Switzerland car or train pass?

Do you have a guide book? What rail passes have you been looking at, and what site? Individual point-to-point tickets might be less expensive. What is the cost of a rental car (including parking and fuel) that you are looking at? Its hard to explain the convenience of rail travel in Switzerland if you've not experienced it.

It is called Travel Pass. It seems to me that for you the best would be 8 days consecutive. It costs 374 franks. We used that one and it was well spent money. Trains are expensive in Switzerland. You get all (almost) trains, buses free, some boats, the others with discount, some cable cars. others with discount, museums, zoos etc.with discount. Read the information which you get with the Pass.

We enjoyed our daytrip to Gruyere and seeing the cheese museum and touring the cheese making facilities and then the Gruyere castle high atop the hill...all of these things were free with our Swiss Pass. So don't discount a Swiss Pass just because you think you're not interested in Art Museums or the such. There are many places that are considered museums that actually might interest you and add value to the Swiss Pass.

We of course could do the rail pass, but not sure if this will restrict us on reachable destinations.

Au contraire. It is a car that will restrict you to reachable destinations.

• Some places in the mountains are only reachable by train, for example Mürren and Wengen in the Berner Oberland, and Zermatt.
• Hotels do not always have parking. Whether they do or you have to park nearby, it will cost to park. This will apply for example in Luzern.
• A car is useless getting around a town. Most of the centres are pedestrian-only.
• In Luzern you will want to go on the lake boats. You can do circuits, out by boat and back by train (whilst your car sits in paid parking in Luzern).
• In the Interlaken Area, you will want to go up mountains, again by train only.
• All rail routes have at least one train per hour. It is designed to be a "turn-up-and-go" service.
• A Swiss Rail Pass includes ALL transport: Rail+bus+lake boats+city transport.

"Zürich airport - Luzern - Interlaken Area - fly out" - this is a classic beginners trip, a perfect fit for trains.

For "Interlaken Area", read the 4 localities: Mürren. Wengen, Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen. For info on these see here: https://jungfrauregion.swiss/en/summer/

Thank you all for your replies. I think the Rail/Swiss Pass is the way to go. Now, to decide where to base in the BO area and find a place on short notice.

If you’ve not been to the BO region in Switzerland then by all means choose one of the car-free alpine villages like Murren or Wengen. It’s absolute heaven on earth!

If you want to have a base in BO then logistically the best is Lauterbrunnen. It is also a very scenic village in the stunning valley. It is easy to get from there to many other mountain destinations.

The train goes everywhere you will want to go, that's not a coincidence. If need be, take a one-day bus tour somewhere.

No cars in Switzerland!

As othes have said for your itin a car is not needed. Infact it will be parked alot. I have done a sim itin to yours and only used trains and ferries. It worked beautifully.

Sometimes it’s difficult for Americans to understand how unnecessary and unwanted a rental car can be. We’re hooked on automobiles in the USA and our first travel instinct is to rent a car. I’m thankful to have broken free from that habit. Freedom to travel whenever and wherever you want in Switzerland is via trains...not cars.

We just got back home from 6 nights in Switzerland. We took train to Lucern, ferry and cog train to Mt Rigi, train to Mürren, trams to the Schilthorn, train to/ferry back Ballenburg open air museum, bus to hotel near Interlaken, and train back home.

The best app to see if public transpiration is available is an App called post bus. It strings together all types of transportation in Switzerland (trains, ferries, buses, trams, gondolas, etc.) it is so low stress taking trains instead of driving and parking.

I just wish Italy was as frequent and reliable.

We are travelling for 2-1/2 weeks in early June 2019. Have always traveled by car in Europe, other than city to city jumps. I am used to having the car to stash food and dirty laundry when making a short visit to an area. If we travel by train, it seems like we will always be seeking out luggage lockers, after hopping off a train to visit a town. Is this easy to do or adjust?

You'll choose a location, check into your hotel, and then possibly make a daytrip or two while leaving your laundry and luggage in your hotel room.

If you do want to stop off along the way on one of your travel days then yes, luggage lockers are easy and convenient. If all you've ever known are cars and planes then you'll be greatly pleased with the ease of train travel.

Karen, if Italy were reliable, it would no longer be Italy! :)

Karen and Phred,
While Italy may not run like the Swiss train system, it sure a hell beats the French trains for reliability!

Cindy, sorry to interrupt your thread with my rant. 😉

One of the true joys of travel in Europe is enjoying the trains and no one does it better than the Swiss. The car may get you to a town, but getting to the beauty of the mountains requires lifts and mountain trains. Let go of the car idea and do it like the Swiss do themselves!

Yes, the Swiss Travel Pass seems pricey at first. But note that it includes:

All boats and buses.
Trains between cities.
Transit within cities (buses, trams).
Lifts and trains up to a certain level (in the Berner Oberland, it covers transit up to Mürren on one side and Wengen on the other).
Some lifts and trains to higher elevations (such as Mt. Rigi and the Schilthorn).
A discount on other lifts and trains to higher elevations (such as the lift from Wengen to Männlichen, or the Jungfraujoch)
A museum pass. Swiss museums being expensive like much else in the country, this can be a big benefit.

And, the benefit I didn't appreciate in advance, the ability to go whenever and wherever you want at no extra cost. For instance, one day in Lauterbrunnen, it was raining, and the webcams showed that visibility in the higher elevations was zero. So, I made a snap decision to go to the Ballenberg open air museum. The pass covered my transit (train then bus) and admission, so that last minute decision was "free" (more accurately, prepaid). The museum admission alone is 28 CHF.