We will be traveling in Germany with a rental car. We were planning to turn it in at Fussen and then take a train or bus to travel to Lucerne, Switzerland. However, in looking at various bus and train schedules it appears much more time consuming and somewhat complicated. (We have never traveled in Europe before.) We can turn it in at a different location such as Munich or Lindau. If we drive it to Switzerland to turn it in, it will cost approximately another $400 (shared, so $200) However, time is also an issue as we have limited time in Lucerne. Suggestions would be welcome! Keep the car?
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
I don't see a clear winner. Each option has trade-offs in time and convenience.
Dropping the car in Munich requires some city driving. Trains from there to Lucerne require only one connection at Zurich, but in some cases the first leg of the schedule is by bus, if that matters to you.
Dropping the car in Lindau means you're moving in the right direction and avoiding the big city. But trains from there to Lucerne often require 3 - 4 connections, unless you can catch the 9:54 (1 connection) or start with the 11:15 ferry across the lake (2 connections, longer travel time).
Now back to the Fuessen options, if you take the train departing at 11:05, you can make it in 6h 45m with 2 connections, or you can depart an hour later, make one more connection, and arrive at the same time.
Full price of the train tickets can be as much as $100 per person at full fare in second class [edit: from Fuessen], eating up some of the car rental savings. Or advance-purchase train tickets are cheaper, depending on how early you can commit to a particular departure.
Posted by
Augsburg, Bavaria
2335 posts
For the Lindau - Luzern variant I'd calculate in some time for Lindau (very nice), have lunch, then take the 14:54 EC (originating from Munich) to Zürich and transfer there to Lucerne.
Alternatively, you could turn in the car in Friedrichshafen (Zeppelin museum!) then take the Catamaran or the ferry across the lake to Romanshorn or Constance, resp. (docks are adjacent to the train stations at both places) and go by train from there to Zürich. Looking up connections at the DB website (www.db.com) "from: Friedrichshafen Hafen to: Luzern" will bring up both routes.
Full price of the train tickets can be as much as $100 per person at full fare in second class
From Lindau it's €57.80 p.p. When driving to Lucerne you have to add the price for the Austrian and the Swiss motorway vignettes (€ 8.90 / €40; driving to Lucern along back routes is not a good idea).
Posted by
OP
7 posts
Thank you so much for your information!
Posted by
Paradise
6651 posts
"We will be traveling in Germany with a rental car. We were planning to turn it in at Fussen..."
If you are like most visitors, you will spend some time - maybe a couple of nights? - in Munich prior to Füssen - is that right? If so, then it would be far easier to drop the car immediately upon arrival in Munich. You can make Füssen a day trip by train. Then depart Munich the following morning by train for Lucerne.