I'm looking to visit the Lauterbrunnen valley, Dolomites, Venice and Cinque Terra with a couple more additions to be added.
Would you rent a car or purchase a rail pass?

I don't know if a rail pass would work for you, but I certainly would use public transportation rather than renting a car.

I think you're asking the wrong question....

The right one is train or train+bus vs renting a car.
If you decide on train and or train+bus, then the next question is whether a pass is better than point to point tickets....
If you decide on car, then the question of pick up / drop off (one way vs return to same location) comes into play...

Generally speaking.....of course the devil is in the details.

for trains or train/bus combos, passes are rarely a good value, but "it all depends on where you are going". Long distance trips you can save $$ by purchasing ahead of time. Local/regional trains typically have no advance purchase savings. Getting good use out of a pass means using it nearly every day. If that's you plan, then a pass may be good for you. My own travel style is to move around (change lodging) less, or not at all, so for me a pass does not make sense.

for cars, renting in one country and returning in another will either not be possible, or will have a large drop off fee...for some locations I like the flexibility and freedom of a car. For cities/towns that are well served by rail and or bus, I do not.

Thank you - the itinerary seems complicated to me because it's a combination of places where a rental car is ideal and places where a rental car is a nuisance.
I just don't know how to arrange it. And yes I did discover the drop-off fees

Personally, I can't imagine that a car would be an advantage in the Lauterbrunnen valley, Venice, or the Cinque Terre. I don't know the Dolomites well enough to comment, but i you feel you need a car there, you could rent one for just that segment.

Well, there's a car park in Lauterbrunnen but yes, the locations in Italy seem a bit difficult for driving/parking. So trying to plan/organize this particular itinerary has been logistically challenging.

How long is this trip? The 'couple more additions' could make a difference of course, but I agree that a car wouldn't be necessary / useful in Lauterbrunnen, Venice or the Cinque Terra. This link gives some useful info about visiting the Dolomites by public transport https://www.moonhoneytravel.com/dolo...without-a-car/

That there is a car park doesn't mean much -- most of the places one visits from Lauterbrunnen are more easily reached by train or other public transportation, if they can be reached by car at all.

Do you know rome2rio.com? If not, you might find it useful. Just be sure to click through to the underlying links, as the surface level is not necessarily correct for the times you would be traveling.

And if you provide a bit more detail about your itinerary, even if rough, people on this forum might be better able to help. When are you going? For how long? What are the places you definitely want to see and why? What are your interests?

There are websites and posters here that describe exploring the Dolomites using only public transportation, so it's possible. However, for me, using only public transportation would REALLY limit what's possible to see/do especially if time is somewhat limited. Again, just for me, driving allows for spontaneity that's not possible when you have to keep to a bus timetable. But develop a sightseeing plan and then search routes and schedules to learn how much of your plan you could accomplish.

FYI, the South Tyrol encompasses more than 5000 square miles. Driving speeds, whether bus or rented car, are not high, so getting around takes time.

Before worrying too much over car vs public transport I'd make sure your itinerary works. How many nights do you have in total? You'll lose up to a day each time you move on to the next destination. You may find after plotting a day by day outline that you don't have time for everything on your wish list. If so, group places together geographically for this trip and do the other places next time. Apologies if you've done all this and just my two cents, I'd use trains and bus.

I agree with Kay. I would look at the journey times for your places of interest. Rome2rio, Bahn.de and google maps will help with this.

As your destinations are fairly far flung, you’ll be passing heaps of places that would be worth exploring.

As a general principle I prefer public transport and only resort to a car when public transport isn’t available.

Switzerland has the best public transport system in the world, we often visit, and always do so by train/bus.

We've visited the Dolomites twice using public transport and are in Italy now, also using public transport. Keep in mind that your accommodation in South Tyrol will provide you with a very generous free bus/train pass. Also know that parking can be a nightmare in the Dolomites in the high season, parking is quite limited in some areas and comes at a price. I've seen photographs of cars lined up for miles waiting to get into popular hiking areas.

I personally would not rent a car to visit anywhere in Europe, but that's just me.

I have two detailed trip reports posted here on Fodor's about our visits to the Dolomites by public transport, which may nor may not help with your planning.

Rail passes in Switzerland can save money, but what you need will depend on where you plan to visit and your length of stay. Bus/rail in Italy is quite inexpensive, so I definitely would not buy a pass there, and multi-country passes are very rarely a good way to go.

The Dolomites are a rather big area. Define first where you want to stay in "the Dolomites"
Have then a look at the best flights from your home town to the intercontinental airports of
Zurich (ZRH), Milan (MXP), Venice (VCE) and Munich (MUC)
as well as to those to the international airports of
Innsbruck (INN), Verona (VRN), Treviso (TSF), Bergamo (BGY), Linate (LIN), Genoa (GOA), Pisa (PSA), Turin (TRN), Basel (BSL), Klagenfurt (KLU), Salzburg (SZG)

Best airports for Lauterbrunnen: ZRH, BSL
Best airports for 5Terre: GOA, TRN, PSA, MXP
Best airports for North-eastern Dolomites (Innichen): KLU, INN, SZG, VRN
Best airports for South Eastern Dolomites (Calalzo, Cortina, Agordo): TSF, VCE
Best airports for South Western Dolomites (Madonna di Campiglio): VRN, VCE, BGY

Once these basic points defined, it will be easy to fix the best itinerary.
Be aware that every move between the 3 areas you fixed will take almost a whole day

Thank you all for pointing me in the right direction! I will definitely look up some of the reports mentioned here.
We have two weeks with Zurich being the airport used (and this cannot be changed).
We love the Lauterbrunnen valley and have allowed for three nights there. Seceda is my dream destination and we've allotted three nights in that area.
I really want my youngest child who is now entering her teen years to see Venice. I'd love to see Cinque Terra.

With that being said, I'm also practical and open for suggestions from experts who know the area and the logistics involved.

I've travelled quite a bit and at times rookies ask me for tips .... often I will tell them their plans just won't logistically work bc I've been there and done that .... but they won't listen and are in for a nightmare trip. I'm open to itinerary correction. It's just trying to figure out how to get around the Dolomites or Tuscany (if we include that) without a car that keeps me up.

The car park in Lauterbrunnen (huge and multi-storied) is principally for those going to Wengen or Mürren, both car free villages and both only accessible by train or cable car/train.

Personally I see no point in renting a car in Switzerland. As Mel suggests above our public transport is superb. This is not the case in Italy (though clearly the Frecche trains are great) and travelling around Italy somewhat off the beaten track a car is very useful. It also makes no sense (unless one is very rich) to rent a car in one country and drop it in another. Cross border drop charges are huge. (Can easily be USD1000 or more). My suggestion is to have the OP take public transport all the time she is in Switzerland. Then cross into Italy and rent a car...drop it in Italy at the end of the trip.

Banff, in your shoes and with your rough plan I would skip Cinque Terre and stick to Bernese Oberland, Dolomites and Venice. If you want to add another place, I’d choose somewhere on that route. You are already covering quite a lot of ground and some journeys will be quite long. You could consider Engadine instead of Bernese Oberland but the latter is more spectacular I think.

In my view Cinque Terre is too far and does not justify the journey. It’s also all about hiking so that goes double if you’re not hiking.

You are flying into Zurich but are you flying home from Venice?

Apparently, the OP is now trying to fit the Cinque Terre in between Milan and Nice....
Milan to Nice via Cinque Terre, please help.

Lauterbrunnen dp 8.02 - Ortisei ar 17.25 atkes 9 1/2 hrs by public transport.
Change at Interlaken, Bern, Zurich, Innsbruck, Brenner and Waidbruck.
The trains between Bern (dp 9.31) and Innsbruck (ar 14.11) havwe dininfg cars.
By car, the driving time would be 7-8 hrs. But with a family, you cannot drive without any stop.
So, the car ride would probably take more time than the train ride.

Ortisei dp 14.01 - Venice SL ar 18.25 with only 1 change at Bolzano/Bozen might be better by public transport.
You know that you couldn't use your car in Venice anyway.

Same problem in the 5Terre villages.
The train ride from Venice to Monterosso takes about 5 1/2 hrs

I don't think that railpassses would be a bargain.
If you move a lot around Lauterbrunnen, the Bernese Oberland Pass could make sense, however.
Otherwise check discounted tickets bought well ahead, may be with trainline.com
Ask your hotel at Ortisei about guest cards for free
https://www.south-tirol.com/useful-i...dvantage-cards

Kja, that is different poster.

Oops! My sincere apologies to Banff and to my fellow Fodorites. Thanks, SusanP, for taking note.