[Removed user]

12 October 2012 at 12:37:28 #805659

I am utterly confused!

We are American, and traveling as a family to Europe July 2013 for 14 days. We will fly into Manchester England, train to London, train to Paris, train to Strasbourg France, train to Lucerne, Switzerland (for two days-doing the Mount Pilatus trip) then train to Montreaux for two days (chocolate train), then back up to Paris, London and then fly out of Manchester (its a pain but must be roundtrip out of Manchester for returning my husbands kids to their mother who lives in Manchester). Four adults and three children 11 and under will be with us for the entire trip.

Should we get a Eurorail, Eurail and/or Swiss pass (for our Swiss portion of the trip)? I’m completely confused as to if we just need one, or need more than one, and which within those we need and which is more economical considering we want to do some excursions in Switzerland (boat, gondola, choc train, etc). Thank you in advance for any help!!

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[Arno]

13 October 2012 at 7:02:55 #837339

Hi treva and welcome to MySwissAlps,

I just answered a similar question. Does that help you out? I’m not 100% sure if the Chocolate Train is discounted with a Eurail pass; I think it is, but you will always have to book it in advance and pay for the services provided during that excursion (other than the actual train ride). So that won’t be the deciding factor in choosing between passes.

To simplify things: “Eurorail” and “Eurail” are the same thing. These passes are officially called Eurail, but you will find websites calling it Eurorail.

[Removed user]

14 October 2012 at 12:43:12 #837340

Thank you very much! I had no idea that the Swiss Pass would only be $45/adult to add to Eurail pass, so I think it makes the most sense to have both.

I am attempting to find hotels or homes myself in the towns of Montreaux and Lucerne but my question is, since we’re not going to rent a car but rely completely on public transportation, will we have trouble? Are train stations abundant, or other forms of public transportation so that when we arrive in Lucerne from Strasbourg and Montreaux from Lucerne (and when we are leaving) will I need to be very careful selecting where we are staying because public transport is difficult to find? If so, any tips to staying close to stations or public transportation? My father-in-law would like me to set up transportation in advance, or at least know what we are doing exactly to get from the train station(s) to our place we’re going to stay, and around town.

Thank you again!!
Treva

[Arno]

14 October 2012 at 13:54:23 #837341

Hi Treva, you’re most welcome!

Just to make sure you understand: you cannot “add a Swiss Pass to a Eurail Pass”. You can add Switzerland as one of the countries on your Eurail Select Pass. That was the option I suggested in the other topic. It’s indeed relatively inexpensive to do so.

Traveling by public transport in Switzerland is very easy. The timetable allows you to see exactly how to travel. There are plenty of hotels at walking distance from the rail station in most of the towns. Please check our overview for Lucerne and other towns.