We are planning on purchasing the Swiss Travel Pass for our travels in Switzerland. We are then going to Austria and Hungary.
Which is best, quickest, easiest and most cost effective train to book from Zurich to Vienna. We understand that we will probably be double paying for the Switzerland piece of the trip
Thanks
Why would you need to double pay for Switzerland? Just buy 1 ticket for the whole route on SBB.ch/en or OBB.at/en - the two companies cooperate and either can sell 1 ticket for the full route. If you have the half fare card, you can input it into either site to get the correct discount.
There are direct trains from Zurich to Vienna, taking 9 hours. If the trip is before June 14, then it is just under 8 hours, There is construction work on the rail line after that date that adds an hour. You could fly, which would take about half that time factoring in travel to/from airports, 2 hour check-in time plus time in the air.
We understand that we will probably be double paying for the Switzerland piece of the trip
I take this to simply mean that you know Switzerland is expensive.
If you have a Swiss Travel Pass, and it is active on the day you travel from Zurich to Austria then you will not have to pay for the Swiss part of the traip. The pass is valid till the border station, which in this case is Buchs.
So you do this: Firs look up the schedule for your trip to Vienna (or wherever it is you go in Austria) and look at the train details. Take note when it stops in Buchs. Then book that train from Buchs on www.oebb.at
Then just board in Zurich, and you can stay on the train in Buchs till your destination in Austria.
