enewell

On our next trip, we will be turning in our Italian rental car in Florence (to avoid the fees for returning it in another country) and heading to the Bernese Oberland for our last week. We want to rent another car to use in Switzerland, and wonder what the most convenient place to pick it up would be, given train routes into Switzerland from Florence. I have tried to search the rail europe site for these train routes without luck. Thanks for any help!

swandav2000

Hi enewell,

According to the Swiss train website (more reliable than rail europe in my opinion), the route goes Milan-Brig-Spiez-Inerlaken. Alternately, you could go Milan-Lugano and pick up your car there.

I wonder why you want to rent a car in Switzerland though? Swiss trains are *very* efficient, and it's fun to sit & eat and watch the scenery go by. In addition, two mountain villages don't even allow cars (Wengen, Muerren).

Hope this helps!

s

Traveler863

The best place would most likely be Lugano. Just a thought...if you can do the trip the other way around, its cheaper to rent the car in Switzerland and drop it in Italy, even with a drop charge it would probably be your cheapest and most convenient option. Good luck with it and enjoy your trip.

enewell

Thanks so much for the quick responses. We're not absolutely set on renting a car. Once we decide which village to stay in (Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen)we'll make the final decision. We will be staying in an apt. rental and were concerned about grocery shopping, etc. without a car. But since these villages are so small, that may not be an issue.

Any thoughts on which of these two villages would be best in terms of easy walks and general ambience?

swandav2000

Hi enewell,

I'm glad I haven't offended you with my pro-train position!!

Well of course Grindelwald (1034 meters) is higher in the mountains than is Lauterbrunnen (795 meters), and it's closer to the walks that begin at the "First" cable car stop. Lauterbrunnen is convenient to Wengen and Muerren.

There have been lots written about both here -- maybe do a text search.

I forgot to give you the Swiss rail website at www.rail.ch. Be sure to use "Firenze" as your origin or it'll default to a suburb of Geneva called Geneve-Florence.

Hope this helps!

s

Cicerone

I live in Zurich. Here are my opinions:

1. Please, please consider staying in Murren or Wengen rather than Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald. The latter two are at the bottom of the valley and you really do not, IMO, get the tremendous views you do from Murren or Wengen which sit on shelves up on the mountains. Wengen is a bit larger and would be better for a week. There are many good walks from both. If you really have to choose between Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald, I would take Lauterbrunnen as it is smaller and quieter and you can walk along the valley floor to the various waterfalls.

2. For the most part a car is not needed. You won?t have any trouble with grocery shopping, as you will find Coop, Migros and other shops within walking distance of most everyplace. In a pinch with a lot of bags you can take a bus to your door or very close by. (The bus system is even more amazing to me than the train system, every village, no matter how small, has regular bus service.) You can take Post buses and trains to places throughout the valleys. However there are some fun drives in the area like the Susta Pass, and to villages in the various valleys which make it worth while to have a car for a few days. (You can do the same by bus and train, but will take longer and you don?t have quite the flexibility that you do with a car.)

3. I would NOT rent a car from Lugano, rent a car in Interlaken. In the first place going to Lugano from Florence will take you out of your way, as the trains to Interlaken from Italy do not go via Lugano. Secondly, the train trip is interesting and pretty. Finally, driving over from Lugano in the summer is not a lot of fun with traffic etc. You could also take the train from Florence to Berne and rent a car in Bern if that is cheaper than Interlaken. The drive from Berne into the valleys is easy and fun and on a clear day you can see the mountains virtually the whole drive. Finally, you could rent in Brig (and go to Zermatt and/or Saas Fe first for a day or two), as the drive up and over the Susta Pass and down into the Interlaken valley is a very pretty and fun, if hair raising, drive. There are many villages along the way in the Valais. (The Furka Pass is even more fun, but takes you a bit out of your way for going to the Interlaken area.)

4. Many Swiss rental car companies will not let you take a car into Italy, check this out before considering doing it this way.

I assume you are going sometime between May and October. If not, a car is not quite so necessary an option, as the passes above are closed and even getting around the valley floors is not as easy.

Traveler863

Cicerone,
Lugano is not out of the way from the driving perspective, its a straight shot from there through the St. Gotthard tunnel/pass then over the Susten Pass, is this what you mean by Susta? The trains go a different way, obviously. I would not rent a car in Brig then drive as you would have to cut back NE through the valley to Gletsch and take the Grimsel pass, not Susten from there...as you'd have to go over the Furka pass to get to the Susten pass, that makes absolutely no sense. I would not rent a car in Bern, thats without a doubt out of the way and too complicated. Either rent the car in Lugano or Interlaken but definitely rent a car...it is the easiest way to get around. Yes I do agree at times of the year trains are better as the pass roads are closed. Check pass road status before you go...Susten for example, can remain closed until late June.

Assuming all are open an absolutely great day trip is to drive all 3 passes, Grimsel, Furka and Susten...takes the better part of a day There's great places to stop for food and drink at the top of the passes or in Andermatt. The scenery is breathtaking and the advantage of the car is you can stop as you like.

I would not stay in Wengen or Murren for a week, a few nights yes, quaint towns but too much of a pain to day trip anywhere else from them, albeit not a complicated nor terribly lengthy process getting to/from those but Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen would be easier.

It is mostly untrue that many car rental companies do not allow their cars in Italy the exception are their premium/luxury class cars....so unless you're renting a Mercedes S class for $3000/wk you're not going to have a problem. If you know of any company that limits such rentals as a VW, Ford or even a BMW 3 series from being driven in Italy that would be news to me.

enewell

Thanks for all your responses to my questions. You have given me lots to mull over. I appreciate the input!