3 of us are flying into Zurich and, in 20 days we want to go to Rindbach, Austria, Amsterdam, Strasbourg, and Paris maybe 1 stop in a pretty part of Switz.. We would like advice about where we should travel first and if by car or train. A car is better in Austria, but we'd hate to pay just to park it in big cities and I don't know if Europe has high drop-off fees if you return it to a different location. We travel early June and return through Zurich. Any ideas?
Thanks.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17438 posts
We love the zurich airport. It is nice and small, and for most fllight you get to ride a trainbetween terminal accompanied by the sounds of birds, running water, and cowbells. I can't help with Amsterdam, but I would suggest a good start would be to go straight to Luzern for your first 2 nights. Trains are right in the Zurich airport terminal, and some go directly to Luzern in about an hour, with no changes at all. This is a charming lakeside city with a compact core. Lots to do there, including a lake cruise and an ascent by cablecar or cogwheel train up a nearby mountain (choose Rigi or Pilatus). Given theother things you want to do on your trip, you probably don't want to go deeper into the Swiss Alps than this, but if you do have time, you could also visit the Berner Oberland (several hours away by train) and then re-join the route to Strasbourg via Bern. From Luzern there is an easy route by train to Paris, via Basel and Strasbourg. It about 3 hours from Luzern to Strasbourg for you rnext stop, and then several more from there to Paris. all very easy by train. I hope someone else will take you from there, but I'd say you won't want or need a car until you get to Austria. You can see the train schedules on the Swiss rail site at www.sbb.ch. It has been acting up lately, so you can also use th every comprehensive German rail site, www.bahn.de. both are available in English and show the routes and schedules for all of Europe. Hnt: on the Swiss site, just put in Luzern under "from"; Paris under "to" and Strasbourg under "via". It may not show your actual dates in June as the official schedules change in mid-June, but they won't change much from what you can see now.