Train from Freiburg to Murren

Karen, I guess you mean Freiburg im Breisgau, there is more than one Freiburg in Germany.

For the Swiss portion, there is no additional discount for purchasing in advance above the 50% you will be getting with the Half Fare Card.
For the German portion (Freiburg im Breisgau to Basel), on an ICE train it takes 47 minutes, and costs €19.90 if you buy in advance on the DB website, €26.60 if you buy on the day. However if you buy a Baden-Württemberg ticket ( bought on the day) it costs €24 plus €6 per extra passenger. This works out cheaper for 2 or more people, but you have to take a regional train and it takes 1h10. Your choice.

The two stations in Basel are Basel Badischer Bahnhof and Basel SBB. The ICE train stops at both, you need to get off at Basel SBB (the second one), buy your Half Price Card and ticket to Mürren, then get on your Swiss train. If you take a regional train, that terminates at Basel Badischer Bahnhof. You need to get another train for the 5 minute trip to Basel SBB (covered by your Baden-Württemberg ticket) from where you can catch your Swiss train.

Hope this answers your questions.

Chris
That certainly does answer my question! Thank you so much, you are a wealth of information.

Karen, I just noticed the "after dropping our car off at station in Freiburg".
Does it have to be Freiburg? Check to see if drop-off is possible in Lörrach or Weil am Rhein? Both are in Germany, but are suburbs of Basel. Both have local trains to Basel SBB (Lörrach every 30 minutes, Weil has trams to Basel SBB). This may be easier.

Chris
Thanks for the tip! We will now be dropping the car off at Lorrach per your advice as we are actually driving from Colmar. Really appreciate the input.
Karen

Chris
One more question:
I'm looking at the availability of trains online to get from Lorrach to Basel. I am unable to book the train online, is that because it would be a regional train? Is there a site I can go to online to see what times trains are available from Lorrach?
Thanks
Karen

Finally found some times, but the time table on SBB keeps reverting to a Friday, Sept 14th and we need Sat, Sept 15th. Do you know if trains run on that Saturday?

Karen, no need to look up the train times from Lörrach to Basel, there is one train every 30 minutes 7 days a week.
The trains are busy at all times, on Saturdays you get many shoppers travelling between Basel and Lörrach, including me; kids going to meet their friends; a full slice of humanity.

There are multiple stations in Lörrach (6), all called Lörrach-something. Just pick the nearest one to wherever your car drop off is, the trains stop at all stations. Most of the stations are unmanned, and just have platforms and a ticket machine. Just make sure the train is going to "Basel SBB".
The train will go first to Basel Badischer Bahnhof, then onward to Basel SBB, which is the terminus and where you get train to the rest of Switzerland.

Why are people so determined to "book online" for local trains? You just go to the station and buy a ticket from the machine. Cost €3.50 per person. Make sure you have change (coins or small notes); it takes cards but I don't know if it accepts North American cards. Don't be afraid to ask someone how to use the machine.

You say you are driving from Colmar -- was the car picked up in France? Germany ? Switzerland ? BIG dropoff charge if you return it to another country!

No, we are picking up car in Frankfurt and now dropping it in Lorrach, Germany...thanks to Chris...seems to make much more sense than Freiburg. Thanks

I have noticed the date switch when you use the www.sbb.ch/en site. It is real tricky if you are not aware of it and are buying Supersaver tickets which are date and train specific. Easy fix is that you just advance the date one day with the arrow button.