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hello, we are a party of 5, with 2 under 16, will go to Lauterbrunnen from Colmar, France next summer. which way will be cheaper, car or swiss pass if we want to explore the BO (trip to Schilthorn) and boat tour, maybe lake Thun? I have ruled out the BO pass, since the cost itself for 5 of us will be more than that of swiss pass. The half fare card also came out more expensive than swiss pass. Thank you for all your input.
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Hi hapluck2020 and welcome to MySwissAlps!
I recommend you to travel by train, as the Swiss rail network is fantastic, it is safe, comfortable and eco-friendly. Here you will find a comparison regarding car vs train in Switzerland: http://www.myswissalps.com/ca rversustrain.
To choose your rail pass please follow the 5 steps and use the calculation sheet provided here: http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass.
Children upto 15 years old travel free with the Swiss Family Card (http://www.myswissalps.com/sw issfamilycard), if the parents travel with any of the Swiss Travel System rail pass (http://www.myswissalps.com/sw issrailpasses). Usually train travellers pick the Swiss Travel Pass, as it gives the highest comfort and it is the most convenient solution, you find the reasons here: http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass.
If you are planning to travel with train in other European countries too, you can check the Eurail Global Pass too: http://www.myswissalps.com/eu railglobalpass
In brief first you should finish your travel plan to be able to make a good choice regarding the passes. Let me know if I can help you with any other question.
These could be also useful for you:
- Bernese Oberland: http://www.myswissalps.com/be rneseoberland/activiti es
- Jungfrau region: http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfrauregion
- Boat rides on Lake Thun and Lake Brienz: http://www.myswissalps.com/bo atlakethun and http://www.myswissalps.com/bo atlakebrienz
- Swiss Half Fare Card: http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isshalffarecard
- Regional Pass Bernese Oberland: http://www.myswissalps.com/re gionalpassberneseoberl and/
Happy planning 🙂
Hi Hapluck2020
Welcome to the forum.
If you hire a car you will probably have it parked up for most of the time In Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald when you up in the mountains or Interlaken when you are on Lakes Thun or Brienz.
Wengen (to the Mannlichen/Kleine Scheidegg/Jungfrau) and Murren (to Schilthorn) are car free villages and only reached by railway or cable car from Lauterbrunnen.
Have you considered the Jungfrau Pass in your calculations? https://www.myswissalp s.com/jungfrautravelpa ss If you look at the map you can see what is and what is not included. The train to Interlaken West from Interlaken Ost and boats on Lakes Brienz and Thun are only included in the 5 days or more Pass.
Hope this is of help.
Jane
Also you don’t need to buy 5 full price Bernese Oberland Passes. For the children there is a fixed price of 30chf/child: http://www.myswissalps.com/re gionalpassberneseoberl and/price.
When doing the math and comparison between a regional pass and a swiss pass (http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/validity), you should take into account that with the first you are free on all the mountain transportation (with very few exceptions like Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn) in that region, whereas the STP and Half Fare Card only (http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isshalffarecard/validi ty) offer discounts on those routes.
If you have a lot of mountain trips and you only stay in one region, don’t travel from one to another , no panoramic trains, the only traveling outside being that trip from Colmar to Lauterbrunnen, I think that a regional pass will come out as the winner. But you can get an accurate result only after you decide everything that you would like to visit.
edit: With Bernese Oberland Pass , apart from free transportation within the region, including mountains, you also get a discount to many sites, like Beatus Caves, Ballenberg, etc… Check the bonus partners on the validity map. You should take this into account when doing the math: http://www.myswissalps.com/re gionalpassberneseoberl and/validity.
Hello,
I think more information is required. Are you renting a car in France and planning on driving it to Switzerland ? How many total days are you planning to be in Switzerland, and will you be returning to France after your stay in Switzerland ?
Thank you everyone for your input!
1. We will be renting a car in France.
2. Debating bt driving to Lauterbrunnen or drop off car at Basel Frenchside airport and take train to Lucern (boat ride included in Swiss pass?) then train to Lauterbrunnen.
3. Next 2 days we plan to explore the BO region Go to Schilthorn, visit Murren Gimmewald. Wengen Grindelwald
4. Train from Lauterbrunnen back to Geneva, go to Frenchside to pick up rental car to Nice.
2020 trip to Schilthorn will only 50% off with Swiss pass 🙁
Hi hapluck2020! I would definitely drop off your car in France and enjoy the excellent Swiss public transportation from Basel onward, if I were you. If you get yourself a Swiss Travel Pass, you can hop on and off trains, buses and boats without having to get additional tickets. A boat ride on Lake Lucerne is included as well. Please refer to http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/validity for details. So if I’m correct, you’ll be spending 4 days in Switzerland? In that case a 4 day Swiss Travel Pass would make sense: http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/price.
In this case I think it goes down to : extra days for car rental + gas ( from Basel on) + parking + BORP 3 days + Schilthorn supplement vs STP 4 days + all mountain supplements.
And convenience of course, like Annika said. Within a town, public transport wins by far, but when changing bases it really depends on how light you travel and how much junk (sticks, stones, flyers, things found on the mountains like broken walking sticks, broken sun glasses, metal parts left by some workers:)), toys, other souvenirs) you collect each passing day.
Thank you!!!
Thank you! And lol @ collections…
Hello again,
So is it a total of four days of travel in Switzerland, as Annika has asked ? It’s easier to make suggestions and observations if people state a suggested day by day itinerary, including where they plan to stay for the night at the end of each day.
For instance, is your first day leaving Colmar and ending up in Lauterbrunnen ? Or is it perhaps from Basel to Lauterbrunnen ? And are days 2 and 3 in the Bernese Oberland region and sleeping in that area for another two nights ? And is day 4 travel from Lauterbrunnen to Geneva and staying overnight somewhere nearby ? I ask these questions because IF you decide to travel in Switzerland with a STP, the next one available after 4 days is one for 8 days, with a significant increase in price (CHF 281 to CHF 418 for 2nd class, and CHF 447 to CHF 663 for 1st class).
By the way, the places you have mentioned in the Bernese Oberland (Schilthorn, Mürren, Gimmelwald, Wengen, and Grindelwald) are all wonderful places to visit, and all but the last place you mention are not accessible by automobile. So you will be using public transport around here, car or no car. I notice that you have not included the Jungfraujoch on your list and must say I think that is wise.
Also, just wondering, what is the daily rate for the car you plan to rent, or have you got that far in your planning ? I find that rental rates in France are very reasonable.
Hi, I booked 3 nights in Lauterbrunnen.
1. Day 1, leave colmar to Basel early in the morning, catch train to Lucerne to visit and boat tour then leave Lucerne for Lauterbrunnen.
2. Day 2, 3 explore the BO region ( would Schilthorn and Jungfrau be redundant? Lots $$$ involved if doing both! )
3. Day 4 leave Lauterbrunnen for Geneva, get rental car to go to NIce.
Rental car is about $39 per day in France.
Thanks
Have you done your rental research with AutoEurope ? I find they find the best deals. Just google these three words “location d’autos France” and you will see them on the list, perhaps not at the top, but they will be there.
Yes, this year we got our rental car thru Auto Europe. 🙂
Hi hapluck2020! That looks like a good itinerary to me. I think it’s a wise decision to just use public transportation in Switzerland. A 4 day Swiss Travel Pass (http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/price) seems to make most sense, as it will also cover your inbound and outbound trips from Basel and to Geneva, as well as the boat trip at Lake Lucerne. Of course additional fees for mountain routes are involved, but I think you’d be fine with either Schilthorn (http://www.myswissalps.com/sc hilthorn) or Jungfraujoch (http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfraujoch) instead of both. And there are many more mountains in the Bernese Oberland with stunning views and lower costs. Please refer to http://www.myswissalps.com/be rneseoberland/activiti es for tips.
Hello Annika,
After more calculation, I see that driving into Lauterbrunnen from Colmar, use Half fare card for mountain excursions and HFC + saver day card for trip to lake and boat tour, and drive our of Lauterbrunnen to Nice will save us at least 200$.
Rental car is actually cheaper the whole trip vs dropping off and re rent. I saw that Switzerland only needed a $40 sticker, not charging highway fee like in France and Italy. Am I right, please?
Hello there,
I have been preparing a proposal for you to consider, but it seems that you are already thinking in somewhat the same way as I am. So even though I am not completely ready, I will start by attaching two maps. The first map shows the route by car between Colmar and Lauterbrunnen, via Lucerne. The second map shows the route I was thinking that might be nice, again by car, between Lauterbrunnen and Geneva.
The trip by road from Colmar to Lauterbrunnen by car would take you about 3 hours and 18 minutes, and is 243 kilometres. Of course, stops along the way and if you take a cruise on Lake Lucerne will add to this time, but this is a very do-able trip for one day. You will have plenty of time to stop wherever you like along the way and move on when you like.
The road trip I am suggesting to get from Lauterbrunnen to Geneva will take you 3 hours and 27 minutes, and is only 221 kilometres (distances are often short in Switzerland !), and takes you over the lovely Jaun Pass to Broc, Gruyères, and then Vevey along the way to Geneva. There will again be plenty of non-driving time available so you will be able to stop, if you wish, to visit Broc (Cailler chocolate), Gruyères (cheese and château), and places around Vevey on the way.
Another thing I was going to mention is that by keeping your car rental for your four days in Switzerland you will be spared the hassle and waste of time dropping of the car in Basel, and the same waste in Geneva when you have to go pick up another one. And think of all that moving around of luggage that won’t have to happen in either city. Your car is your moving storage locker. When you get to Basel, just keep driving (unless your car doesn’t have a vignette, in which case you will buy one at the border for CHF 40, the whole operation takes only a minute or two) and follow the signs for Lucerne. Same in Geneva, just keep sailing along, perhaps headed for Annecy ?
http://www.myswissalps.com/mo torwayvignetteParking ? The only place where I see you will have to plan where to park will be in Lucerne. I am assuming you will be able to park your car where you will be staying in Lauterbrunnen, and you already know that many of the things you want to do in the Berner Oberland will be done without the use of your car. You should have a blue disc (disque bleue) in the car which you put in your windshield when you park in places that are outlined in blue.
Any time you return a car rental at a place other than when you picked it up there almost always is a drop-off charge. If you keep the same car you will have one less drop off. That should save you some Euros.
I will get back to you later on with my thoughts about what pass might be most useful for your visit. I have a suspicion you are already looking at all the various options very carefully.
Hi Hapluck,
You don’t talk about visiting Lucerne when you stop for the boat cruise. Is the lake cruise the only reason you are stopping by? If it is, then you might want to consider instead of lake Lucerne, taking a boat on Lake Brienz, which is very close to your base in Lauterbrunnen. During the cruise on lake Brienz you could stop and see the Giessbach falls . And maybe you are lucky to catch the Lotschberg steamship for your cruise. Cruises on lake Brienz or Thun are free with a regional pass.
Hello again,
I was looking for videos showing the Col de Jaun, and found this one, although he is showing only part of the trip, and is going from west (canton de Fribourg) towards the east (canton de Berne). The music is very catchy and seems very suitable for driving. Perhaps you know it already ? It is by an Italian group called Rondò Veneziano. youtu.be/7Oi6AcjZG80
If you have a TomTom or Garmin with Europe maps, it is a good thing to bring it along. If you request one for your car rental, they will charge you extra. If you don’t request it, your car may have it anyway and you will not be charged. I guess it all depends on the total number of days you will be renting the car. A few years ago, my TomTom helped me find a bookstore in Milano. Without it, I’d probably still be there.
Omg, thank you so very much!!!!
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