I am flying into Zurich Switzerland. From there I am taking a train to Liechtenstein for a day, then to Lauterbrunnen and onto Murren where I will be for 4 days, back to Zurich, then Bruges, Brussels and Amsterdam. I am trying to decide if a 7 day Eurail pass would be best or a Swiss Half price pass and then point to point tickets for the rest of the train rides. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Help with train travel in Switzerland
When are you travelling ? It’ll change many things.
Advance tickets will be very cheap on the Zurich - Bruges journey and later.
Since you go to Liechtenstein where you’ll take buses (not included in Eurail) and in the Lauterbrunnen area (where Eurail only offers 25% discount), a Swiss Travel Pass might be cheaper over the Eurail pass. Keep in mind that you’ll still have to pay 146 CHF to Jungfraujoch or 42.80 CHF to Schilthorn anyway (if you want to go there) with it.
On the other hand, Swiss half-fare card + a mix of saver day passes from 29 CHF (when bought in advance) and regular tickets might be the best combo. As you’ve surely seen, the half-fare discount also applies to Jungfraukoch (about 100 CHF) or Schilthorn (42.80 CHF from Mürren).
I’d say it depends on how much the advance ticket to Belgium costs + if you want to be spontaneous and decide last minute to stop for a while in Cologne. Then the 7-day Eurail pass it is.
Not sure I could answer your question though. Please let us know your travel dates first.
I fly into Zurich on April 26 and will take the train to Liechtenstein. The next day April 27 I go from Liechtenstein to Lauterbrunnen then take the cable car to Murren. I will be in Murren until Sunday April 30. While in Murren I will take the train to Lauterbrunnen to hike and then to Interlaken to shop and explore. On the 30th I will take the train to Zurich for a day. On Monday May 1 I will take the train from Zurich to Bruges. On May 3 I will take the train to Brussels for the day and then back to Bruges. On May 4 I will take the train from Bruges to Amsterdam where I will be for 3 days until I fly home.
Does this help with info?
Yes thanks very helpful :)
Zurich - Bruges is very expensive for 1st May (Labour Day + engineering works) : 138-158€. Then I’ll have a look at Eurail pass.
4 days in a month : 317$
- 26th April PASS DAY 1 + 12 CHF Liechtenstein buses day card. Bus from Sargans into Liechtenstein.
- 27th April 61 CHF Saver Day Pass (covers everything, including bus from Liechtenstein and cable cars). A scenic route would be Liechtenstein - Sargans - Pfäffikon SZ - Luzern - Interlaken Ost - Lauterbrunnen. You could stop wherever you want along the way. Due to engineering works trains are replaced by buses between Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen (16-29.04).
- 28.20 CHF Mürren - Interlaken return (incl. 25% discount, no need to use a pass day)
- 16.80 CHF Mürren - Lauterbrunnen return
- 30th April PASS DAY 2 valid from Interlaken
- 1st May PASS DAY 3 various departures via Frankfurt (don’t travel via Paris). 4,50€ optional reservation very recommended that day
- 3rd May PASS DAY 4
- 4th May PASS DAY 5 Bruges - Brussels - Amsterdam (take the reservation-free IC train and not the 25€ Thalys)
TOTAL : 317 + 61 + 45
Thibcabe, thanks so much. You have been a great help and I really appreciate it! My brain was going to mush trying to figure it out 😀
+7thibcabe wrote:
- 4th May PASS DAY 5 Bruges - Brussels - Amsterdam (take the reservation-free IC train and not the 25€ Thalys)
Just a small addition for this trip
If you change in Antwerp Central (and Ghent), instead of Brussels you cut down 30 min of travel time, and get to see the wonderful station of Antwerp Central.
Would look something like this, connection will look the same every hour:
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