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Hello,
We will be in Zermatt and Wengen July 5-13. My husband, spur of the moment, purchased World Cup final tickets for our family in Lyon on July 7, Sunday. What reputable car service can you recommend for my family of six? The game begins at 1700. Train travel is longer than driving in this case and unfortunately the train will not be an option on the way back the same night. Car rental for a van seems hard to find close by (small cars seem available). Any suggestions to get us there and back are appreciated. Thank you for your thoughts and help.
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Hello Monica,
Wow, what a nice side-trip your husband has set up here for you!
For input about travelling by car in Switzerland use:
– http://www.myswissalps.com/ca r, you will also find input about car rentalI use the following page to calculate routes and driving times by car.
– http://www.viamichelin.com/Best,
StephAlso see:
– http://www.myswissalps.com/ze rmattYou can’t hire a car in Zermatt as you can’t drive it out!
car hire in Visp: I can only see as listed near the station where I don’t know of any rental locations so it may be just a pick up point.
It look like Europcar in Brig might be the only option. 6+ seaters are about £450 – £700
You’ll have to hire Saturday – Monday as hire places close on Sundays, mind you you won’t be back from the game until about 02.00 Monday
Thank you Steph and 1960man for your replies and help! The link for the car travel and viamichelin.com has been beneficial. I did not realize that most rentals close on Sunday! It adds another wrinkle to this… The closest rental agency to Zermatt is in Tasch which seems to be the most convenient. I would have to take the train to Tasch to rent on Saturday (leave the car in overnight parking and pick up on Sunday, which is a hassle on vacation but doable) There is a Hertz and a Europcar. Hertz said they will get back to me in 4 days about confirming a van. Hiring a driver so far is very costly from the firms in Tasch. I have seen the “Daytrip” service online but not sure about it. I have researched also renting a car in Zurich when we arrive on July 5, driving to Tasch, leaving the car in overnight parking till we need it Sunday, and taking the shuttle train to Zermatt. We could return the car in Tasch when we return from the game, leaving keys in the drop box and taxi back to Zermatt. Unfortunately, it is easier to get a van (more choices too) for six in Zurich but I am reluctant to drive from Zurich to Zermatt/Tasch since the advantage of coming to this country is the train system. Do you have an opinion about the drive from Zurich to Tasch? Tasch to Lyon? Of course we will take the train to Wengen after our stay in Zermatt.
Again many thanks to you both and for the excellent help, support, and service this website provides!
Hi Monica,
Personally I wouldn’t want to drive that far, especially not the return ride after watching the game. If driving is a must, I would book a hotel in or near Lyon and drive back the next morning for safety reasons. But to be honest, I would simply do all of this by train, and back the next morning. Car hire is a hassle and expensive for 6 people. I don’t think it’s faster. The drive easily takes 4.5 hours without major traffic issues and excluding the time to reach Täsch from Zermatt, the time to rent the car and to find a parking spot. The trains get you there in 6 to 6.5 hours from Zermatt to Lyon, excluding the time to reach the stadium.
Who’s playing, Monica?
…erm…whichever teams reach the final…could still be England!
I’m not sure the train is better in this instance.
I found car hire for a 7-seater in Täsch for £420 for the Sat – Mon covering Monica’s Sunday 7th
The drive isn’t too bad I would say, possible in about 5 hours (depends how many drivers are available) on Swiss motorways Visp – Lausanne – Genève then the French A40 through the Bugey/Jura – all scenic stuff. The return journey – though late at night – will be fast as the motorways will be quiet.
I’m sure the car hire cost split between 6 will be cheaper than 6 train fares Zermatt – Lyon
The only ‘sting’ will be the high parking charges at the Täsch park and ride
Mind you the hire agency is a local garage, It is possible that they might be persuaded to let the car be left parked there at no charge?
Doh! I missed the key word “final”. So I expect it will be Australia v TBA.
No doubts I see, you’re a real fan 🙂
More patriot than fan, I think you could say, Arno. 😉
Thanks again 1960man, Arno, Rockoyster and Steph! I think we will rent a van/ drive OR hire a driver. We are hoping USA will make it to the women’s final, but we will be happy to see whichever teams make it. Hiring a driver is pricey but we are concerned about driving ourselves back to Zermatt with jet lag and fatigue after a long day on unfamiliar roads. Of course the added cost is making me think twice about this. We will leave Zermatt the day after the game and head to Wengen by train.
Here’s an idea – sell the tickets (for a profit, probably), spend some time to actually see Zermatt, find a nice bar with a big tv, watch the game there with others, and don’t kill yourselves trying to do something exhausting, expensive, pointless, and dangerous that takes so much time out of your vacation. And tell your husband to be less impulsive.
But then, I’m not a sports fan.
Hi Monika45,
Welcome to the forum,
As I understand it you arrive in Zermatt from the US on the Friday and will spend part of Saturday sorting out a rental car in Tasch. You then spend Sunday driving to Lyon, finding somewhere to park, watching a game of football for 90 minutes and then driving back to Tasch during the night and finding a taxi to take you back to Zermatt. You then catch up on a few hours sleep, check out of hotel, return the rental car, and take a 3 hour train journey to Wengen.
If it was me I would cancel Zermatt altogether as you will not be able to do it justice. It appears that the football match in Lyon is more important to you than a visit to this lovely village which is a shame when you have travelled so far to visit this wonderful country.
I suggest you stay closer to Lyon, perhaps Geneva, for the first part of your holiday and leave Zermatt for another time. It is a lovely place and you need time to enjoy it.
Whatever you do i hope you enjoy your holiday.
Wengen is wonderful, we were there last week and had glorious weather.
Jane
Take a car with driver/train to either Zurich or Geneva and fly. Have the driver collect you for the way back.
Flying Geneva – Lyon would not be sensible (don’t think there are flights anyway)
Congratulations Monica, your side won (again). Hope that made the travel complications worthwhile overcoming. 😎
Thank you Rockoyster! The complications and cost 😉 were worth it. My children said it was an amazing experience and very inspiring. In the end, we hired a driver from Taxi Alphubel in Zermatt recommended by our hotel and made it back safely at 1 am with one short stop. The drive was beautiful through Lausanne and Lake Geneva. Today it was rainy in Zermatt as we left for the game. The sun may have come out while we were away but it was noticeably cooler.
The last two days in Zermatt were warm and beautiful. We had amazing views of the Matterhorn in Zermatt as well as at Gornergrat. We had a great short hike (45 minutes or so) down from the top to Riffelsee the afternoon we arrived. A nice surprise… tickets were discounted after 3pm. It was an awesome experience and a great start to our trip. Loved the bright blue wildflowers! Yesterday we went to Klein Matterhorn. Again, lovely views, totally worth it. I was amazed at the advanced technology and super comfortable 3S cableway system that took us up to the beautiful Matterhorn glacier paradise. My kids enjoyed the journey itself, snow tubing and throwing snow balls. We skipped the restaurant at the top. Instead we came back down, walked to the other side of town, took the Sunnegga funicular / bahn up and walked 30 minutes to the difficult to find Findlerhof in Findeln for lunch. It is excellent, fresh and highly recommended. We had unobstructed views of the Matterhorn during lunch. We had a few sprinkles as we headed back down to Zermatt via the AHV-Weg (“Pension Path”). It was lovely and a much better option than heading back up to Sunnegga.
Tomorrow we head to Wengen. It will be a sleep in day/travel day.
After that we plan the following not in any particular order yet, still trying to figure out which day first.. (any suggestions are appreciated):
Day 1: Wengen–Lauterbrunnen–walk to Trummelbach Falls—walk to Stechelberg for lunch or should we just head to Murren on the gondola for lunch? After lunch head on to the Schilthorn come back down walk through Murren take the train or walk to Grutshalp and take the gondola back to Lauterbrunnen—up to Wengen.
OR
Wengen—Lauterbrunnen–Murren gondola to Grutschalp–walk to Murren–lunch- up to Schilthorn- come back down and via gondola same way to Lauterbrunnen–Wengen
Day 2: Wengen to Lauterbrunnen to Wilderswil–Schynige Platte Bahn. HIke the Panoramaweg Schynige Platte, have lunch and return.
Day 3: Wengen to Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg-lunch restaurant Bahnhof- train to Wengen or walk part of the way back. Any suggestions to what else we could do this day that we could add on easily?
(Sorry if I should have started a new thread and not continued on…)
Thank you again for helping us with logistics for our side trip to Lyon. It was a wonderful experience. The last 3 days have just been incredible.
Again many thanks to the experts for their time and insight.
Hi Monica,
Glad you are having a great time.
Your plans for Wengen sound good. You second option for Day 1 is my preferred route. I just think the cable car down from Gimmelwald to Stechelberg is more “exciting” than the other way round. Mürren would definitely be a better place for lunch than Stechelberg.
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