Need advise on how to spend 3 days in Switzerland

I am planning to travel into Switzerland from Venice. Kindly suggest as how can I plan three days before I move to Paris for my return flight to India. I have no idea about the places or the prices but I love to drive by car. Kindly suggest as how can I reach to Paris after my stay in Switzerland. The tentative dates are 28th may to 1 June 2015.

Thanks.

Welcome to MySwissAlps, Bhagats!

If you don't have any idea yet, this guide helps you to make a plan. Once that's done, please feel free to get back here if you have more questions.

The trains are the best way to travel in Switzerland, but of course you can choose to drive. Driving information is here. Paris can best be reached by train as well.

I hope this gets you started!

Thanks for the advice. But I am not sure whether I will able to afford all the journeys in Swiss as I am on a tight budget. The currency of my country stands no where compares to euro or dollar. So I would love to have the nearby destinations and cheapest mode of travel. Hence I asked you about car. I got a quote from Travelocity and got 140 $ for 3 days but what are the actual expenses on the road which I should be aware of. Also need I book the ticket for much in advance to get discounts?

thanks

Hi Bhagats,

Rail pass prices in INR were just lowered today, see here (or any other pass page). You can only estimate travel expenses once you know what you plan to do in Switzerland. But in case of a car, do take this into account:

• If you rent a car outside of Switzerland, you need to buy a motorway vignette (CHF 40).
• Gas currently costs about CHF 1.47 per liter.
• There is paid parking in many places. Prices vary; the most popular places could cost around CHF 50 per day or CHF 4 per hour.
• Driving in the larger cities is not much fun if you're not familiar there: busy one way streets and hard to find parking.
• To prevent the above two issues, you can best book hotels in smaller towns.
• Beware of the traffic rules, and especially prevent speeding. Fines are pretty high.
• Mountain passes can still be closed for Winter late May. Depending on where you go, a detour may be required.
• The viewing points such as peaks and some towns (Zermatt, Mürren, etc.) can not be reached by car. Cable car tickets are pretty expensive without any rail pass. Usually a Swiss Half Fare Card pays off even for drivers.

The above may not be a problem for your plans, but I'm not sure if you actually save money by driving. It can add up quickly. Further details about driving are on the pages I linked to in my previous post.

Train tickets in Switzerland don't need to be booked in advance. You just get a rail pass and board any train you like. A few exceptions apply, such as international trains like the ones to and from Paris. See here for details please.