the departures and choose "No Reduction" from the pull-down box on the next screen.

And note that you will still need to take transit to/from Murren, since no tourist cars are allowed in the town itself.

Don't use Trenitalia.com to purchase any ticket that departs from the Swiss side of the border. They only offer international tickets to be picked up in Italian train stations. From Milan to Venice or Varenna to Venice, it's fine to book through Trenitalia.

The 2-Country Select Pass offers a new Italy-Switzerland version this year. For adult pairs, the price of 4 days spread out in 2 countries is about the same as 4 days consecutive in just Switzerland. But where the Swiss Travel Pass or Swiss Half Card really win out, in your case, is the more generous age range for free kids with the Swiss Family Card.

Your 12 and 14 year old will travel absolutely free with you all over Switzerland, while the 17 year old qualifies for a "Youth" pass...if you purchase either the Swiss Half Fare Card or the Swiss Travel Pass.

In italy you can get big discounts by booking far ahead.