I'm spending one week in Haute-Nandez by Sion and plan to visit the surrounding Swiss riviera up to Interlaken. From the posts I've read, a rental car is a better transportation than taking the Swiss pass. Please tell me if I'm wrong. From Sion (or Geneva) we are going to south of Spain (Alicante). I've tried to find trains with no success (just air and car). Does anyone know a good way to do this? Thx.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
Train connections from Sion to Alacant cannot be done in one day. You can from Sion to Madrid in 14 hours with connections at Geneva, Lyon, and Barcelona, and then have to sleep in Madrid before continuing. (Or you can do Geneve to Alacant in 16-17 daytime hours.) It will also be expensive. Unless you have several days to make the trip, with stops along the way, I would not choose train for this route.
EasyJet has an early-morning nonstop flight from Geneva to Alicante, but does not fly daily.
A rental car picked up and dropped off in different countries gets expensive.
Looking Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the Deutsche Bahn train schedule link and tips for using it.
Posted by
Washington DC
28247 posts
The train routing might take you all day (as in 24 hours, not as in 8 hours), so you'll need to try a different approach. ViaMichelin (said to be optimistic) estimates a driving time of over 14 hours and a fuel/toll cost of over $260. The distance is over 850 miles. The remtal cost will almost certainly include a multi-hundred-euro drop fee if you don't drive the car back to Switzerland.
Alicante has an airport, so I'd look into taking the train to a city from which you can get a flight (ideally non-stop) to Alicante. Use skyscanner.com to explore the flight options. I'd look first at Geneva, Zurich and Milan.
Are you sure you need to combine those two awkward destinatiins?
Posted by
Washington DC
28247 posts
The train routing might take you all day (as in 24 hours, not as in 8 hours), so you'll need to try a different approach. ViaMichelin (said to be optimistic) estimates a driving time of over 14 hours and a fuel/toll cost of over $260. The distance is over 850 miles. The remtal cost will almost certainly include a multi-hundred-euro drop fee if you don't drive the car back to Switzerland.
Alicante has an airport, so I'd look into taking the train to a city from which you can get a flight (ideally non-stop) to Alicante. Use skyscanner.com to explore the flight options. I'd look first at Geneva, Zurich and Milan.
Are you sure you need to combine those two awkward destinatiins?
Posted by
Long Beach, California, USA
3398 posts
Honestly...for this distance through a rather convoluted route I would take the train from Sion to Geneva, hop on a plane, and fly. A train ride will be quite complicated and take longer than you probably want. You'll like Haute-Nendaz. It's a great area with spectacular views!