lexingtonky

Hi, I am going to Basel, Switcherland for the conference. Thereafter I am planning to travel for 8 days nearby countries (August 21 to 28). I like to enjoy culture, scenic view, and performance (concert etc). My plan is to go Fussen (Romanic road) for two days (8/21-22), Salzburg for two days (23,24), and Vienna for two days (25,26). One bad thing is that I have to return to Basel (8/27) to catch my flight (August 28 morning flight).
1. I am wondering whether this plan is reasonable. or any other suggestions?
2. I am going to use eurail pass. When I check the eurail map, the connections between the cities that i am planning to go appear to not be good....
3. Is it crowd period for traveling? I am thinking about staying hostels or cheap, yet clean, hotels.... How much money do I need to prepare?

Thank you so much for your suggestions and help.

bobthenavigator

Vienna is too far in that short time. I am not sure I would leave Switzerland. The Berner Oberland is the best of the Alps and deserves at least 3 days. If you add Luzern you have a great week right there. I love Austria, but why this trip since you are tied to Basel.

Michael

Switzerland is expensive. If staying in Switzerland, look for some type of travel pass to minimize travel costs.

treplow

Ignore Eurailpass. This is a marketing gimmick.

Go to www.bahn.de. Enter the point to point trips you plan to take (i.e. Basel to Fuessen) and check train availability. You are better off just buying point to point tickets.

Check availability of special fares. For eaxmple, from Fuessen to Salzburg you can usae the Bayernkarte/Bavarian tickt for EUR23, as long as you don't leave before 9AM on weekdays andf stuick to Regio trains (local trains on the website.) From Fuessen to Munich, these are the only trains anyhow, and from Munich to salzburgf the difference between fast and Regio trains is 1/2 hour at the most.

For Salzburg to Vienna, you still can get the schedules on the above website, but for ticket specials you better go to www.oebb.at

For Vienna to Basel, check the special fast vtrain fares, which you can buy on the internet, either on www.bahn.de or the oebb.at site. Yoiu can buy these 92 days before departure. You have to stick with the train(s) you select or pay a penalty.

The Romantic Road wouyld be out of the way for you. besides,
there is really not much romance about the Romantic Highway itself. It is a regular highway which happens to connect a few nice towns These are Bad Mergentheim, Weikersheim (small palace), Creglingen (famous altar in the Herrgottskirche.) and Rothenburg o.T. (above the Tauber river; there other Rothenburgs in Germany), Dinkelsbuehl. None are easy to reach by train, although all that are, are within the Bayernkarte/Bavarian ticket territory.

pja1

Hi,

I have to agree with bobthenavigator as I have the same opinion. The Berner Oberland and Luzern makes perfect sense for a great trip. Get an 8 day Swiss Pass and enjoy Switzerland.

Cowboy1968

In general, I agree with the idea to spend the time in Switzerland.

Only if your heart is really set on visiting Vienna, I would check www.whichbudget.com if low cost carriers serve Basel-Vienna and fly.
Vienna-Salzburg by train (one per hour)
And finally Salzburg-Basel by train (with one change in Zurich). This will be the more scenic rail journey.
I doubt that a railpass would make sense for those 2 tickets, check www.oebb.at for discounted/restricted tickets.

lexingtonky

Thank you so much for your advice. Because it is my first trip to Europe, I tried to see lots of things in a limited time period. As you recommended, I may stay in Switzerland. Or I may go to Salzburg and Switzerland because I am a big fan of the sound of music My traveling is from August 20. I am wondering whether I have to book the hotel or hostel in advance... Thank you so much for your help!

joannyc

If traveling in August, a peak tourist period, I'd book a hotel right away.

ira

Hi Lex,

There is more than enough to see and do in CH to keep you busy for the week.
OR
You might wish to take the train from Basel to Zurich (2 night).
Then train to Konstanz for 2 nights.
Take the ferry across the lake to Lindau (3 nights) with a daytrip to Fuessen and the castle.
Return to Basel
See www.bahn.de for train schedules and fares.

Forget the Railpass.

Enjoy your visit.

easytraveler

I'd do the trip in reverse and start out in Vienna.

If you can get to Zurich from Basel, there is a non-stop (don't have to change trains) sleeper train from Zurich to Vienna, leaving at 10:40pm. You have to book a 2nd class sleeper, a "couchette", for the 9-hour journey, which puts you in Vienna at 7:36am. This also saves you one night in a hostel, as well as putting you close to Basel at the end of your trip for the return flight home.

Absolutely awesome hostels in Vienna are the three (yes, count them!) three Wombat hostels. At this point, your best chance is probably at the Naschmarkt one. The others book up fully for the summer months.

Sorry, I don't have hostel recommendations for the other two cities as I like to stay in B&Bs even more than hostels!

I'd suggest checking on Hostelworld and try for something that has over 90% approval rating. High 80's are OK, too, below that and you're taking your chances. Obviously the higher-rated ones tend to charge a bit more, but the additional few euros are really worth it.

Have a great trip! Oh, and get the tickets for Neuschwanstein as soon as your plans firm up. Otherwise, you may not be able to get in.

PalenQ

My plan is to go Fussen (Romanic road) for two days (8/21-22), Salzburg for two days (23,24), and Vienna for two days (25,26). return to Basel (8/27) to catch my flight. I am going to use eurail pass. When I check the eurail map, the connections between the cities that i am planning to go appear to not be good....>

I have used railpasses several times to reach all these places and IMO all are easily reached by train -

Fuessen - take train to Zurich from Basel and switch to train to Munich but way before Munich get off at Buchloe (think buchloe could be Kaufbueren) and change for Fuessen

From Fuessen take the short bus ride thru the gap to Austrian and Reutte for Austrian trains via Innsbruck to Salzburg

Salzburg frequent trains to Vienna

Vienna back via Salzburg and Zurich to Basel

Note - Basel to Fuessen could be just as quicxk perhaps going via Germany all the way or may even be quicker via Karlsrhue.


the only railpass that would work would be a 3-country Eurail Select Pass good in Switzerland, Germany and Austria - and remember if over 25 the Eurailpass is first class so when comparing regular fares compare to first class - my decades of incessant rail travel makes me exhort the average traveler to definitely go first class - seats are bigger, there are often many empty seats - not so in 2nd clas and in all these countries you can simply with the pass hop on any train anytime - total flexibility and the cost of totally flexible first class tickets can be huge - HUGE!

Great sites to plan a rail trip in Europe IMO - www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com. check out the home page on the latter's sight for their link "Best Online All European Railway Schedules" (or some such wording) as this takes you to the English schedule page of the totally Wunderbar IMO www.bahn.de - or the German Railways official site that has schedules for seemingly all trains in Europe - so when the boxes pop up in English you just put in say From Basel-SBB (Swiss Basel station as opposed to Basel Bad DB or the German station in Basel, Germany) and to: Fuessen (add the e in place of the umlat (sp?) and you will get all the connections for a certain day and also pricing for trains involving Germany - I mention this home page link because it also gives you several valuable tips in using the fab bahn.de site, such as finding what platforms your trains will be standing on in case you have to change trains, which you often will say to reach Fuessen from Basel, etc.

susan001

Hi Lex,
Yes, it is "possible" to get to those places in a week, but you will not have an enjoyable time due to the distances. If you had two weeks, yes. If you don't already have reservations in Salzburg, you will have a tough time getting them (and rates are very high). I was there July 4 & 5 and it was so packed with tourists, it was hard to enjoy the place, and I couldn't wait to leave.

You mentioned you like performances. Ira's suggestion of staying in Zurich a couple nights is a good one (though it is expensive there. I've heard the Best Western Montana, near the train station in Zurich, is half the cost of most hotels. I loved my hotel, the Kindli, but it was a splurge). Check to find out if there are any concerts going on that you would be interested in. Also check concert venues in Luzern (though I tend to avoid it, due to the high volume of tourists there).

From there, you could go on to Fuessen.

But if this were my one week, I would head straight to the Berner Oberland and stay in Murren, no less than 3 nights, maybe spend 2 or 3 nights on one of the lakes (Lake Thun is nice for ferrying around to other towns), and then Zurich.

Maybe you should save Vienna and Salzburg for an off season time when you can plan ahead to see some performances.

lexingtonky

Thank you so much for your great advice. I decided to stay in Swiss for my last days. I will go to the Berner Oberland,Zurich,and Luzern. Because I do not investigate how to explore Berner Oberland, I have a question about where I have to stay to enjoy mountains and etc, such as Murren and Wengen etc? To stay eight days how much cash would you prepare? It may be a stupid question... Can I bring suitcase with wheel instead of a big backpack?

Thank you so much!

PalenQ

You would need a huge suitcase to carry all the cash you would need for 8 days anywhere in Switzerland IME! Murren is much more isolated and time-consuming to reach than Wengen - thus Wengen a far better base if doing day excursions to a panoply of great great places.

PalenQ

If you are staying 8 days in Switzerland then by all means investigate the 8-consecutive-day Swiss Pass that will cover virtually all your transportation from get there to get go - and if styaing in Wengen, a perpetual favorite with Fodorites who, if not under say 40, rave about it (young folk may find it too sleepy!) or Murren then the pass would take you 100% covered to either of those towns - and since you will obviously being going around and down to Interlaken or over to Grindelwald (another neat Alpine village that is my favorite for its fantastic views of snow-drenched Alpine peaks), etc.

pja1

Hi,

I agree with PalenQ as to staying in Wengen. WE stayed 4 nights and never wanted to leave. The 8 day Swiss Pass semms ideal for your trip.

http://www.swiss-pass.ch/en/swiss-pass

PalenQ

If doing the 8-consecutive-day Swiss Pass and if live in North America there seems to be quite a savings now by buying the exact same pass before leaving home

currently on links pja1 gives the 8-con-day Saverpass (2 names on one pass) p.p. costs 326 which x 1.25 CHF (Swiss francs) to the US $ = $407 and then if you buy it in Switzerland then many credit cards charges a 3% transaction fee so add on $12 or so and make it $420 p.p.p

If bought in U S it would cost $362 currently p.p. about $60 cheaper per person. I did the math several times and could not believe the difference - if I am mistaking please correct me! (US prices from www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.raileurope.com - both were the same).

Michael

The OP eventually specified three different locations in Switzerland. Is a 8 day pass worthwhile compared to a Half Fare Card and point-to-point tickets?

PalenQ

If someone knows exactly what they will be doing then Michael's question is easy to figure out - check regular fares at www.sbb.ch - Swiss Railways web site and cost of half-fare card, currently about $140-145

but IME I end up if I have a pass doing more than I anticipated - like on a whim in Interlaken late one afternoon just hopping on a boat on Lake Thun for a relaxing ride - did not think twice with a pass that covered it in full.

Or again the rainy weather scenario - always possible so if in Wengen and rain sets in you can hop to cities like Bern or Lucerne, worthwhile even in rain and not have to worry about the cost, etc.

And with a pass you never have to wait in lines to buy tickets - a minor thing to some but a convenience wanted for others.

But if you have your trips set in stone and know you will do nothing else then yes the half-fare card and half off tickets may well be best if not traveling around the country much and staying put in a few venues - or really there is a thing called the Swiss Card that may be better than the half-off card - it gives a trip by train from any airport or border point to any place in Switzerland and back to any airport or border point and in between the trips for up to one-month it gives also 50% off everything, just like the Half-Off Card. I recently looked at prices and it seemed that the differential was low enough that if say someone was landing in Geneva or Zurich or coming from any border point and going to Interlaken and back it would overall be cheaper than the half-fare card.

I'll have to investigate that and report back on that!

lexingtonky

Thank you PalenQ for the good information. I will buy a ticket before leaving! By the way, who can answer the question that Michael asked? Thank you so much for your recommendation! Going to traveling is excited while is stressful to jugling the budget and schedule and etc. Thank you!