Eurail Select Pass or Swiss passes

Hi

We (2 adults and 2 children)will be traveling to Switzerland on 23rd Dec'16 from Paris and fly out of Paris on 30th Dec. Would you recommend we buy a eurail select pass for 2 countries which will also allow free travel within Switzerland or buy separate tickets from Paris to Basel (return) and then another pass for travel within Switzerland.We would be based in grindelwald for 4 days and cover the attractions in that area,may be make 1 day trip to Geneva,Montreux or Zermatt.Kids want to experience snow fall and snow. We then plan to travel to Lucerne on 28th Dec and go around Lucerne on 28th and 29th before returning to Paris on 30thDec.

please also suggest any changes in itinerary

thanks

Amit

Hi Amit,

A Eurail Select Pass won't be worth it if you will just make the two trips in France. Paris to Basel tickets can be very cheap if booked 3-4 months in advance. Your travel date is closer, so I would recommend to book quickly and perhaps you can still find good rates. It is the day before the Christmas weekend though, so a popular day to travel I suppose. Please see myswissalps.com/ traintickets/france/ price.

As for Switzerland an 8-day Swiss Travel Pass would fit your itinerary, as well as the Swiss Half Fare Card. The first one is more convenient as you don't need to buy tickets for all your trips. The second might be cheaper, but it depends on your exact trips and needs to be calculated to be sure. Please see the linked pages for details.

Hi Arno

Because we are late in booking the train tickets,Paris to Basel return tickets for 2 adults and 2 children is coming to around 800 euros whereas the eurail pass for 2 adults is around 510 euros for 2 countries.Even if I add 200 euros for reservations for 4 of us,it will come to 710 euros plus free travel in Switzerland.Given this,wouldn't eurail pass will make more sense right now.

Please advise

Hi Amit,

It's a popular travel date so if you've done all the math (trips in Switzerland included), then indeed the Eurail Select Pass may work out well here. Plus, you can get a 20% discount on the passes. Please see myswissalps.com/eurail selectpass/promotions and myswissalps.com/forum/ topic/discounts-on-eurail-and-interrail-passes.

There is a cheaper way to travel from Paris to Basel: by bus (Ouibus). It is a lot slower though. It takes at least twice as long as the high speed trains. But you've probably already seen that option as the buses are included on www.trainline.eu/searc h, which is one of the websites listed on the page I referred to in my previous post. I would prefer the train.

Thanks Arno,let me do the calculations one more time to be absolutely sure.Apologies if you have shared it before but where can I find the details of discounts available in Switzerland on eurail pass

thanks

No problem Amit! Just click to the "Where it's valid" tab of the Eurail Select Pass page and you'll get all details, including a map.

Hi Arno

Once I have bought the eurail pass,how do I go about reserving seats where reservation is compulsory e.g on TGV from Paris to Basel and return

Hi Amit,

Please see the reservations page, and specifically the Price tab. Buying the pass and reservations all at the same time is often the easiest way, and might also be cheaper (shipping, handling). In your case you can do so through www.raileurope.com.sg/ train-tickets/rail-passes/ for example.

HI Arno,

Thanks. I am not able to figure out how to book the reservation using eurail pass for travel from Paris to Basel on 23rd Dec and return on 30th Dec from Basel to Paris for our flight back to Singapore. Can you please help with step by step instructions / links.

Separately, we would be based in Grindelwald from 23rd Dec evening to 28th Dec. Could you suggest any activities which we can do in the evenings after sunset as there will be lot of time given it gets dark early. We would prefer something which kids would enjoy

Hi,

Some more questions as we come nearer to our trip. Will the paragliding and skydive activities be open in Dec'16. Can kids do paragliding? What are the different snow activities kids can do in the grindelwald region between 23rd Dec and 28th Dec

Thanks

Hi,

Please also advise if children also get the discounts on mountain railways / cable cars associated with a pass e.g swiss travel pass, eurail pass or they have to pay full children price for mountain railways / cable cars.

Thanks

Hi Amit,

Did you check the list of websites I mentioned? If you go to www.raileurope.com.sg# tab3, for example, just fill out your trip and select the Eurail Select Pass. It showed me seats for SGD15 each.

There won't be many evening activities: enjoying a good dinner and getting ready for an early rise next morning would be my preference. I think they sometimes offer sledging on a lighted run. You can ask the tourist agency.

Paragliding can be done by children from a certain age (or height even). It can be done in winter, but it's more popular in summer. You'd better ask the company organizing these trips. You'll find some tours here.

With a Swiss Travel Pass, children travel for free everywhere you go. With a Eurail Select Pass, they travel for free on the free routes, but not on discounted routes like mountain railways and cable car. You may want to buy Junior travelcards in that case. That combination should work as far as I know.

Hi Arno,

thanks for your prompt replies. I'll check raileurope.com.sg for reservations.

1. Can I do reservation here even though I buy the pass from another re-seller. raileurope.com.sg prices for eurail pass are expensive compared to other re-seller

2. For children, does it mean that they travel for free even on mountain rails,cable cars with Swiss travel pass even though the adults will only get a discount.

3. With eurail pass for children,could you please advise if they will be eligible for discounted fare applied on child fare or will have to pay full child fare if we have not bought junior travel cards

thanks

Hi Amit,

1. Sure, it's up to you where you buy and whether you buy it all in one place or from different websites. Please see myswissalps.com/eurail selectpass/price and myswissalps.com/train/ reservations/price for where to buy.

You could buy the pass from www.eurail.com/eurail-passes/select-pass and the reservations from www.raileurope.com.sg# tab3, for example.

2. Yes, correct.

3. They will pay the regular child fare.

Hi Arno,

I typed a full post and then got an error message while posting it saying something went wrong :(. Could you please advise if junior travel card is valid with eurail passes as under point 3 of the overview section it is mentioned that exceptions may apply to regional or international passes / tickets such as eurail passes

Also, could you please advise if the reservation confirmations need to be necessarily printed or a copy of the same can be shown on the phone when requested for, for checking

Hi Amit,

Thanks for letting me know. I looked into this and found an error message. I'll check if this can be solved. Sorry for the inconvenience!

I am 99% sure the Junior travelcard will work with Eurail too. I never heard people reporting issues. But you can ask when you buy the Junior travelcards.

Reservations normally need to be printed, unless it is specifically stated it is for smart phone usage.