I am doing a 5 day train tour of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria in May. I want to be flexible in my travels and where I go depends on weather. I fly in/out of Frankfurt. If the weather is nice I want to do Glacier Express to Zermatt and also Jangfrau. If it is bad, I'll concentrate on other routes. I want to do the Semmering Line in Austria and then take the night train from Vienna to Cologne. Should I get the Swiss Travel Pass and 2 country Eurail Pass or get a 3 county select pass? Can't decide.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
One rail pass is usually cheaper than two and both pass types offer discounts around the Jungfrau; the Select Pass has partial coverage and partial discount on the Glacier Express. This has been a popular question this week. Your trip is not exactly the same as these others, maybe also more felxible, but some of the same logic will apply to your decision. You have more travel in Germany, and if you're traveling alone, or are under age 26, then that also affects your price on a Select Pass, whereas the travelers below were in pairs.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/switzerland/swiss-and-or-eurail-pass
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33834 posts
There's a fair chance that you may not need any passes at all.
Without several days in Switzerland a pass may not pay off.
In Germany and Austria except for sleeping compartments on the night train (is it CNL who are undergoing some change at the moment?) reservation are unnecessary so you can just walk up and buy whatever you need. In many cases simply Länder tickets will be sufficient and they are dirt cheap.
I you want to spend money without checking of you can save a bunch, a railpass may be best for you.
Otherwise run your potential trips up and see how much extra the railpass will cost.
Trying to cover all that land in 5 days (please don't count any days you are flying in or out) is going to be nearly impossible. You will have a blurred memory of the inside of stations and trains, and very little else when you go home.
The best way I have seen is to take the cost of the pass and divide it by the number of pass days you get which will tell you the price per pass day. See how that compares each planned day.
When comparing, don't use RailEurope prices or timetables as they only tell part (often expensively) of the story.