MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial Eurail vs Swiss Travel Pass for trip in Nov
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I wanted help on what exactly is euro rail pass compared to Swiss rail pass for 4 days. We are a couple traveling from nov1st to nov 10th,2022. (Switzerland, Paris and Amsterdam).
Kindly advise me which travel passes to be purchased according to my itenary.
Day1- arrival at zurich airport early morning 7am. Where shall I dump luggage – airport or nearest sbb station (which one is cheapest), we would be heading to Rhine falls and come back to collect luggage and proceed to interlaken station and then to winderswill (out hotel). In evening may visit lake Lucerne.
Day2 : Jungfraujoch full day trip (top of Europe).. Based on weather conditions, which app to be downloaded ?
Day 3 : Interlaken to Montreux via golden pass line. (I think this train is chargeable for Swiss pass holders also). Visit Chillon castle. Then back to interlaken via fastest possible train.
Day 4: planned for Zermatt – Matterhorn by Gonergrat train (chargeable for Swiss pass holder also) . Full day will be spent here.
Day5 : checkout from hotel and proceed to Paris.
What would be ideal time to move out of hotel (winderswill) and reach till Paris with minimum movement of luggages.
How much intergap time to be maintained between change of train at interlaken or spiez or bassel keeping in mind we would be carrying 2-3 luggage.
I hope there isn’t any limit on no. Of luggage or weight of luggage which going in fast trains inside Switzerland or else inter country travel.
Day6,7 : in paris and checkout to Amsterdam via fast trains on day 8. We have return flight from Amsterdam on day10.
Currently 4 day Swiss pass costs 199chf (30% discounted) and whether I need to purchase 1 day swis pass (51chf) also to travel from interlaken to bassel.
Again bassel to paris would cost me 80-100$ per person.
Paris to Amsterdam would cost me 60$ per person.
Whether I must go for euro rail pass (4 days travel in a month 250$ I guess). But I don’t know exact benefits like Swiss 4 day pass.
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It looks like you are not travelling on too many high mountain routes so I think the Eurail (not Eurorail) pass will be your best bet given that you are travelling across another three countries after leaving Switzerland.
Day 1 – you can’t visit Lake Luzern ‘in the evening’ from a base in Interlaken. You will already have done too much, even with such an early start at Zurich
Day 3 – The Interlaken – Montreux Goldenpass line is free on STP and Eurail
Day 5 – The route Wilderswil to Paris is as follows:
Wilderswil – Interlaken – Basel – Paris (that is change trains twice). There will normally be 7 minutes between trains in Interlaken. There will normally be just under half an hour in Basel
Please take care with place names: Wilderswil, Basel,
I can’t comment on travel after Basel as this forum is about Switzerland only
Thank you so much for such a quick informative reply.
I just wanted to confirm whether euro rail pass will cover all my train journeys in Switzerland for free? (Except Matterhorn train cost) i.e. Zurich airport to Rhine falls, then next day jungfraujoch ( suppose if 2 days of pass will be used here) , remaining two days I am planning to use on trip from winderswill to Paris (1day) and Paris to Amsterdam (1day)
Also if I buy Euro rail pass instead of STP whether it will cover my trip from winderswill to Paris with flexible timings i wish to travel. Because if I buy point to point tickets, i won’t be able to change my timings if I buy a standard ticket.
Overall expense per person- 250$ for 4 day eurorail pass and if I opt for STP – 4day Swiss pass + 1 full day pass(250$) and additional train cost from bassel to paris and Paris to Amsterdam ( total 150$).
Also I wanted to confirm whether making my base at interlaken would be a good option? Because If i stay in Lucerne, I am finding an additional 1hour journey if I need to go Montreux, jungfraujoch and Matterhorn.
For Switzerland journeys, Interlaken west train station is 3km from my hotel. So I suppose I can perform all my journeys from interlaken west station itself?
Most of the resources you need to answer your questions are already on this website, for example see:
You cannot just turn up for TGV service in France, as they are obligatory reservation. You need to book a ticket but state you have a Eurailpass to get a discounted fare
The Eurail web site has all the details you need:
Hi SHANKY1987,
Welcome to MySwissAlps.
I agree with 1960man. Based on your plans, getting the Eurail Global Pass might be more cost effective if you’re planning trips to multiple European countries. The Eurail Global Pass is valid on most Swiss trains. For the excursion to Jungfraujoch and Gornergrat, just show your pass to get a discount on your mountain transportation. Please refer to the link provided by 1960man to view the Eurail Global Pass valid network.
To answer some of your earlier questions:
1. On Day 1, you can store your luggage at the Zurich Airport train station. A left luggage service is available as well as luggage lockers in varying sizes. You can find further details here: http://www.myswissalps.com/train/practical/luggage
2. To check the local weather forecast, I normally use Meteo Swiss. You can find more information here: http://www.myswissalps.com/weather/forecast
3. Interlaken is certainly a good base to see the best of the Swiss Alps. The town has an excellent transport network so you can easily plan day trips to the mountains and other regions as well.
Let us know if you need further information.
regards,
Anna
I thank this community who has responded so politely and addressed all my concerns.
I have visited the links provided and got to know that euro rail works well in Swiss area also. Overall I may not save too much (30-40$ hardly), but if I go for eurorail then I can travel worry free i.e. no need to prebook my journey from interlaken to Paris and Paris to amsterdam.i can do instant booking irrespective of the train cost (Basel to Paris requires a reservation fee of 29$ for non-stop TGV trains or else 12$ for a one stop train, which is operated partially by TGV).
So if I buy eurorail 5 day pass it’s costing me 288$ ( add 29$ reservation fees) ; whereas Swiss Travel pass for 5 days is 250$(199+51$) plus 100$ for Basel to paris (point to point ticket).
I suppose being a weekend on 5th November, i cannot wait for the ticket prices to increase and I would rather go with euro rail pass.
I wanted information on how to travel from Beaten Hotel, Wilderswill to interlaken west station. It’s showing me just 3km distance, so do we have local buses running from wilderswill to interlaken west station or else need catch a train from wilderswill to interlaken West. I did not get any idea whether local bus travel cost is covered in Eurorail pass or not.
I wanted to ask whether travel to Rhine falls (early morning 9am) is fine after having a overnight international flight journey. ? I would be visiting on 1st November so would it be too cold for visiting Rhine falls?
Or else any other alternatives like Mount titlis or Rigis can be explored after dumping the luggage at hotel in interlaken (wilderswill).
Titlis or Rigi would be far more exhausting than Rhine Falls after a long haul flight. Stick to Rhine Falls, which is fine at any time of year. See my picture from June 2022 when I didn’t even get off the train – I just saw the falls from the train window on the express from Zurich to Schaffhausen.
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Hi SHANKY1987,
Interlaken (https://www.myswissalps.com/interlaken) or nearby Wilderswil seems to be a good base for your plans. If you want to know how to get to your hotel, simply fill out the hotel’s address in the Swiss timetable. This page explains how it works: https://www.myswissalps.com/timetable. You can plan any other trip in, from and to Switzerland with the timetable as well.
Mind that the Eurail Global Pass does not fully include trains in the Jungfrau region south of Interlaken. So the entire trip to Jungfraujoch, including getting to Grindelwald/Wengen (see https://www.myswissalps.com/jungfraujoch/gettingthere) will be discounted by 25% only. And no, local buses are usually not included: see “City transport and most buses are not included” at http://www.myswissalps.com/eurailglobalpass.
If you want to make sure which pass is most economical, you’d have to make detailed calculations as explained here: https://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass. But you don’t have to. An educated guess is fine too, and you can’t go wrong with either a Eurail Global Pass (https://www.myswissalps.com/eurailglobalpass) or a Swiss Travel Pass (https://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass).
Good luck with finalizing your plans, and let us know if you need more help!
I was planning for alternative plan also. For which I need some support.
Plan -B
1st night if i plan to stay at Zurich. i.e. from airport check into a hotel near airport, take rest. Then proceed for Rhine falls and come back to Zurich, explore Zurich city if time permits, overnight stay in Zurich.
My question is for remaining 3 days visit i.e. jungfraujoch, Zermatt and Montreux (Chillon castle). What time i must start from hotel for having best experience in the limited time, I heard that we must start as early as possible i.e. 7 or 8am.
Only problem I see in this plan is when I checkout from Zurich early morning 6-6:30am (on day 2), then I need to go hotel in wilderswill (may be 2 hours from zurich) to dump my luggage and then start our trip. So on 2nd day morning, which trip I can plan for? In case we start by 9 or 10am from interlaken.
Or else better to go ahead with my original plan of checkin at interlaken on 1st night itself by dumping luggage at airport for Rhine fall visit.
I will plan on selection of Swiss travel pass or eurorail pass after putting all my journeys in Excel sheet and calculating the expenses.
Just keep in mind that November is the least best time to travel in Switzerland. Many lifts and cable cars will be out of service – check operating times. Rhine falls are not very impressive this year given the missing rain in the summer resulting in a low water level.
Hi SHANKY1987,
If your flight arrives in Zurich in the morning, a visit to the Rhine Falls is a quick and safe option to spend the day before check-in. There are luggage storage facilities at the Zurich main station as well as at Zurich Airport train station.
I recommend skipping the hotel in Zurich and head straight to Interlaken on Day 1. This way you have more flexibility to plan your excursions in the Jungfrau region and day trips to Montreux and Zermatt.
Regards,
Anna
Thank you for the response Anna.
I will better take check in at interlaken on day1 evening itself, after Rhine falls.
I just wanted to confirm whether Zermatt to Gonergrat train is 50% discounted in euro rail pass?
Because I couldn’t find the details on its website also.
I hope weather conditions won’t be too cold or cloudy for my planned excursions during November 1st week. Any experts can comment on weather conditions too.
I’m planning that if I get a clear weather on any of the 3 days then that day would be for jungfraujoch.
Hi again,
No, the Eurail Global Pass does not provide any discount on the cogwheel train from Zermatt to Gornergrat.
You can view the Eurail Global Pass validity map here: http://www.myswissalps.com/eurailglobalpass/validity
Regards,
Anna
I just happen to explore rail planner app of eurorail.
I won’t be able to travel from wilderswill (hotel) to interlaken. Won’t be useful for jungfraujoch trip ( interlaken to next destination trains also not included in Eurorail , may get 25% discount for top of Europe train) and Zermatt to gornergrat cogwheel also no discount .
I will be able to travel 2 days in Switzerland with euro rail pass for free; from Zurich to Rhine falls, Rhine falls to interlaken. 2nd day- Interlaken to Montreux and back to interlaken.
This are the drawbacks and euro rail looks tricky.
I had a doubt about Jungfraujoch trip. How to start and the charges of 162chf per person is valid from Grindelwald? Or else from Interlaken?
How to start for a Jungfraujoch trip? Go from Interlaken to Grindelwald and from their till Top of Europe and which route to be taken in return. I want to board a cable car during Jungfraujoch, as I don’t have any cable car plan in my total itenary.
I have calculated total expenses for Swiss Travel Pass 4 day pass (586 chf) and Eurail Global Pass 4days (547 chf) for my itenary, which includes Basel to Paris and Paris to Amsterdam. Attached the calculation file, experts can suggest me which one to go about based on ease of trip.
Will use Eurail Global Pass for two days in Switzerland for Rhine Falls and Montreux tour? Remaining two days for Paris and Amsterdam if Eurail Global Pass is an option.
Currently Basel to Paris direct train costs 110$, which goes upto 190$ for one week prior booking.
If I take Swiss Travel Pass 4 days then I need to prebook (non refundable) my trains from Basel to Paris and Paris to Amsterdam within 7-10days time now.
To clarify:
Eurail pass (not Eurorail) gives a 25% discount on the Jungfrau railways, starting from Interlaken.
Your hotel in Wilderswil may give you a guest card which is likely to give free travel on the bus routes between Wilderswil and Interlaken (not a long journey)
Hi SHANKY1987,
the 182,60 CHF ticket price for Jungfraujoch is valid only between 1 November – 10 December and it is the full price without any rail passes. The route starts in Interlaken. You can make a round trip by cogwheel train from Grindelwald OR Wengen OR with Eiger Express via Eigergletscher to the Jungfraujoch. You can buy this ticket here: http://www.myswissalps.com/jungfraujoch/tickets.
In case you have a Swiss Travel Pass, the price would be 121 CHF.
In case you have a Swiss Half Fare Card, the price is 81,30 CHF for the same route.
With Eurail Global Pass you pay 91,20 CHF.
At http://www.myswissalps.com/eurailglobalpass/validity you can find the validity map of the Eurail Global Pass, trains to the Rhine Falls are for free. Also the train to Montreux is for free. But there is no discount on the entrance ticket to Chillon Castle.
I do not understand from your table the Eurail Global Pass price. For how many days would you like to buy it? As I can see, you would use it for 6 days, right? So you should buy it for 7 days, right? Then it costs 251 EUR. Is this the one you use for your calculations?
Ildiko
thank you for going through the excel sheet.
I have found the mistakes and updated the excel sheet.
My plan in switzerland is from 1st to 5th Nov,2022.
If i opt for 4day EURAIL global pass then i would be using it on DAY1, Day4,Day5 and Day8 of my Itenary. As EURAIL pass wont be of any use on Zermatt route.
Now calculation has fallen down to STP (587 Chf) and EURAIl pass (596 Chf).
Whether i must opt for STP(4day pass) with ease of use in switzerland or else i can go for EURAIL pass also?
My journey from basel to Paris is fixed at 10:30am (direct train).
In case i opt for EURAIL pass then can i consider a one day CAR hire for Zermat trip? We are a couple travelling together.
(for Zermatt trip i need to anyways purchase two day saver passes of 52CHF if i opt for EURAIL global pass)
I know i am complicating a bit, but just for sake of exploring all possible options i am asking in this forum.
i have Attached Revised Excel Sheet with clarity.
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