[Removed user]

24 July 2018 at 17:28:47 #817462

My husband and I will be in Switzerland for 18 days in September, arriving in and departing from Zurich. We cannot decide whether to rent a car and drive, or do a Swiss Travel Pass. We will be in Italy for 2 weeks prior and are concerned about trains and our luggage. Any thoughts? We have 9 cities on our temporary itinerary.

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[Slowpoke]

24 July 2018 at 18:50:46 #892364

<<“Any thoughts? We have 9 cities on our temporary itinerary.’..

Here’s a start –

http://www.myswissalps.com/tr avel/inswitzerland

What are the 9 cities, and how few bases could you set up, recognizing that the Swiss train system id efficient, effective,. frequent, and lets all in the group enjoy the scenery?

I use both with my particular travel patterns, which focus on the countryside. The more time you plan in cities, the less logical is automobile transport.

Slowpoke

[Removed user]

24 July 2018 at 19:31:53 #892365

Hi Ballsey and welcome to MySwissAlps!

Further to Slowpoke’s important questions, be sure to read this web page: https://www.myswissalp s.com/carversustrain

[Removed user]

24 July 2018 at 21:54:49 #892366

Thanks, Slowpoke, for the quick response. We were thinking about training it on the 15 consecutive day pass: Zurich to Appenzell, to Luzern, to Lugano, to Pontresina, to Zermatt (weather permitting), to Lausanne/Montreux, to Berner Oberland, to Bern and back to Zurich. We will stay a few days in a few of the cities for other sights. If we decide to go by car, we would make some modifications since we can’t do the scenic rail trips.

And Lucas, I have read several articles. We just aren’t light packers and are worried about schlepping our luggage. Thanks so much.

[Slowpoke]

24 July 2018 at 22:57:08 #892367

Hi Ballsey-

Luggage is certainly an issue. And, you don’t have any really obvious base stations…except maybe the last days …Bern, and BO mazbe could be done

You could possible leave some luggage at Zürich during the Appenzell loop , unless you decide come back via the southern route through Wattwil, Jona and Zug to Luzern..

The express luggage service has been discontinued, but you could send luggage via the “day after next” system of the SBB, thus spreading the load a bit. I use it frequently.

http://www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/services/lugg age/luggage.html

Be aware that laundromats are scarce in Switzerland. Luzern has a very good laundry service – Jetwasch. They do it for you while you are away during the day. Other “big” cities have very few self service laundries, and the ones in Interlaken, Wengen, Lauterbrunnen are small, slow and crowded.

For perspective, overnight car parking in Zürich or Luzern can run to 50 or 60 CHF. And, driving in the cities can be difficult. Street grids are rare to nonexistent in the downtowns, and there are a lot of one way streets that used to be cowpaths. 😉

When we were younger, even before wheeled luggage was available, we bit the bullet and hauled our luggage around the train and bus system. It’s quite possible. Depends on your strength and just how much luggage you have. It is a nuisance.

These days, I stay outside large cities for the most part. Drive to inns at smaller villages or towns, use the car to supplement bus service to trailheads, or seek places for photography as in the attached images, and leave it parked while I go into the cities for day trips. Train service is still OK until mid to late evenings, depending on where you are. At the beginning and end of my trips, I stay in Zürich without car. I’ve been known to go by train to Geneva for lunch from a base in Zürich.

That pattern probably would not fit for you. You might make it work if don’t stay in the cities, but that takes away a fair amount of the fun. The trains do take you right into the cities. That’s a real benefit. A cab can take your luggage and you to a hotel…at a cost.

There is no question in my mind that your trip would work best by train, if you can figure out how to deal with luggage to meet your capabilities.

Probably, you reached that conclusion yourself? 😉

Slowpoke

[Removed user]

24 July 2018 at 23:10:20 #892368

Yeah, we were kind of following a Rick Steves itinerary because his suggestions have worked well for us in the past in Italy, France, Spain & Portugal. I think if we could leave a big suitcase in Zurich, we would both just carry two smaller ones (plus backpacks). We may be trying to see too much of Switzerland but we have other adventures planned in various parts of the world and we’re not getting any younger!! My husband loves to drive but I’d like him to relax and see the scenery in your part of the world. Are all the train trips as beautiful as you see online?

[Slowpoke]

25 July 2018 at 0:39:45 #892369

Hi Ballsey-

<<“Yeah, we were kind of following a Rick Steves itinerary because his

suggestions have worked well for us in the past in Italy, France, Spain

& Portugal.”>>

Rick Steves sells/promotes luggage, too. He forcibly suggests traveling light.

If you follow his suggested routes, pack one small roll-on suitcase with his brand name on it. If you don’t pack light, then, modify his suggestions. They don’t work with generous luggage these days. However, the SBB will try to help you.

Give some thought to seeing more at each of fewer locations. Your proposed itinerary spreads you kind of thin.

Maybe skip Appenzell or Lugano… not that that are not worth visiting.

Just my opinion.

<<“My husband loves to drive but I’d like him to relax and see the scenery

in your part of the world. Are all the train trips as beautiful as you

see online?”>>

I live in Connecticut, and have traveled to Switzerland 80 or 90 times..

If I lived in Kansas, any train trip in Switzerland would be amazing. As it is, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I don’t watch online videos of train journeys, because I have learned that they don’t capture the feelings and experience.

I love to ride the trains in Switzerland. They work well, and you can look out the window. In the ‘States, I am an enthusiastic, perhaps passionate driver. In Switzerland, I ride the trains whenever possible.

Where are you from?

Slowpoke

[Gunzel]

26 July 2018 at 1:43:58 #892370

I enjoy watching online videos of train journeys particularly those filmed from the front of the train.

Helps prepare for the Swiss adventure.

But there’s always something extra that you experience on the train that you didn’t pick up watching the video!

I always enjoy sitting near American visitors and overhearing their (generally loud!) conversations comparing the Swiss alpine scenery to “back home”. Adds to the entertainment.