Rental car from St. Moritz options?

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    6 April 2018 at 13:45:25 #815166

    Hi,

    I am planning to catch glacier express and stay at St. Moritz. From St. Moritz, I am planning to hire car and go to Zurich city. Is there any car rental company operating in St. Moritz or nearby?

    Thanks

    Mukesh

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    6 April 2018 at 16:40:03 #881153

    Hi Mukesh,

    Where are you going after Zurich? Are you dropping the car there? I would think it much easier to take a train to Zurich…

    I believe there is an Enterprise and Europcar in St. Moritz though if you need it.

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    6 April 2018 at 19:48:27 #881154

    Yes, I will drop the car in Zurich. I am taking glacier express to reach St. Moritz and also want to experience road trip that’s why looking for renting the car. I think it is doable from St. Moritz to Zurich in the car?

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    6 April 2018 at 19:57:23 #881155

    Yes, it certainly can be a nice drive in the summer… When are you going to be there?

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    7 April 2018 at 8:40:42 #881156

    I will be there in July.

    There is a bit confusion in planning. I will drop off from my tour at Lucerne. Next day I want to board glacier express and go to St. Moritz. And after that in car i am planning to go to zurich to catch flight to DUblin. I am thinking that this is the best plan.

    Thanks

    Mukesh

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    7 April 2018 at 13:32:39 #881157

    So from Lucerne you’ll need to train to Brig or Zermatt to catch the Glacier Express for the 8+ hour trip to St. Moritz. In July I’m sure the drive is pleasant from St. Moritz to Zurich but perhaps a little pricey with the one-way drop charge.

    You can search the train timetables to find the options for you to get to Brig or Zermatt in order to link up with the Glacier Express. The last Glacier Express train to leave Zermatt is at 09:52 or from Brig as late as 14:10. The train to Brig is about 2 hours from Lucerne (another hour to Zermatt) so Brig is much easier.

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    7 April 2018 at 23:41:49 #881158

    I suggest you travel Luzern – Göschenen – Andermatt – St Moritz

    The wish to travel on the Glacier Express soon after being in the Luzern area has come up before on this forum, but there is a fundamental problem with this idea.

    The Glacier Express runs east to west in a segment of Switzerland that is a good distance south of the Luzern area. The eastern terminus of Zermatt is about 170km from Luzern.

    My usual recommendation to overcome this is to travel on the portion of the Glacier Express route from Andermatt to St Moritz. This section includes the most spectacular sections of the route covered by the Glacier Express (actually two railways the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn and the Rhätische Bahn). The extra benefit is the ride up the Gotthard railway spirals (you see Wassen village church three times at three different levels), and the ride up the Schöllenen gorge en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Schöllenen_Gorge

    I don’t think hiring a car to drive St Moritz – Zurich will add much to your experience.

    .

    And remember – as with all discussion about the Glacier Express – the route can be done by normal service trains – you don’t actually have to use the Glacier Express with its extra reservation fee.

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    8 April 2018 at 8:49:15 #881159

    Thanks for replying all the questions. After all the discussion, I will do now Andermatt/brig to St. Moritz.

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    8 April 2018 at 8:53:00 #881160

    Thanks for the detailed answer. yes, I think to catch the glacier express from Andermatt or brig is the good idea it seems.

    The car drive came up to mind as anyway I have to return back to Zurich to catch the return flight.

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    9 April 2018 at 0:03:47 #881161

    The train journey St Moritz – Zurich is about the same as the car journey and you would be able to relax and see the scenery. 2/3 of the car journey would just be on motorways not ideal for sightseeing.

    Plus the train drops you direct to the Airport terminal

    Slowpoke
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    9 April 2018 at 1:19:11 #881162

    <<“Plus the train drops you direct to the Airport terminal “>>

    So do most rental cars.

    Slowpoke

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    9 April 2018 at 2:40:26 #881163

    >> I have to return back to Zurich to catch the return flight.

    Instead of driving, why not consider the scenic train trip St Moritz-Zürich via Zernez?

    That is a different route from the one on which you will have arrived at St Moritz.

    I have written about this trip in my post of Feb 28, 2017 – 4:36 AM on the following page if you are interested in finding out more:

    http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/chur-to-st-moritz-via-davos

    Alpenrose

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    9 April 2018 at 10:44:21 #881164

    That is also an option I am considering.

    Slowpoke
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    9 April 2018 at 13:28:26 #881165

    Hi mbprajapati –

    Last time I rented in St. Moritz…actually, in those days, Avis had a location in Samedan, now closed, there was a very large fee for one way rental.. They did not call it a drop-off fee, they just charged a much higher rate than the rate if I returned it to the renting location.

    Slowpoke

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    9 April 2018 at 15:06:44 #881166

    According to plan, I am taking glacier express on Saturday, stay at St Moritz and take the car on Sunday. While looking at major car rental websites, most of them are closed on Sundays. Any idea on which rental company remains open on Sundays?

    Slowpoke
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    9 April 2018 at 15:30:57 #881167

    <<“While looking at major car rental websites, most of them are closed on

    Sundays. Any idea on which rental company remains open on Sundays?”>>

    That is a pattern throughout Switzerland. I think thatthe only ones open on Sundays will be atthe major airports.

    Slowpoke

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    10 April 2018 at 10:16:27 #881168

    Hi, mbprajapati

    Sunday!

    I rented a car at Hertz Zurich and drived around Eastern Switzerland last June. But could not find a shop to drop off on Sunday at Bellinzola, had to return it to the same shop at Hertz Zurich Station (Bahnhof).

    We enjoyed the driving journey except, as 1960man mentioned, the driving journey back to Zurich was not ideal for sightseeing and lot of time was spent on traffic jam.

    Good travelling!

    Slowpoke
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    10 April 2018 at 12:46:19 #881169

    Hi MaRock-

    Due to a long relationship and good prices and service in the USA, I always rent from Avis. That may not always be the most economical way to go, but that is not an issue for me. At least twice it has gotten me a car when none were available to my traveling companion and we needed to rent on short notice. And, when I used to travel frequently on business, they always found me a car, even when none were officially available.

    Recently, when I have rented at the Avis Gartenhofstrasse location in Zürich, I have been able to return the car at off-hours. They have added a key-drop. i have not asked if it could be used with cars rented elsewhere, but it is not obvious how to do it, and I needed an explanation from the clerk.

    I never rent at the Zürich airport, because there is a tax or fee that adds 10 % ( I recal) to the total cost of the rental at airports. Return to the airport does not have that fee.

    And, each time I have checked rates in Switzerland, there is a “hidden” drop – off fee, if I return a car to a location different from where I rented it. It shows up as a higher per day rental cost.

    My travel pattern is to use public transport on the first and last few days of a trip when I am staying in Zürich. In the days in between, I use a mix. perhaps I’ll leave the car at my inn or at a bus or train stop convenient for a hiking trail, then use public transport to complete the circuit after I hike.

    Or, if I go to visit in a city, I always take a train. Finally, the Swiss law is quite strict about driving with even a very low blood alcohol content, so if I indulge in wine at a meal, I don’t drive afterward. There is sufficiently frequent public transport to make this easy. For example, many times I have joined a friend for dinner in Luzern while staying in Zürich, or vice versa.

    Slowpoke

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    12 April 2018 at 2:54:40 #881170

    Hi Slowpoke,

    Always having fun to drive and use public transport while travelling. Keep learning from the forum.:)

    MaRock

    Slowpoke
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    12 April 2018 at 7:27:09 #881171

    Hi Marock:

    <<“Always having fun to drive and use public transport while travelling. Keep learning from the forum.:)

    MaRock “>>

    We all do. There is a lot of knowledge here.

    The travel mode thta I described definitely does not work for every situation, and it trades off more expense in order to get more convenience.

    If I were to fly into Zürich or Geneva, go straight to the Jungfrau Region, and maybe add a trip to Zermatt, and eventuall return to an exit airport, possibly not the one that I flew into, I would not rent a car. With the pattern that I normally use, if I do spend a few days in Wengen, the car sits in the garage at Lauterbrunnen all the time I am there. Not terribly economical. Depending on the situation, I’d consider renting in Interlaken, too, while keeping in mind the hidden drop off-fee.

    I make a deliberate choice – I have limited time in Switzerland, so I choose results over cost, if I have to make a choice. To me a couple of days of car rental is a small price to pay extra for the convenience. Luckily, my budget can stand the expense, if I don’t do it to often. 😉

    Slowpoke

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