MarinaFbg
Traveller
62 comments
Posted 10 years ago
Hi
My first post :)
We are a family of 4, kids 4 and 9 years old, and we sort of have decided to go on a 10-day tour of europe this summer. We are not sure how stupid this is ;) but we will give it a try! We plan on staying in hotels with some standards. We plan on leaving 2nd July 2014.
My first questions is, for our 4-yearold, which is smartest when travelling in Germany, Swiss, Austria, by an interrail pass or by tickets on those lines that he needs a ticket on?
Our Plan is to have a 5 day travel in 10 day-pass and then by a swiss 3-day pass for our days in switzerland - giving us 8 traveldays in the 10 days.
We plan on leaving copenhagen (or Roskilde acutally to bord CNL after 19.00) in a sleeping department on the CNL heading for Basel. We then head directly for Luzern.
Question 2: tips for CNL when travelling with kids?
Question 3: Do we need seat reservations between Basel and Luzern or could we just take the next train leaving?
Child-friendly hotel in Luzern?
Next stop will be Zermatt and we plan on taking the Goldenpass-line from Luzern to Spiez and then a local train up to Zermatt.
Question 4: is it worth while going with goldenpass even though the route to Spiez is not with panoramic couches? Does the train go slower?
Question 5: Seat reservations Speiz-Zermatt?
After 2 nights in zermatt we then take the Glacier Express (included in swiss pass if I understood it correctly? only need reservations?) to Oberwald where we will try to make it to go with the furka-steamtrain and then to Andermatt. I´ve had a conversation with Glacierexpress and they have told me we can de-board in Oberwald event though thats not on the time table if we just tell the on board staff (we have to pay to Andermatt, but anyway, we want to take the steamtrain :D )
Question 6: Any inputs on the furka-steamtrain?
After a night in Andermatt we go on the Glacier Express again and head for St Moritz, we then plan to switch to a normal train and go to Chur (to expensive hotels and restaurants in St Moritz).
Question 7: Is it worth it to go up to St Moriz and then down again or should we just de-board earlier and go directly to chur? Any tips on hotels in Chur? Or should we go further, perhaps to Innsbruck?
Then the plan is to go from Chur to Salzburg. We would like to be in Salzburg early afternoon in order to be able to do some sightseeing arrival day, but we also want to see as much of the austrian countryside as we can. I´ve been here a lot in the winter but almost not at all in the summer.
Question 8: What is the best trains for us? When searching on bahn.de there seem only to be eurocity-trains? Local s-trains - how uncomfortable are they? Service?
We then spend 2 nights in Salzburg, leaving on the afternoon second day to Prag (because the CNL back to Denmark leaves from there)
Question 9: Family friendly hotels in Salzburg? How much time is needed to visit the castle?
We then spend one afternoon and one day in Prag, leaving with the CNL for Kolding in Denmark, According to timeplan CNL leaves at 18.30
Question 10: Food on CNL? With the kids? Is there anything for the children or should we bring food?
Arriving in Kolding in the morning we have promised the kids to go to Legoland where we spend the day and then head for Helsingör where we will board the boat back to Sweden where we then will have someone pick us up by car. Guess we will had enough of trains by then :D
Pjuuu. And then we probably need vacation from vacation :os
Is this a to tight schedule? Transfer times with kids, is the trains normally in time or do we need to take into account dealys when planning transfer times?
If we arrive in Luzern and weather forcast for zermatt-chur is really bad what would you suggest as backup-plan? Milano? Nice? Venice? We would probably anyway need to get to Prague in someway right? CNL tickets are not refundable?
Sorry for a very long post, hope you can help me make this a trip to remember for both kids and adults :))
JoySeeker
Traveller
77 comments
I will try to answer at least some of your questions :)
3) No. I general, you don't need seat reservations in Switzerland except for very few panoramic trains. Lots of trains on this route, about every 30 min.
4) It is a little slower, yes. But the scenery is quite beautiful so I'd definitely recommend it.
5) Again no reservations necessary
6) Very nice train ride, especially with kids I guess :)
7) Depends, if you have time. The Albula line between Filisur and Samedan is amazing. But it's a bit of a detour. If you want to do it, travel like this: Andermatt-Filisur-Samedan-Sagliains-Landquart-Innsbruck/Salzburg
8 ) From Chur/Landquart to Buchs SG there are hourly RE trains. From Buchs SG to Innsbruck/Salzburg there are Railjet/EC trains every 2 hours. No reservation necessary for either of them!
10) there is a restaurant car in the Basel-Kobenhavn part of the train (attached to the Prague-Kobenhavn train in the middle of the night), so in the morning you could get breakfast there. Might be that there is also a restaurant car in the evening running from Prague to elsewhere, check on the CNL website.
EDIT: concerning the Glacier Express: there are regional trains on the whole route that don't require a reservation. They're almost as fast as the Express, but do not have panoramic cars. You have the choice there :)
Greets,
JS
MarinaFbg
Traveller
62 comments
Thank you! :))
Since we are bying a swiss flexi pass anyway the glacier express does not cost extra :) just de debacle with the time table to tackle :os
The part Chur-St Moritz is not that spectacular then? Would we miss something really good if we skip it and deboard in Chur? My thoughts is that if we can get a bit further that day we then can arrive earlier in Salzburg having a bit more time for the castle and the Wasserspiele Hellbrunn
Need to investigate restaurant car on CNL a bit further then :) Especially for breakfast.
Again, thank you for you quick answers!
JoySeeker
Traveller
77 comments
I've been a bit unclear, sorry: from Chur to St. Moritz the train uses the spectacular Albula Line between Filisur and Samedan I mentioned :)
Have a look at the railcc map for Switzerland here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/switzerland/xch[/u]
My suggestion would be as follows (should be clear with the map I hope :) :
Leave the Glacier Express at Reichenau-Tamins (if possible, otherwise a little detour to Chur and back), take a train from there to Samedan. Then change to another train to Sagliains, where you need to change again. From there via Klosters to Landquart. Trains run every hour and the journey is really scenic. It takes a while, though, calculate about 4 hours for the round trip Reichenau-Tamins to Landquart. Chur/Landquart to Salzburg are another 4 1/2 hours. So you could spend the night for example in Landquart and continue to Salzburg next morning.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
At a first glance it seems a better (ie cheaper) option for you to go with regular tickets instead of the 5in10; stay with the Swiss Pass.
I did a quick lookup on fares one month ahead and came up with about 950€ for the trip with IR, 750€ with prebooked tickets. Booked further in advance prices can get even less expensive for regular tickets.
Your 4 year old can travel for free in all countries you pass through, just additional reservations on the night trains are needed and also your 9 year old can benefit from free travel.
You can look for prices online:
Kobenhavn - Basel: [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux] (website of Deutsche Bahn, with your purchase you support railcc, same prices for you - thank you! Book only until Basel Bad Bf (this is considered a German station allowing you to get cheper Europa Spezial Dänemark fares, you can than stay on the train until Basel SBB, the terminus using your Swiss Pass)
Travel within Switzerland: Swiss Pass, which you also can buy in our online shop at [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux]
Buchs SG - Salzburg: [u]https://rail.shop/oebb[/ux] buy Sparschiene Österreich advance fare tickets
Salzburg - Praha: To get cheap fare tickets you would have to break the journey in Wien and get one ticket Salzburg - Wien and anoterh one Wien - Praha.
Praha - Kobenhavn: [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux]
Currently there is still a restaurant car on the Kobenhavn - Basel CNL but from April 2014 restaurant cars will be withdrawn from all CNL trains. However you can get snacks, drinks and breakfast from the car attendants. In sleeping cars, breakfast is included.
However, the online booking system currently only allows to book 4 people in a couchette, not a sleeper, I will get in touch with DB to clarify this.
Anyway the 4bed couchette would be totally fine for a family. Each of you would have an own bed and it is cheaper as getting two combined sleeper compartments (you would have to book a three bed plus a one bed or two two bed sleeper compartments if each one should have an own bed).
The Goldenpass route is worth travelling; from Luzern to Interlaken new trains with large almost panoramic windows run, no reservation needed, try to get a seat on the right hand side of the train.
If you have time, take a RE Lötschberger train from Spiez to Brig before heading to Zermatt, these travel via the old Lötschberg pass route - the direct IC trains use the base tunnel and you wont get the scenic views of the old route.
Furka steamtrain definitely is amazing, try to book your tickets early as trains are likely to be fully booked.
As already mentioned, definitely take the train to St Moritz, the Albula line is amazing! You could have a look at the Youth Hostels at St Moritz, or better at Pontresina, the latter being adjacent to the train station.
To get to Salzburg, travel to Sargans or Buchs SG from Chur/Landquart, where you can get the two-hourly direct Railjet trains to Salzburg.
Flo 8)
MarinaFbg
Traveller
62 comments
What an amazing forum this is! You are so helpful I´m all teared up! I really do hope you plan for a visit to Sweden sometime so that I can repay you for this!
We actually have one interrail pass already, we won it in a contest, but I will look into if your suggestions still is cheaper for us! And certainly for bying tickets for our 9.yearold!
Just to be sure, the Albula line - is that passing St Moritz? I was looking at the map and I got the impression that the route suggested by Joyseeker more or less rounded St Moritz but didnt pass it? Sorry if I´m being stupid - just do not want to make a wrong turn in Chur ;)
What if we do not want to go as fast as possible to Salzburg but we would like to see some of the Austrian Tyrol as well? Or are we just fed up with montains after Switzerland? 8)
Will book Furka steamtrain ASAP - that is as soon as I have nailed this travel schedule :D
JoySeeker
Traveller
77 comments
Yes with my proposed route you wouldn't pass through St. Moritz, that's right. But the spectacular part is between Filisur and Samedan, so you won't miss anything! :)
Hard to tell. You certainly will have seen lots of mountains by then, yes :) But if you don't buy the tickets for the journey to Salzburg in advance you could always decide spontaneously to add another stop in between. If you decide to go with InterRail it's even easier, as you can just fill in your destination in the travel report just before boarding the train. That's also what I love about it, being able to decide at the station where to go next 8)
PS: I travelled through Sweden in September... :D
MarinaFbg
Traveller
62 comments
[quote]
PS: I travelled through Sweden in September... :D [/quote]
Hope you liked it and welcome back! :D
MarinaFbg
Traveller
62 comments
[quote]I've been a bit unclear, sorry: from Chur to St. Moritz the train uses the spectacular Albula Line between Filisur and Samedan I mentioned :)
Have a look at the railcc map for Switzerland here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/switzerland/xch[/u]
My suggestion would be as follows (should be clear with the map I hope :) :
Leave the Glacier Express at Reichenau-Tamins (if possible, otherwise a little detour to Chur and back), take a train from there to Samedan. Then change to another train to Sagliains, where you need to change again. From there via Klosters to Landquart. Trains run every hour and the journey is really scenic. It takes a while, though, calculate about 4 hours for the round trip Reichenau-Tamins to Landquart. Chur/Landquart to Salzburg are another 4 1/2 hours. So you could spend the night for example in Landquart and continue to Salzburg next morning.[/quote]
Is there a reason for us (other than financial) to not stay on the glacier express untill Samedan and there change to local train to Sagliains?
MarinaFbg
Traveller
62 comments
Thank You for prompting me to book the Furka Dampfbahn, the day we wanted to go was already fully booked :o but we changed our schedule one day and I actually think that was better!
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Oh - I didnt expect that it was fully booked already! :o
You can of course stay on the train until Samedan - it might take a bit longer then, since you would travel back and forth Reichenau - Chur - Reichenau but you can stay on the panoramic cars if you want.
Personally I would prefer to use regular trains anyway and safe the reservation costs - that way one could also choose on which side of the train to sit (from Chur to Samedan the view on the right hand side are slightly better IMO) and there are also windows to open and lean out.
Since you already have an IR pass this will be the way to go! :)
Regarding Tyrol - the main route through the country from Switzerland to Salzburg mainly runs through the Inn valley and while it still provides some scenic views, especially across the Arlberg pass and also on the way through Germany before reaching Salzburg, it is not on par with the scenic routes you will travel in Switzerland.
It seems I havent yet proposed my personal favourite yet... :D
The Bernina Route: :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/zurich-milano-albula-bernina/[/u]
However it will be very difficult to include in your quite tight schedule...
...I am actually thinking about doing a quick tour to Sweden in April/May, lets see. ;)
MarinaFbg
Traveller
62 comments
hmm, we might need to extend our schedule... let´s see what we can sell to finance it ;) The stupid thing is that the railpass we won can´t be changed into a larger one :( Otherwise we would probably have opted for a more airy schedule..
YES - please come to sweden.. May is to prefer - wheaterwise - than april :)
MarinaFbg
Traveller
62 comments
I searched for the Lötschberger-train - normal search on [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux] did not get me there, found a site belonging to train company BLS - is this the train you were talking about? Is that covered by the Swisspass?
JoySeeker
Traveller
77 comments
The Lötschberger trains are run by BLS, yes. Although it is a private company, all trains are included in both InterRail and Swiss Pass :)