Appreciate the veterans taking a quick look.
Family traveling for 10 days in December - Bern (with day trip(s) to Interlaken); Salzburg; Prague. Itinerary is set and we are willing to have a couple of long travel days between the major cities.
Looks to me like a 4 day Flex Eurail pass makes most financial sense for us vs individual tickets, using it for longer journeys and possibly paying per-trip for any added-on day tripping, it's the Swiss time that appears most expensive. Also seems the most efficient administratively, so to speak. Missing anything on this? Thanks!
Posted by
Washington DC
27112 posts
What are your flight arrangements? Are you flying into one of the Swiss cities (which one?) and out of Prague?
Although the distances you travel will be mostly outside Switzerland, it's the Swiss trains that cost the most per mile. It may matter a lot whether you plan to go up high in the Alps, because there are Swiss cards/passes that may provide more of a discount than you'd get with a Eurail pass. Eurail passes don't cover all the private railways, especially the very high-mountain routes.
Have you researched the cost of point-to-point tickets between Bern and Salzburg and from Salzburg to Prague? They are date-sensitive as well as time-sensitive. Depending on what specific days you're traveling, you might be able to get a good deal on one or both of those routes if you buy the tickets now. You should do that only if your itinerary is solid, and you should check on whether changes or cancellations are possible.
What I'm thinking is that you might do better with some sort of Swiss pass or travel card and individual tickets otherwise.
Posted by
Wengen
1651 posts
What are you going to do in Interlaken? The town itself does not have a lot to offer. It makes a good base, but is not really a destination in itself.
If you want to visit places in the Jungfrau Area you cannot use an Eurail Pass for that, as it is not valid there.
Posted by
OP
Olympia, WA
17 posts
@acraven - flying in to Zurich, out from Prague, with Bern as the hub for our Swiss time. Dates are set so that's good advice to see if might be cheaper on very specific rides. I used the general RS map estimate of $$ between places and it seemed like a pass would be substantially cheaper but admit I haven't gotten to the true details yet. I understand the eurail pass doesn't cover some of those special rides in the mountains but good to be reminded and really figure out what we want to lock in.
Posted by
3245 posts
The Eurail Pass may very well make the most financial sense. BUT - don't rely on the price of individual tickets shown on the Rail Europe website to make that decision.
Posted by
Washington DC
27112 posts
The RS maps don't take into account the lower fares you may be able to get with advance purchase of train tickets. Granted, you're traveling in less than two months and possibly on peak holiday-travel days, so I don't know that you'll be able to get good deals on the tickets you'll need outside Switzerland.
Posted by
Hickory, NC USA
437 posts
Do you have children? It's been a while, but I did well with point to point tickets bought at a discount, but using a swiss rail pass with a family pass for my time in Switzerland. My kids, under 11 at the time, were free with the family pass, except for the high mountain rides. Then you buy your point to point from the swiss border onwards. I was able to do that a few days ahead at the Lauterbrunnen station.