weh

My sister-in-law and I are flying in and out of Zurich, Switzerland late March, 2008. We are visiting my nephew who lives in Epinal France and staying about a week. We would like to spend two days in Zurich on our return. What is the best way to travel? Should we buy a rail pass or rent a car? What are the road conditions like at that time of year between these two destinations?

ira

Hi W,

You don't want a railpass.

See http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en
for train schedules. You can buy your tickets in Zurich.

It's about 4:30 hr and costs about 57E pp.

See www.viamichelin.com for driving directions. It's about 3 hr by car.

See www.kemwel.com and www.autoeurope.com for car rental.

weh

Thank you for your speedy response. I was really concerned about the driving conditions from Zurich to France as I will be the only driver. Do you think we could hit some bad weather at that time of the year?

Jeff801

Weh,

Rain and freezing precipitation, as well as fog, are possibilities that cannot be ruled out, even in late March. You will be crossing the Vosges mountains and will not be on motorways until you are in the vicinity of Mulhouse. Orthographic cooling in the mountains can result in cooler temperatures and freezing rain or fog.

Unless you will need a car in Epinal (for that matter, Avis has an office at the south end of the train station) it is likely you will find the trip more relaxing on the train, however long it will take you to make the trip.

weh

Thank you for your replies. We decided on a car. Trying to make trains connections to Epinal from Zurich would make the train trip almost six hours. I guess I will just hope for good driving conditions. Thanks again, though, for your advice.