Our Return to Switzerland on a Budget: Ditch the Car, Trains Save you Time and Money

Switzerland, unlike her neighbors, has heavy tourist destinations outside her two major hubs of Zurich and Geneva. Which makes you contemplate, how the heck do I get to my final destination and what’s it going to cost me? Thus begins the age-old argument for tourists in Europe, trains or cars.  Both have benefits and negatives, but to us, there’s one big difference, cost.  From our search, and I’m sure there are savvy car renters who can find great deals but staying with the mind set of traveling as a full family and need room for a car seat, bags, making sure you have a Swiss International Driver’s License, Swiss Car Insurance, navigation, etc., etc., prices for a full week car rental for a large car or SUV was upwards of $1,500+CHF. Pair that with staying in one location for an entire week, it didn’t make sense for a car rental.  So, train it is and the savings was incredible.

Now some of you might be leery about train travel, had bad experiences in other countries or prefer to have control of your destination. We understand and have felt that way, but are now converts. Why the train? SBB, the Swiss Federal Train, is Europe’s top rated train system.  The ticketing system is fully app based, with rare delays. No need to go to a ticket agent, have printed tickets or purchase at the station. It’s all on the SBB app right on your phone and unlike the terrible government apps we have become used to in the States, this SBB app is simplistic, smooth running and most importantly, it works. You of course can get paper copies if you so desire. A great aspect is the entire Swiss network has stops at some of the smallest destinations up into the mountains either by cogwheel train, funicular, or lifts. This takes away the uneasiness of whether the train will get me to my final destination or to the train’s destination. The network also runs as one continuous loop through each of its lines, so if you miss a train because of a flight delay or couldn’t make the connection on time, you don’t have to worry about buying another ticket.  The ticket you purchase works 24 hours for that route. It also provides a live update on how busy the train you’re riding is, based on each location, so you have peace of mind that you’ll find a seat. Traveling to Switzerland, now three times, we’ve only been on one full train, and it was a very small regional train near Geneva getting people to and from the city.  The long-haul routes have rarely been busy, so rest easy, you’ll get a seat. Even with all your luggage.

Now that I’ve passionately explained the train dynamics, let’s get into the most important piece which is the monetary savings.  SBB provides a few travel pass options for tourism to make your travel as cost-effective as possible.  The first is the Swiss Travel Pass, which gives you unlimited access to all public transportation including, boats, busses, certain lifts and mountain trains, as well as museums for your select period of time.  You can purchase the pass to last for 3, 4, 6, 8 or 15 days.  The price for this pass is $232 to $429CHF per person 17 years or older. We’d recommend this pass for the on-the-go traveler who will be doing a lot of day trips, taking a lot of lifts, or seeing a ton of sites daily. The next option is the Flex Travel Pass, which is the same unlimited use, but you don’t have to use it in consecutive days, as you would for the regular Travel Pass, but over the course of a month.  Same date range, 3, 4, 6, 8 or 15 days use for a month at a price of point between $267-449 per person 17 years or older.  Flex is for the heavy traveler that might have some longer stops along the way.  Maybe you’re in Zurich one day using the bus, the boats, seeing museums and the next few days you’re in up in the mountains doing a lot of hiking at don’t need the pass until the next phase of your trip. It provides you a bit more flexibility and minimal price increase.

Finally, our favorite, the Swiss Half Pass.  The Swiss Half Pass is $120CHF per person 17 years or older and gives you 50% off all trains, public transit, specialty trains and funiculars throughout the country for a month. Why we prefer this pass is we don’t do heavy day trips and the discount we receive from our round-trip train ticket purchases get us close to breaking even on the pass, then when we factor in on the additional 50% discounts to the transportation to get up into the mountains to hike, ski, whatever, we start to really see the savings.  Swiss big resort areas, like Zermatt, may have their own supported lift infrastructure that these travel passes provide an additional discount.  For the summer/winter hiker, Zermatt provides what they call the Peak Pass, that gives you unlimited lifts to all areas of the valley and each of the travel passes provide a 25% discount even though it’s not part of SBB.

So you might be saying, “Great Jack, lots of options, but I’m traveling with my family, $120CHF for 4 or 5 people, or $450CHF for 4 or 5 people, that’s a lot of money.”  Well, the final perk is, kids 16 or under travel free with the Swiss Family Pass.  The Family Pass is complimentary and just is added to your SBB App if you apply.  Better yet, kids 6 and under don’t even need to be registered on the family pass, they’re just able to hop on the train with a parent or guardian.  So, that 4 to 5 passes can quickly reduce, depending on the size and age of your family.

Swiss trains are said to be very expensive, but I don’t think they are.  $60CHF one-way ticket from Zurich to Zermatt, I believe to be the most expensive ticket and that’s from one end of the country to the other.  At lot of the day trips, will cost anywhere between $5-15CHF one way.  As you plan your logistics take a look at pricing of tickets to figure what pass is best for you and even without the travel passes, you’ll have a hard time approaching that $1,500CHF to have an appropriate car rental, which again isn’t counting gas, license, insurance, tolls and all the other additional costs of driving.  We understand, everyone travels differently. If you do have the passes, you’re out of pocket $900CHF which is still a $600CHF savings difference. For those that like to do a lot of day trips, visit multiple locations, the convenience of a car might be great and driving the Swiss switchbacks would be an experience of a lifetime, but car lovers don’t shrug off the train. The convenience of driving in Switzerland, may not be the convenience you’re used to from a country like France or Germany due to the amount of mountain passes, speed limits, tolls you encounter, and the fact that a lot of times the train gets you to your end game faster.  Keep your options open, look into the Swiss Travel Passes or Half Pass Card, sit back, relax and enjoy the views, while saving a good chunk of money.