2 of us, 60+, flying to Paris on 8/24/17, then making the following trips: Paris-Basel-Interlaken; Interlaken-Murren; Murren-Lausanne;, Lausanne-Lyon; and then Lyon back to Paris. We have stays of 2-3 days in Interlaken, Murren, Lausanne, and Lyon, with Paris being the initial night's stay and two days at the end (total trip 2 weeks). I am thinking we'd like to take the TGV train from Paris to Basel, and again at the end from Lyon to Paris. Otherwise, we would take the Swiss train network. I'm seeing a price of $600 for the Eurail Select France-Switzerland (2nd class seating, but we're not picky about that) on RailEurope's web site. Does this seem like a good price? I feel like it's cheaper than what I've seen buying the TGV segments separately and adding 2 Swiss Half-fare cards. Would appreciate any feedback. Thank you!
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area
5697 posts
I considered this last September, but was worried about the warnings on getting French TGV reservations, so I bought TGV point-to-point from SNCF and then purchased a Half Fare Card at the first Swiss border stop to get reduced fares on the way to Murren and lifts to the Schilthorn. Make sure you consider lift costs in your comparison!
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
Laura B did it exactly correct.
BTW - you're staying 2-3 days in Interlaken and 2-3 days in Murren, are you? They're so close together that wouldn't be an efficient use of your vacation time.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16378 posts
Where did you check TGV prices? Generally there are steep discounts for advance purchases ( as in 2-3 months ahead). That may include international journeys such as Paris--Basel--Interlaken as well, if you do it as a single trip in one day. Generally these advance purchase prices will beat using a pass, especially when you consider the mandatory reservation fee with the Pass.
Also, a France-Switzerland Select Pass is a Raileurope product and does not fully cover your journeys in Switzerland---there are supplements required on some private railways. For example, I believe it only covers 25% beyond Interlaken.
Third, if you are planning on the Jungfrau trip, a Swiss Half Fare card gives you the best discount---50%.