Buy Swiss train tickets myself or book a tour?
A traveler is planning a trip to Switzerland next year and has created an itinerary starting in Zurich, including scenic train rides and stops in St. Moritz, Zermatt, and Lucerne. They are considering an 8-day tour from Viator that offers a comprehensive experience but are unsure whether it's better to plan independently or join a guided tour.
- The Swiss Travel Pass covers most trains and buses in Switzerland, making it a cost-effective option for travel.
- You can find sample itineraries online and customize them to form your own route if you prefer a more independent experience.
- Allow flexibility in your planning to accommodate for weather changes; guided tours may have limited time at each location.
AI-generated summary-
I was in Switzerland 10 years ago and want to go back next year. I created my own itinerary starting in Zurich———-we would take the train from Zurich to St. Moritz————next day we would use the Glacier Express to Zermatt——-we would stay in Zermatt for a couple of days———then moving onto Lucerne taking another train———-staying in Lucerne with day trips to Interlaken and Bern.
After doing this I found an 8 day tour on Viator that seemed much more comprehensive taking many scenic trains: it starts in Zurich—–taking the Golden Pass Line———-Lucerne—-Interlaken–overnight Interlaken; next day Interlaken———Montreux (Jungfraujoch & Golden Pass Line Interlaken–Montreux; overnight in Montreux; next day Montreux–Zermatt–overnight Zermatt; Zermatt–St. Moritz using the Glacier Express overnight in St. Moritz; St. Moritz—Lugano using the Bernina Express overnight Lugano; Lugano–Lucerne (Gotthard Panorama Express) Overnight Lucerne. The tour includes all the train tickets and hotels———we are responsible for getting to and from the train stations——–self guided.
I feel they would do a better job getting the correct train tickets for us?
Not sure what to do———-thanks for any help
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Before I found this site we thought exactly the same thing. I was completely lost in the booking system for the scenic trains. When I go back and look at the tour we were looking at I see that they had no time in the places we really wanted to spend a few days. We would have had no opportunity to allow for bad weather.
Using this site we’ve been able to negotiate the Swiss ticket system and choose between the various passes. We’ve saved money and we’ve ended up with a better holiday experience, hopefully. (We are yet to travel!).
But, it has been a lot of work – luckily I enjoy the planning as it extends the holiday for me. Each method has its advantages.
Hi Kathleen! The tour you’ve mentioned is a very complete one indeed, allowing you to see a lot of Switzerland and experience many scenic rides. If you’re not up for the task of planning it yourself, this would be a perfect solution.
Arranging for your own tour is fine too: it’s all a matter of personal preferences. You can “mimick” the Viator tour or any of the sample itineraries provided at myswissalps.com/plantr ip/doityourself/sample itineraries, tweak the details until you’re satisfied and then arrange for your own rail pass (myswissalps.com/swissr ailpasses), hotels (myswissalps.com/hotels) and (if needed) seat reservations (myswissalps.com/train/ reservations). Our section on how to start planning might be of help: myswissalps.com/plantr ip/doityourself.
From your previous topics I can tell you’ve already done some of the orientation and planning work, so you don’t have to start from scratch :-).
Thanks for your help——-I will have to give the independent route a lot of thought.
Thanks for all your help and especially for the links———I find the info mind boggling trying to filter through all the arrangements and knowing what tickets to buy at what level. This trip will definitely be a work in progress.
I understand the challenge! The basics are quite easy though:
- The Swiss Travel Pass includes all trains and buses in Switzerland free of charge, so you don’t need to buy tickets until you decide to go to a mountain top. Those are mostly discounted. The page http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass provides all the details.
- Very few trains require reservations. You’ll find details on that and where to buy on our scenic train pages: http://www.myswissalps.com/ac tivities/scenictrips/t rain. You may need 4 reservations if you want to do all the scenic trains. You need none if you travel on the regular trains on the same routes, with the same views.
- Hotels can be found and booked through Annika’s link.
Good luck!
Again thanks for all the help——–will have to spend some time studying all the info
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