Hello, my wife and I are heading to Zermatt, then taking the Glacier Express to Chur and train to Innsbruck, bus to Ortesei and then ending up in Milan. Seems like a 4 day Eurail makes make sense, assuming I can get seats on the Glacier Express within 3 month booking period for a seat reservation.. Glacier Express, train from Chur to Innsbruck, bus to Ortesei and train to Milan. Any thoughts? Thx, Steve
Posted by
Washington DC
30262 posts
I'm not sure the Eurail Pass will be a money-saver for you. You are covering some very expensive ground in Switzerland, but have you priced out your rail usage in Austria and Italy? Italy in particular has quite reasonable rail fares, and it appears you won't be covering many miles in Austria. If a large part of the cost is in Switzerland, you should check Swiss-only options. There are various passes, a half-fare card and the Saver Day Pass. The SDP covers all transportation (excluding high-mountain lifts, I would guess, though I'm not sure) for a day at a cost that begins at CHF 52 per day (or CHF 29 per day if you have a half-fare card). The price escalates as the date of usage approaches. It's a great deal if you are confident enough about your plans, because you have to specify the date of travel when you buy the pass, and the pass isn't changeable or refundable.
I'm not a book-ahead person except when it's essential, but I had such a long trip planned on one day in Switzerland in 2024 that I took a chance and bought an SDP for my target date. I was thrilled to be able to travel all the way from Bellinzona through Andermatt, Disentis, Chur and the Bernina Express route to Tirano, Italy, for CHF 52.
Swiss trains: https://www.sbb.ch/en
Austrian trains: https://www.oebb.at/en/
Italian trains: https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html
Posted by
OP
minneapolis, MN
200 posts
I will do further looking.. My thought was with the Glacier Express ticket being what it was it might make sense. And you are right, the Switzerland segment is the most spendy. I am hoping the extra money vs. Chamonix will be worth it. It was expensive last time we were there and that was pretty much an even exchange.. Anybody have comment on the Glacier Express? Thx
Posted by
248 posts
I purchased Eurail passes (on a pretty good sale) for our family of 4 in 2022. I think I may have saved a little money - mostly due to the Eurostar leg, but I am not inclined to purchase Eurail passes again. I found, unless something has changed, that there are only a certain number of Eurail eligible seats per train, and then not necessarily on all trains; so it was not very convenient. I also recall having to pay additional for seat reservations, which we wanted. Eurail passes were also quite fiddly to cumbersome to use for Trenitalia trains- in 2022 we had to make the reservations in the train stations - not convenient at all.
Again, the above was 4 years ago and things may have changed. I would suggest looking at the Man in Seat 61 website for Eurail pass information and guidance on how to best book the Glacier Express - I know he has some money saving options on how to book the Bernina Express, so maybe he has some for the Glacier.