I will be spending a week in France working my way from Paris to Alsace. I am flying out of Zurich and plan to spend one night in Zurich. Dropping a rental car rented in France in Switzerland is extremely expensive. Has anyone reutrned a rental car on the French side of the Basel airport, crossed into Switzerland at the airport and the then connected to the Basel train station for the short train ride to Zurich? Just wondering if there are any unforseen hassles in doing this. Thanks in advance for any advice.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32212 posts
Justin, My preference would be to drop the car somewhere in the Alsace region of France (perhaps Colmar?). Take the train from there to Zurich. Is there a reason why you need/want the car that long? I tend to prefer travel by train in that area (I was there a few months ago). Cheers!
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
1 posts
I've never left a car at the Basel airport, but I have flown into Basel and taken the train to Zurich several times. The airport simply has two exits. One in France and another in Switzerland. There's no passport check, nothing of the sort. They're both part of the Schengen Zone so you can travel freely between the two. Getting from Basel to Zurich is easy, but it does involve and bus and a train. Buy your ticket from Basel Airport to Zurich from the machine at the bus stop in front of the airport. It's about a 20 minute bus ride from the airport to the train station and then an hour on the train from Basel to Zurich. The train from Basel has an uncanny way of always having a departure time that is only a few minutes after the bus arrives, so try to hurry to the trains. Although, even if you miss it, there will be plenty more.