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To drive or not to drive, that is the question

I will be traveling to Switzerland this summer with my wife, son, and mother-in-law for 10 days. We will fly into Zurich, then spend time in Luzern, Gimmelwald, Lausanne, and Bern. My wife and mother-in-law will then fly home from Zurich while my son and I spend another couple of weeks in Austria and Bavaria.

My question is about transportation. I'm wondering if it makes more sense to rent a car to drive to all of the places or to take the train. I'm inclined to take the train throughout Switzerland, as I don't expect we would use a car much other than getting from city to city, and then the car would sit in an expensive parking space for the days in between. Train passes also allow for discounted tickets for lifts and cable cars, which can be quite expensive. The train passes are expensive, though, and we will have four people, making a car possibly a better deal.

I definitely want to have a car for my son and I when we go around Austria and Bavaria, as that allows us more flexibility and some of the places we will be going are not easily accessed by train. Plus, I just like to drive. The question is to use a car for the entire trip or to go by train in Switzerland and then rent a car.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Posted by
20984 posts

I am in the "train in Switzerland" camp. Is your son 16 or older? Then he is an adult, as for as train ticketing goes. And there is no law that says you have to buy expensive train passes. Pay-as-you go is often less expensive, and if you have a lot of mountain lift trips in mind, a Half Fare Card works if the full fare ticket costs exceed 240 CHF pp.

Posted by
20984 posts

In that case if just one of you gets some sort of pass, either a Travel Pass or a 30-day Half Fare Card, then you can get the free Family Card and your son travels with you for free.

Posted by
29 posts

That seems to be the wise way to go then. Besides, taking the train through Switzerland seems like it would be a pretty cool experience. Thanks for your help.

Posted by
8309 posts

I agree about getting a car when traveling through Austria and Germany. With wheels, you can see so much and travel so efficiently. We just love getting up on the mountains or Western Tirol and rambling from village to village. We also love traveling the Grossglockner High Alpine Highway south of Zell-am-zee--the second highest point in Europe.
Travel is easy in Austria and the roads are great.

Posted by
3551 posts

This summer i did all the swiss areas u are interested in by train. Worked beautifully.
Parking is difficult/ not avail and or expensive in the cities u mention.
Stick to train and hopefully u travel light , the best way always.

Posted by
7209 posts

With the free Swiss Family Card your son will travel EVERYWHERE in Switzerland totally free. Even those super expensive mountain top destinations like the Jungfrau and Schilthorn will be absolutely free. That is a true bargain. And if you do plan on visiting the Jungfrau while you are in the Gimmelwald area then having a Half Fare Card for adults will give you a big enough discount on just that 1 trip to almost pay for the cost of the HFC.

BTW - Gimmelwald is nice to visit in about an hour, but definitely not the place to spend several days. Choose Murren or Wengen which are a bit larger and offer more things like a grocery store (that's a big plus) and more restaurants, hotels and shops.

Posted by
8889 posts

Definately train for Switzerland. You cannot get to Gimmelwald by car, the roads end in the valley bottom.

Where are you flying back from? Be aware that hiring a car in one country and returning it in another usually incurs a large charge.
If you are flying back from Munich, take a train to Lindau (nice lakeside town worth a short stop) and hire a German car there. A car is also less than useless in big cities (Munich etc.)

Posted by
271 posts

Sort of a repost for me--we like to go to out of the way places.

I would rent the car in ZRH, drive around, head to Austria/Germany and drop off when you are done.

We LOVE driving in Switzerland. :)

The freedom of a) driving the car where you want to, b) having a rolling luggage wagon (also called a trunk) to keep all of your stuff in, repacking every couple of days into a smaller daypack for hotels/hikes, c) not worrying about whether or not you have missed the train/is it the right train/etc., and d) being able to really go off the beaten path is freeing. It is the difference between Zermatt and Saas Fee (minus the Matterhorn) in an obvious way, but there are a lot of smaller places like this that are priceless. And that is with Switzerland's second-to-none transport system which is truly amazing (read on Postbuses, good stuff to know, esp. if you use the trains while there and want to get to out of the way places). The parking can be a challenge, but it has never been THAT much of a problem except downtown Zurich, etc.

Otherwise...& Important Note:

Rent the car in Austria/Germany. The companies are separate 'companies' (Swiss and German) and if you rent a car in Switzerland, and damage it (say, while in Germany), it will have to go BACK to Switzerland for service/exchange. Yeah. Good stuff. Ask me how I know...

Keep in mind that renting in one country and dropping off in another will surely incur a dropoff fee. This is not a myth. That being said, sometimes it is the price you pay. And sometimes we have.

Check out the SAC-CAS huts, too. http://www.sac-cas.ch/huetten/huette-suchen.html
Have a great trip!

Posted by
29 posts

Thank you all for the feedback. It looks like it is around $500 a week to get the cheapest vehicles with pick up and drop off in separate countries (Zurich to Munich). Not cheap, but probably still the way to go for Austria and Germany. I really appreciate the info on kids on trains in Switzerland. That seems like a great option.

Posted by
7209 posts

People talk about the "freedom" a rental vehicle gives you, but then they also say this: " if you rent a car in Switzerland, and damage it (say, while in Germany), it will have to go BACK to Switzerland for service/exchange. Yeah. Good stuff. Ask me how I know... "

Good Grief - rental vehicles are a ball and chain attached to your ankle. Break the chains and feel the REAL freedom on train travel.

Posted by
32330 posts

Chris,

I'm another one that would highly recommend using the excellent rail system. It will probably be cheaper and will most certainly be a faster and more efficient use of your expensive holiday time. That will also allow you to enjoy the incredible scenery to a greater degree.

Posted by
271 posts

Chris,
If you go by train look @ the lockers @ ZRH for your extra bags.

Tim et al,
Firstly, I did damage a car in this situation. I was young and took it, literally, off-road. One must take responsibility for ones actions. That, however, is no reason to not get a rental car in Switzerland. That can happen at home ;)

I am not disparaging Swiss rail travel when I suggest that someone get off the beaten path by renting a car. The Swiss transportation system is second to none, as I have said before, however there are some places it does not go, or at least, on my schedule.

There is a time and a place for every tool in my toolbox, car and train. Usually (read: almost always) a car is the tool I reach for. Sometimes it is because of my destination alone, but usually things like luggage security (security=peace of mind), ability to change my schedule and direction at any time (meetings and time schedules change), ability to buy and carry a meaningful amount of groceries due to having to cook a lot (celiac),

Sometimes the destinations demand it. Because many of the locations that I go to, if not more than 1/2 to 2/3 or higher, cannot be reached easily through the Swiss transportation infrastructure of rails & postbuses. I use places like Luzern and Grindelwald and Fiesch and some others as easy rest and (personal) refueling stations--nearby food, entertainment, and, yes, rail. But they are not my destinations these days. I end up in the Alp Krachtal at a queen bee mating station above Matt in Glarus or a parking lot below Capanna Corno Gries in the south repacking a little daypack so I and a small child can make the climb to the hut. I think these places are unique and beautiful and, without the right tool, a car, there is a large additional layer of...hassle...associated with getting there or there is no readily available rail(/or sometimes even postbus) option. In my case I found that a postbus that I needed only came by the tourist office at 8:30 every morning. The tourist office failed to mention that it only stopped if I made a reservation. They couldn't make it for me and the language was french (not my language). Maybe it is my fault for not knowing French/Romansch/Italian but, somehow, the car lets me circumvent these issues.

Keeping your stuff safe is an ever present worry while traveling for me. I my case we get our luggage from ZRH and head to the rental office. We get our car, pack it, and head back in to grab a few things: Coop/Migros groceries/water/sodas, a booster seat one year, a SIM card at SALT, maybe some ice cream before we leave for the little one, maybe hit the observation deck for 5 CHF (best bloody deal in Zurich), and sit down outside at the observation deck and look at our route on our iPhone. Then we get in the car and go. The whole time our luggage is safely packed away and we only carried an empty (then full) daypack to put our groceries and such in. I HATE to keep track of luggage (read: I hate having to worry about people robbing me...). I hate to think about first timers, over-packing because they don't realize what they can leave behind, and then having to keep up with that luggage the whole trip. I have been there in Luzern when our front desk guy had to tell a scream of four Japanese girls that they had walked about 4 miles to the WRONG hotel. He told them where their hotel was, back to the rail station and across town; they whined to each other and started off for about an 8 mile walk--with all of their overpacked bags (two or more each). I guess carrying all of that luggage around (two adults and a child) makes me feel like a never left the airport--HA!

Typically I don't drone on about the cons of rail travel so much as I try to talk about the pros of car travel. If I am there in winter it is perfect. We are planning an upcoming trip and plan to use rail for some or all of it. I like rail travel in Switzerland, I just like car travel more.