Hi, my wife and I are visiting Switzerland between November and December for 8 days, planning to visit: Zurich; Luzern; Bern; Fribourg; and Basel. I've looked at the prices for different passes, and for point-to-point tickets. The individual tickets are pricing at around $150 each, and there doesn't seem to be a rail pass that's competitive with that. Do we seem to be analyzing this the right way? Can it make sense to NOT get a rail pass? Thanks for the guidance. Adam
Posted by
Ojai, CA
591 posts
Yes, makes sense as you're not traveling a great distance. The only one that looks competitive right now is a '2 for 1' promotion (2 persons for $290, flex pass - use 4 days in 1 month), but it ends Nov. 30th.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33852 posts
As Tim says, these aren't long journeys. Of course, it will depend on which order you want to do them in, and how many times to each destination. Where are you getting your pricing data? If RailEurope the prices are probably high. If you use the SBB website (www.railch) make sure you uncheck the half price button. Zurich - Luzern is very close. Zurich - Bern is too; Fribourg - Bern is even closer. Bern to Basel is about 90 minutes. They won't add up to a huge amount. You can print them at home.
Posted by
OP
Berkeley
3 posts
Thanks for the confirmation on this. I'd priced out sample days using the Rail Europe and DB sites. At this point we'll plan on just getting our tickets there, so appreciate the sanity check. Adam
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
You should NEVER price ANY rail tickets from RailEurope. The prices are not accurate and usually inflated and they do not show you a complete schedule for all available trains. Use the national train sites to check your ticket prices: www.sbb.ch for Switzerland, www.bahn.de for Germany, www.trenitalia.com for Italy, etc. Stay away from RailEurope unless you know definitely that you're getting a fantastic deal.