Rail pass or rent a car which is better?

Hi Dear friends

I am from India residing in UAE. Planning to visit Swizz next August. This is my second visit.

with my wife and 3 children aged 16, 12, 8.

I checked swizz rail pass it costs 251 per adult and 125.5 per child so total 878.5 swizz frank for 4 days.

Rent A Car for four days. medium car 315 swizz frank from www.carflexi.com

I am a right?

your thoughts and suggestions most welcome.

Hi growmore, welcome to MySwissAlps!

The rental car might very well be more expensive than public transport, but it depends on the details of your itinerary. A 4-day Swiss Travel Pass for 2017 costs CHF 259 for adults, CHF 221 for the 16 year old, and it's free for the other children because you will get a Swiss Family Card that allows them to travel for free. So in total it would cost CHF 739. It includes free entrance to many museums and discounts or even free traveling to mountain tops. You would need to add those excursion costs to the car rental, as well as fuel and parking costs. Also note that Swiss medium sized cars are often not big enough for 5 people plus luggage. Rail pass details can be found here: myswissalps.com/ swisstravelpass.

This page will help you decide: myswissalps.com/ carversustrain.

Just let us know if you have more questions!

Hi

Thank you sir for the response.

the difference is around 420 CHF. With this amount can i cover

the museum, cable car and other attractions.

i love driving in swizz scenic roads if the difference is less.

please reply

azeez

Hi Azeez,

You're welcome! Note that the costs of the car will be much more than just the rental fee. What's included in the pass can be found on the pass page I gave you in my previous reply. Specifically check the "Where it's valid" tab and download the map from there. Lots of scenic train, bus and boat rides are included. Trips to mountain tops like Pilatus, Schynige Platte and Rigi are free too. These are places you cannot reach by car. If you decide to drive you should at least consider Swiss Half Fare Cards, unless you have not planned to visit any peaks or do boat rides.

Hi azeez-

You will not fit 5 people plus luggage in a Swiss "medium size" rental car. I certainly have not been able to do that for more than 2 people, even using the back seat for luggage, in addition to the boot. If you have two small suitcases, total, you could possibly manage to do it.

If you visit a city, plan on 50 CHF or more for overnight parking.

Petrol --gasoline- is about 1 and 1/2 CHF per liter...rough estimate.

Please tell us where you will travel...any cities?

Alpine regions?

That can affect your tranportation costs.. by many CHF.

Slowpoker

<<"the difference is around 420 CHF. ">>

Don't understand the arithmetic.

I get 739 minus 315 = 424...plus gasoline and parking costs of ???CHF plus gasoline costs of ????CHF.

And you are unlikely to fit all 5 of you in that car, with luggage.

And - even one cableway trip could add 100 or more CHF.

Perhaps I do not understand? Do you not plan to travel any significant distance?

Slowpoke

Dear Friends

Thank you very much for all your suggestions. Now what I understand is rail pass is much better than car rental.

so i would go for rail pass.

one day i will spare to drive around scenic roads.

so please suggest some road maps.

regards

azeez

Hi Azeez-

<<"so please suggest some road maps.">>

I like Michelin

They have a series of three maps that are at 1:200,000 scaleand which cover Switzerland with 3 overlapping sections. #r551, 552, 553. You are unlikely to need them all.

#729 covers the whole country at 1:300,000. It does not have quite enough detail for me.

Kummerly and Frey also make good road maps.

Slowpoke