Swiss Rail Pass, Flexi or Swiss-France Pass?
Jul 3rd, 2006, 12:29 PM
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Swiss Rail Pass, Flexi or Swiss-France Pass?
Hi, I'm a student who'll be travelling to Europe in September. My basic itinerary is london-paris(2)-switzerland(8)-venice(2)-slovenia(2-3)-croatia(7)-sarajevo?. I want to spend about 8 days in Switzerland, and was wondering if you could give me advice on the finer details of the Swiss Pass, Swiss Flexi, or Swiss-France Pass.
1) The swiss passes give free rides on postal buses and museums, + all the local trams/cables that the Swiss-France Pass does not include. My question: How useful are these benefits? Will I be using the buses, such that having the Swiss Pass would be worth it, or are the fares so cheap that the pay-as-I-go method is best?
2) I will be based out of certain areas for 2-3 days and so in theory i wouldn't be using a "travel day" if I got the flexi. However, this is Switzerland, and during those stays, I'd probably take a ferry, or ride a bus. It say online that free rides require the use of a travel day. If this is so, what is the value of the Flexi over regular Swiss Pass, since I'd need to use a "travel day" each day for local transportation/to take advange of a freebie?
-8 day Swiss Youth Pass: $198
-5,6,8 day Swiss Flexi $248,$284,$330
-Eurail France-Switzerland Pass:
9,10days $390, $363
Either way, I'll need to hold a Pass with France so that when travelling to Paris on Eurostar, and to Switzerland from Paris, my tickets won't be so expensive.Though, if you more experienced travellers out there really feel that the single country Swiss Pass is better, I could get the France-italy pass and use it (4 day Flexi is $205).
Also, along those lines, even if i did not hold a pass for france, and wanted to go from paris to say Basel (i'd hold a pass for Switzerland), how do I find out the supplement I'd have to pay for the trip through France (for which I don't have a pass)? This wasn't so clear, but it's something along the lines of if I have France-Italy Pass and no Switzerland, but travel through Switzerland, what is the supplement i'd pay for the leg of the trip for which I don't hold a pass?
Thanks so much for your input/advice.
1) The swiss passes give free rides on postal buses and museums, + all the local trams/cables that the Swiss-France Pass does not include. My question: How useful are these benefits? Will I be using the buses, such that having the Swiss Pass would be worth it, or are the fares so cheap that the pay-as-I-go method is best?
2) I will be based out of certain areas for 2-3 days and so in theory i wouldn't be using a "travel day" if I got the flexi. However, this is Switzerland, and during those stays, I'd probably take a ferry, or ride a bus. It say online that free rides require the use of a travel day. If this is so, what is the value of the Flexi over regular Swiss Pass, since I'd need to use a "travel day" each day for local transportation/to take advange of a freebie?
-8 day Swiss Youth Pass: $198
-5,6,8 day Swiss Flexi $248,$284,$330
-Eurail France-Switzerland Pass:
9,10days $390, $363
Either way, I'll need to hold a Pass with France so that when travelling to Paris on Eurostar, and to Switzerland from Paris, my tickets won't be so expensive.Though, if you more experienced travellers out there really feel that the single country Swiss Pass is better, I could get the France-italy pass and use it (4 day Flexi is $205).
Also, along those lines, even if i did not hold a pass for france, and wanted to go from paris to say Basel (i'd hold a pass for Switzerland), how do I find out the supplement I'd have to pay for the trip through France (for which I don't have a pass)? This wasn't so clear, but it's something along the lines of if I have France-Italy Pass and no Switzerland, but travel through Switzerland, what is the supplement i'd pay for the leg of the trip for which I don't hold a pass?
Thanks so much for your input/advice.
Jul 3rd, 2006, 12:38 PM
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Hi C,
> My basic itinerary is london-paris(2)-switzerland(8)-venice(2)-slovenia(2-3)-croatia(7)-sarajevo?. I want to spend about 8 days in Switzerland, ..<
I look forward to the trip report of this expedition.
Before buying any railpasses, enter your itinerary at www.railsaver.com and click "only if it saves money".
The cheapest way to take the Eurostar from London to Paris is the one-day RT ticket at about $90.
> My basic itinerary is london-paris(2)-switzerland(8)-venice(2)-slovenia(2-3)-croatia(7)-sarajevo?. I want to spend about 8 days in Switzerland, ..<
I look forward to the trip report of this expedition.
Before buying any railpasses, enter your itinerary at www.railsaver.com and click "only if it saves money".
The cheapest way to take the Eurostar from London to Paris is the one-day RT ticket at about $90.
Jul 3rd, 2006, 12:51 PM
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alternatively, i could take somedays out of croatia and spend perhaps 3 nights in the South of France. This may warrant a France-combo pass, but then again, what is there to do in the SOF that I may like. I've been through the french country side before, and though the Cote D'Azur is famour, I'm not much of a beach person and expensive shopping isn't my thing either... though I'm tempted by the food.
Jul 3rd, 2006, 01:03 PM
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I would suggest you set a fairly comprehensive itinerary and then price the trips you will be making buying point to point tickets. Then you will have a rough figure of your costs without the pass. If that is not a decent amount less than buying the pass, get the pass. I would be willing to pay a little premium for the flexibility you get by having a pass.
Some of the major mountain excursions give you quite a break if you have a pass, so that is another argument for the pass.
I had an unfortunate experience going from Italy to Switzerland where the Italian ticket agent apparently didn't know how to apply our Swiss passes for the Swiss portion of the trip, so we overpaid. What I do now is buy a ticket to the border, then stay on the train and present my Swiss pass, if I have one. I don't know if it was just that agent, or this is a common problem, but it has not recurred.
The passes usually work with trains, postal busses, and boats, which seem to be all interconnected, so a trip may start on a bus, connect to a train, connect to a bus, and connect to a boat.
We only went to a couple of museums in Switzerland, so far, but neither was covered by our passes, so in your case I would check carefully to see if the museums you want to see are covered.
I have no experience with multiple country passes, but from much reading I have the impression that they are rarely a good deal.
The Swiss pass gives you a certain number of days, but they are consecutive days. The more expensive flexi option gives you a certain number of days within a longer period. Which is better suited (and whether either is a better deal than buying point to point tickets) depends on your itinerary. There are more types of Swiss passes than you can shake a stick at; do a search of this forum for Switzerland and you will find a number of threads explaining them. I have personally given up on calculating the best pass, and now just get a half fare card, but I must say that the youth pass looks attractive, as does being young enough to get one.
Some of the major mountain excursions give you quite a break if you have a pass, so that is another argument for the pass.
I had an unfortunate experience going from Italy to Switzerland where the Italian ticket agent apparently didn't know how to apply our Swiss passes for the Swiss portion of the trip, so we overpaid. What I do now is buy a ticket to the border, then stay on the train and present my Swiss pass, if I have one. I don't know if it was just that agent, or this is a common problem, but it has not recurred.
The passes usually work with trains, postal busses, and boats, which seem to be all interconnected, so a trip may start on a bus, connect to a train, connect to a bus, and connect to a boat.
We only went to a couple of museums in Switzerland, so far, but neither was covered by our passes, so in your case I would check carefully to see if the museums you want to see are covered.
I have no experience with multiple country passes, but from much reading I have the impression that they are rarely a good deal.
The Swiss pass gives you a certain number of days, but they are consecutive days. The more expensive flexi option gives you a certain number of days within a longer period. Which is better suited (and whether either is a better deal than buying point to point tickets) depends on your itinerary. There are more types of Swiss passes than you can shake a stick at; do a search of this forum for Switzerland and you will find a number of threads explaining them. I have personally given up on calculating the best pass, and now just get a half fare card, but I must say that the youth pass looks attractive, as does being young enough to get one.
Jul 3rd, 2006, 02:28 PM
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Have you read the railpass section at www.ricksteves.com? On the right side of that section where all the sub-sections are listed you can click on a link to download and print a railpass guide. Here is the URL for a page specifically about the various kinds of Swiss passes: www.ricksteves.com/rail/ausswitz.cfm. There is also a page telling about combo passes, including the France-Swiss pass: www.ricksteves.com/rail/france.cfm#francecombo.
Have you visited www.seat61.com? It's the best site for information spcifically about train travel in Europe and it also has a railpass section.
Have you visited www.seat61.com? It's the best site for information spcifically about train travel in Europe and it also has a railpass section.
Jul 3rd, 2006, 03:10 PM
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well i have a skeletal idea of my itinerary. Coming from France (most likely Paris), I'll cross border and stay in Montreux area for 2-3 nights. (chillon, rochers de naye, day trip to les mosses?...I love cheese). Is it a crime to skip Geneva? Then maybe onto Bern (1) -Interlaken (2)(to see jungfrau, grindelwald)to Zermatt to see Matterhorn, Findeln (2) (is it out of the way, maybe i'll take out Bern). I also wanted to see Lucerne while up by interlaken and then down to Lugano/Lucarno... before going on to Venice. Perhaps this itinerary is too ambitious and i'll just have to put off some visits so i'll have an excuse to come back. I love natural beauty, so I doubt I'll tire of the scenery.
Jul 4th, 2006, 03:44 AM
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Hi calispirit,
I think your itinerary is a bit jumbled with some back-tracking and an unnecessarily long train ride (Interlaken to Zermatt). Here's a suggested itinerary:
TGV from Paris to Bern, then on to Interlaken (2), then Golden Pass to Montreux (2-3), then Zermatt, then Lugano/Locarno.
However, this is still a whole lot of train travel, and I'm afraid you won't be able to remember any of the towns you stayed in . . . mostly you'll remember your moving carriage! If you love natural beauty, this isn't the way to see it!
Good luck!
s
I think your itinerary is a bit jumbled with some back-tracking and an unnecessarily long train ride (Interlaken to Zermatt). Here's a suggested itinerary:
TGV from Paris to Bern, then on to Interlaken (2), then Golden Pass to Montreux (2-3), then Zermatt, then Lugano/Locarno.
However, this is still a whole lot of train travel, and I'm afraid you won't be able to remember any of the towns you stayed in . . . mostly you'll remember your moving carriage! If you love natural beauty, this isn't the way to see it!
Good luck!
s
Jul 4th, 2006, 04:07 PM
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Thanks for the suggestion swandav. Actually last night, I was thinking the same thing about back-tracking and spending too much time in btw cities. The order of cities you mentioned sounds so practical that I just might go with it, with a few minor changes.
Jul 5th, 2006, 10:34 AM
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For any questions regarding Swiss passes, trains, buses, etc. you can call BETS Rail Info Line (800-441-9413) and talk to folks who have traveled Swiss trains for years and answer any questions - i'd also suggest their free European Planning & Rail Guide that has a good chapter on Switzerland (request at www.budgeteuropetravel.com). They also sell Swiss Passes and don't charge a mailing fee except for rush orders. I've found that www.ricksteves.com also has good info on Swiss trains as does www.euraide.com.
<The cheapest way to take the Eurostar from London to Paris is the one-day RT ticket at about $90> - Ira is talking about for folks over 25 - if you are under 26 - not clear from your OP - there are $45 one-way Eurostar youth tickets Mon-Thu only - these can be very hard to book so book early. You could pay lots more in London. (Again, BETS as above i always recommend for Eurostar too.) Swiss Passes are sold at Swiss stations but are significantly cheaper now in the U.S. (Compare prices at www.sbb.ch - Swiss Rail web site.)
No you will unlikely be taking any postal buses though the pass is also good on all city trams and buses practically. Lake boats can be a very nice relaxing experience and the pass is good on those -
If you bought a Eurail Select pass then you could get a $75 one-way Eurostar fare London-Paris - the $45 youth fare is often not available but the $75 passholder fare is and it can even be changed once in Europe up until the time of the train - whereas the youth pass is not changeable.
And the Swiss Flexipass could well be a better deal than the consecutive day pass or may not - remember that the flexipass is good for a month period and for the whole month you get 50% off everything in Switzerland that moves as well as the (3 minimum) 100% covered travel days.
<The cheapest way to take the Eurostar from London to Paris is the one-day RT ticket at about $90> - Ira is talking about for folks over 25 - if you are under 26 - not clear from your OP - there are $45 one-way Eurostar youth tickets Mon-Thu only - these can be very hard to book so book early. You could pay lots more in London. (Again, BETS as above i always recommend for Eurostar too.) Swiss Passes are sold at Swiss stations but are significantly cheaper now in the U.S. (Compare prices at www.sbb.ch - Swiss Rail web site.)
No you will unlikely be taking any postal buses though the pass is also good on all city trams and buses practically. Lake boats can be a very nice relaxing experience and the pass is good on those -
If you bought a Eurail Select pass then you could get a $75 one-way Eurostar fare London-Paris - the $45 youth fare is often not available but the $75 passholder fare is and it can even be changed once in Europe up until the time of the train - whereas the youth pass is not changeable.
And the Swiss Flexipass could well be a better deal than the consecutive day pass or may not - remember that the flexipass is good for a month period and for the whole month you get 50% off everything in Switzerland that moves as well as the (3 minimum) 100% covered travel days.
Jul 6th, 2006, 05:34 PM
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thanked you in a similar thread about tickets, but I'll do it again since you were so helpful. I love how BET spells out when reservations are required on scenic trains. Also, what site is best to search for the rare $45 lon-par trip. Not buying any pass that includes france or brussels, so $45 vs 90 is a steal.
Jul 7th, 2006, 09:08 AM
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you could try www.eurostar.com or www.raileurope.com for Eurostar prices but again i recommend calling BETS as they, in my experience, will take time to check all available fares for your date - sometimes info on the RailEurope.com site is misleading or doesn't always indicate the cheapest available fare - not sure if they're trying to sell higher price tickets but a possibility. The $45 one way youth fare is for trains Mon-Thu between 11am and 3pm and you must be under 26. They can be very hard to actually book so be flexible on dates and times.
