Train travel help
Feb 13th, 2015, 08:41 AM
#1
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Train travel help
We are arriving in Munich, traveling to Salzburg on a Monday, traveling to Interlaken on Tues wanting to stop for a few hours in Innsbruck, then traveling on Fri to Lucerne and Sat to Zurich. We will do some mountain trams while in Interlaken. Can anyone suggest the best, most economical way to book trains for this??? Not sure if we should do place to place trains, then a 3 or 4 day Swiss pass, or the two country rail pass??? Very confusing and hard to determine costs of all and compare. Any help at all is greatly appreciated!
Feb 13th, 2015, 08:55 AM
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Munich to Salzburg from 19 euros www.bahn.de/en (German Railways)
Salzburg to Innsbruck from 19 euros then Innsbruck to Interlaken from 39 euros at www.oebb.at (Austrian Railways).
Within Switzerland, use www.sbb.ch (Swiss Railways)
All with print-at-home tickets
Salzburg to Innsbruck from 19 euros then Innsbruck to Interlaken from 39 euros at www.oebb.at (Austrian Railways).
Within Switzerland, use www.sbb.ch (Swiss Railways)
All with print-at-home tickets
Feb 13th, 2015, 09:31 AM
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No to the two-country railpass since it does not cover nearly as many trains in Switzerland as the Swiss Pass does - cross that one off for sure.
Now a Swiss Pass which covers not only trains but lake boats, postal buses, city trams and buses and gives free entry to 470 Swiss museums and sights could well be better than buying tickets as you go along.
anyway check out these superb sources for lots on Swiss trains and passes - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.
Compare pass prices for those sold in Switzerland to those sold in your home country - U.S. prices last I checked a few weeks ago afte the surge in the value of the Swiss franc were considerably cheaper than for the same pass in Switzerland.
finally there have been major changes to the Swiss Pass - no more Saverpass but solo passes have been made a lot cheaper - on flexipasses you no longer get a 50% discount on things in between the first and last day of use but you can buy a Swiss Half-Fare pass at 50% off in conjunction with the pass and get 50% off such thing as pricey mountain railways, gondolas - to the Schilthorn, etc. check the rail site I referenced above for current details of the passes that were totally reorganized this January.
Now a Swiss Pass which covers not only trains but lake boats, postal buses, city trams and buses and gives free entry to 470 Swiss museums and sights could well be better than buying tickets as you go along.
anyway check out these superb sources for lots on Swiss trains and passes - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.
Compare pass prices for those sold in Switzerland to those sold in your home country - U.S. prices last I checked a few weeks ago afte the surge in the value of the Swiss franc were considerably cheaper than for the same pass in Switzerland.
finally there have been major changes to the Swiss Pass - no more Saverpass but solo passes have been made a lot cheaper - on flexipasses you no longer get a 50% discount on things in between the first and last day of use but you can buy a Swiss Half-Fare pass at 50% off in conjunction with the pass and get 50% off such thing as pricey mountain railways, gondolas - to the Schilthorn, etc. check the rail site I referenced above for current details of the passes that were totally reorganized this January.
Feb 14th, 2015, 06:52 AM
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" We will do some mountain trams while in Interlaken. Can anyone suggest the best, most economical way to book trains for this?"
IMPOSSIBLE !
All depends on the kinds and number of your mountain railway trips. If you plan to do a lot of them and if you get the highly discounted Innsbruck - I'laken ticket mentioned by man in seat 61, the Bernese Oberland Pass might be the best solution. It includes almost all railways, boats, lifts and buses between Berne - Interlaken - Lucerne.
http://www.regiopass-berneroberland....E-XL-15WEB.pdf
http://www.regiopass-berneroberland.ch/home-en
IMPOSSIBLE !
All depends on the kinds and number of your mountain railway trips. If you plan to do a lot of them and if you get the highly discounted Innsbruck - I'laken ticket mentioned by man in seat 61, the Bernese Oberland Pass might be the best solution. It includes almost all railways, boats, lifts and buses between Berne - Interlaken - Lucerne.
http://www.regiopass-berneroberland....E-XL-15WEB.pdf
http://www.regiopass-berneroberland.ch/home-en
Feb 14th, 2015, 09:03 AM
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"from 19 euros" in no way means you will get that cheapest of tickets - from is a sales pitch - from 19 euros where they are a limited number of seats available and on up - book months in advance and you may - and usually booking in stone with no changes nor refunds allowed. With a Swiss Pass you'd get to hop any train from Buchs SG the Swiss border station to anywhere in the Berner Oberland - and it can't cost much from Innsbruck to the border - Austrian Railways has specials also for that portion - this is in case you cannot get the 19 euros ticket hyped by used-car salesmanship (often) IMO.
From 19 euros to how may euros is the question? Try yourself for a dummy date and see if they are indeed available - they may be or they may be all sold out - play around and actually see if you can get the dewep discounted tickets before planning on them (and not saying you won't).
From 19 euros to how may euros is the question? Try yourself for a dummy date and see if they are indeed available - they may be or they may be all sold out - play around and actually see if you can get the dewep discounted tickets before planning on them (and not saying you won't).
Feb 14th, 2015, 09:03 AM
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"from 19 euros" in no way means you will get that cheapest of tickets - from is a sales pitch - from 19 euros where they are a limited number of seats available and on up - book months in advance and you may - and usually booking in stone with no changes nor refunds allowed. With a Swiss Pass you'd get to hop any train from Buchs SG the Swiss border station to anywhere in the Berner Oberland - and it can't cost much from Innsbruck to the border - Austrian Railways has specials also for that portion - this is in case you cannot get the 19 euros ticket hyped by used-car salesmanship (often) IMO.
From 19 euros to how may euros is the question? Try yourself for a dummy date and see if they are indeed available - they may be or they may be all sold out - play around and actually see if you can get the dewep discounted tickets before planning on them (and not saying you won't).
From 19 euros to how may euros is the question? Try yourself for a dummy date and see if they are indeed available - they may be or they may be all sold out - play around and actually see if you can get the dewep discounted tickets before planning on them (and not saying you won't).
Feb 14th, 2015, 09:12 AM
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Just a general piece of advice based on experience traveling those routes late last year. If, looking at the itinerary, you get a choice between an EC train and the Railjet (RJ), take the railjet!! It's a much nicer train. The ECs that I've been on lately between Switzerland/Austria/Germany have not been the clean or well-maintained. It was disappointing to have to look at the beautiful scenery through filthy windows. In contrast, the RJ is a delightful train to ride and sparkling clean.
We're going to Vienna next month for a week and have booked the Railjet to take us from Zurich to Vienna (and back).
http://www.seat61.com/railjet.htm#.VN-PffnF9dM
We're going to Vienna next month for a week and have booked the Railjet to take us from Zurich to Vienna (and back).
http://www.seat61.com/railjet.htm#.VN-PffnF9dM
