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Swiss-Austria Pass or Swiss Pass plus individual tickets? Plus car rental with bike rack?

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We are a family of 6 traveling to Mürren and Salzburg. Two adults and children aged 13, 9, 7, and 5. We arrive in Zurich on 14 August, and fly home from Munich on 24 August. I'm trying to figure out if it is better to buy:

  1. a Swiss pass for 2 adults (children travel free with Free Family Card, right?) and then buy individual tickets from Zurich to Salzburg (to stay for a few days) and from Salzburg to Munich (to stay the night before our flight home).
  2. a Swiss-Austria pass to cover everyone from the Zurich Airport to Salzburg, and then get tickets from Salzburg to Munich.

Also ... I will need to rent a car for all 6 of us for one day in Interlaken to transport (2) bicycles to two different locations. None of the car rental agencies rent vehicles with bike racks. Do any of the bike shops rent racks?

Thanks!

Posted by
32752 posts

Mike

Welcome to the Forums.

More information about the bike rides please. For the two parents? Where? Can you not use public transport to get to the start and from the finish? Many Postbusses for example have racks, trains and cable cars take bikes, etc. Perhaps we can help?

Posted by
2 posts

I'm actually competing in a triathlon, and I need to get a road bike to Oberhofen and a mountain bike to Grindelwald. The family wanted to go along and see the route. Without the family, I could rent a small cargo van and put the bikes inside. With the 6 of us, I'd have to put them on the roof or on the back of the vehicle.

I only have a few hours to make these drop-offs, and I'd like to preview the route I'll be riding. That's why I figured a car rental would be the way to go.

Posted by
16893 posts

The two-country Select pass is probably cheaper than the Swiss Travel Pass but the STP gets even your oldest child in for free and the coverage extends further. With the free Swiss Family Card, those kids will be free on all transport, even higher mountain rides where the adults are buying a discounted ticket. I'm guessing that your time in Switzerland won't fit into 4 consecutive days, so 8 consecutive days will likely be the best fit.

You can book the train from the Swiss border at www.sbb.ch or www.bahn.com, depending on the route, or at a train station at the start of your trip. The routes through Germany still have some advance-purchase discounts available to book now and may leave Switzerland via Basel, depending on the departure time and connections you choose from Interlaken. In that case, request the ticket Basel-Salzburg.

Since there is construction on the line of the direct Austrian RailJet, taking that route (via Innsbruck) would require switching to a replacement bus for the portion of the trip between Bludenz and Ötztal. So even if you chose a 2-country pass, Switzerland-Germany would be the more likely combination while that construction is underway.

Posted by
32752 posts

Good luck with the Inferno. You must be a real competitor! Your family will be so proud.

I understand the need for the car and wish you luck. Could the wife take the kids on public transport and yu put the bikes in the car as you mention?

Just be aware that the Thun Lido is not too hard from the Thun railway station (train from Mürren, cable car to Lauterbrunnen, train to Interlaken Ost, train to Thun (direction Bern) calls at Interlaken West, Spiez and Thun.

Oberhafen is served by the lake boats from Thun and Interlaken West. The Thun boat dock is adjacent to the Thun station and the Interlaken West dock is adjacent to the Interlaken West station.

Grindelwald is easy by train from Lauterbrunnen (change Zweilütschinen) and Interlaken Ost (direct).
Once again - have a great time in one the most testing circuits around...

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