Switzerland/Paris/Amsterdam/Barcelona/Madrid - Comments / Rail Pass Advice!

Allen Kudos for doing your homework on this itinerary. Everyone wants to do all of their "must see" destinations in one trip. Also very important to soak in the culture and feel of the places you go. It doesn't sound like you want to just check off each place on your life list but that is what it looks like. And it is so hard to choose what to cut! You mention you will be on the train (including day trips?) 7 out of the 14 days during your trip. IMHO, it is too much. Here is a way to figure out how much travel time you will have as opposed to actual time in your destinations. Find an online calendar like WinCalendar (free for basics). Then you can revise as needed. Add potential international flight times. Plug in your current itinerary with travel times. Important to include hotel to hotel time ie. hotel to train, wait time at station, train travel time, train station to hotel. Usually 1/2 day although you are doing some travel at night. This will show you the actual time you are in the place you are visiting. So what does this look like for you? Are you spending as much time traveling as you are seeing and doing? Here are some other suggestions:
Do not spend more time getting to a place than you are staying. Look at the outliers on the trip. Amsterdam and Zurich are the farthest and you are only spending 1 to 1 1/2 day in each. Reducing these 2 cities, add one or 2 days to Paris or Madrid with a day trip to Toledo (30 m by train, 1 hr. by car) or Segovia (30 m by train). Even though train travel is more relaxing than air, all of this movement and checking in and out of hotels is wearisome. *Spend time outside the cities! Yes, Wengen and day trips. Let's see what others have to say. Keep us posted if you make changes. Bobbie

In summary of where I'll be staying overnight: Wengen (3), Zurich (1), Paris (4), Amsterdam (1 ), Barcelona (3), Madrid (3). Major transportation: Train: Switzerland (4 days), Zurich-Paris (1 day), Paris-Amsterdam (1 day), Barcelona-Madrid (1 day) – 7 Days of Train Questions: 1.General comment on my itinerary? 2.Rail Pass – What should I do? Euro Global Pass? Saver pass doesn't seem to work since the countries are not adjacen t to each other. Alternately, I can do a Swiss Pass/Half Fare, and do point to point for the other sites Once again, I realize the timing is short in each area but I would like to explore as much as I can. The shortest trip is Amsterdam, which I think 1 night is OK for this trip.
Thank you!

Bobbie, Thank you for the detailed reply. I have done my homework in terms of train travel duration, flight times, distance from airport to city, etc and think I can manage. I travel extensively in the states for work (Starwood Platinum and Hyatt Diamond) and am fine with checking out of hotels, lugging my luggage across town, etc. I know my trip to Amsterdam is short but I just want to experience the city a bit, bike around town, visit a museum, and if interested, I'll follow up on my next trip. I just see being so close an opportunity too hard to pass up. Zurich is a pass through - for two reasons - 1. I have a free hotel night at the Park Hyatt Zurich (i'm more curious about the hotel than the city!) 2. High speed train to Paris My trip is 15 whole days. I mentioned train for 7 days, but it really is 5 actually (i counted 2 days within the alps itself, where I would go to jung peak, etc). What do you think? Also, for reference, I have been to Paris before for a few days. I dropped Vienna off my schedule and added barcelona. I also took off an overnight train. Would appreciate suggestions on rail pass. Thank you!

I would suggest that you explore the Paris->Amsterdam journey as a P2P and not part of your railpass. The best way to get there is the Thalys train. The supplemental fee for a 2nd class pass can be up to 60E per person. It's up to 100E for a 1st class pass. P2P fares in advance can be cheaper than the supplemental fee. In Switzerland, it looks like you have 3 nights in Wengen. If you are intending to see the two mountain tops there, your Eurail pass only gets you a 25% discount up to the top. Some savings there with a Swiss pass or card. The 1/2 card is now 110CHF and is good for 30 days. Or, you can purchase early from the Swiss website (www.rail.ch) and get special fares that you can't get from RailEurope. Same with your journey from Zurich to Paris. You can get some great fares from the Swiss train website. That leaves Spain. A one-country pass might work there. However, if you are 60 or over as we are, we buy the Gold Card from Renfe for 5.05E. 40% discount on train fares for travel Mon-Thur. 25% discount on fares for travel on Fri-Sun.

Thank you for the information. I was NOT aware of a supplemental pass from Paris to Amsterdam, nor was I aware of a supplemental fee from Zurich to Paris. I am in my early 30s so none of the young or senior discounts would apply. based on this, it looks like a Swiss Pass + P2P for my 3 segments (zurich to paris, paris to amsterdam, barcelona to madrid) make the most sense. Agree?

Anyone?

Can anyone provide input to my question on which pass to purchase? Thank you.

Allen I hear your plaintive cry. You actually got pretty good advice in your previous answers. What I see folk saying is only in Spain, and maybe not there, would a pass help over P2P. If you really want a pass, can I suggest you buy the one which most closely meets your perceived needs? What you will almost never see here is folk recommending things we don't think are to your advantage. Private companies like Thalys and cross border trains operated by consortiums, and IC and above in several countries, and all TGVs in and through France - = - they all attract a mandatory surcharge or seat reservation charge for passholders. Those fees are included in P2P tickets.

Understood and I was just trying to clarify the suggestion above. I am a bit overwhelmed by the different resources to purchase train tickets - from the paris website, sbb, eurail, etc. pricing is different from site to site. for the Swiss Card, it appears that Rick Steves is the cheapest. Could someone recommend me the best site to purchase Zurich-Paris, Paris-Amsterdam, and Barcelona to Madrid? Thanks.