help with switzerland trip
 

We are arriving in geneva on sept 21 and plan to spend 4 days exploring wengen and murren, grindelwald. Should we rent a car from the geneva airport or should we take the train around for this trip.

Easily done by train unless you want even greater flexibility afforded by a car..but driving takes work, and insurance, and gas, etc., etc.

which is cheaper. How much would it cost to go between these cities. for example grindelwald to murren, wengen. etc.

You can't get to Wengen or Murren by car anyway - you'd have to leave the car in Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen and go the rest of the way by cog rail or tram. I agree with TopMan - if you're restricting your trip to those three destinations the train is the way to go, although the car may be cheaper. You can check out train schedules and fares at www.sbb.ch

Thanks, I also wanted to know how many days would you allow for these destinations. do you also recommend montreax. Thanks,

Hi montrealvic,

I'll try to answer most of your questions (from your other post as well).

I really prefer taking the train -- both the Zurich airport and the Geneva airport have a train station (in the basement for Zurich and adjacent in Geneva). In fact, some of the places you'll want to go (Wengen, Muerren, Jungfraujoch, Schilthorn), you can't drive to.

Most folks find it cheaper to buy a half-fare card for 99 chf and then pay half-fare for each train trip.

You can get information on schedules and prices at www.rail.ch. Click on "Travel/Timetables" and be sure to enter your departure point as "Zurich airport" or "Geneva airport." After the schedules come up, scroll down to one you like and click on "fares."

To get information on the half-fare card or maybe the Swiss Saver Pass, go to "Guests from Abroad" and read about all the passes.

Unfortunately, it's kinda hard to determine which pass/combination would be cheaper -- you have to price out each of your probably train trips and then compare the prices with point-point, half-fare card, or a pass. You may want to check out the Berner Oberland Pass as well (www.regiopass-berneroberland.ch) or the Jungfrau pass (www.jungfraubahn.ch/english/pages/SE/SE_crte.htm).

I think the Zurich airport is closer to Grindelwald.

Let us know if we can help further --

s

You can easily get to Montreux from Geneva (by train or car)..train takes less than two hours and they run frequently both ways with great views of the lake (sit on the right side facing forward outbound).

If you are going to Montreux I would recommend a visit to Chillon castle nearby and if you want truly spectacular views then take the train up to Rochers de Haye..unforgettable.

Ooops..that's Rochers de Naye...

Best way to get around in the Jungfrau area is by train.

Someone mentioned that if you drove a car, you'd have to park the car in Lauterbrunnen or Grindlewald anyway.

Do the train thing. It is easy to move about this area with train service anyway.

And no one does it better than the state of the art Swiss rail service.

Trains in Switzerland are fantastic!

I'm not familiar with all the places you mention, but personally I'd plan my itinerary around train routes. Gas is very expensive, though to compare costs it would depend how many people were going to share a car.

The Geneva airport and train station are connected buildings, so it is very efficient and easy to get started from here.