EURAIL PASS EXPLAINED | is using the Eurail Pass in Switzerland worth it?

hey guys welcome back to the traveling Swiss if you are new here my name is Alexis and I'm from the US and I'm really Swiss and together we live in Switzerland and our whole channel is about traveling and living in Switzerland and to make it easier and more accessible for you so if that sounds interesting make sure to click that subscribe button to stick around in this video we're going to be continuing in our how-to Transportation series and this will be about the eurail pass we get a lot of questions from you guys about the URL pass because we know that when you're traveling to Europe you're maybe not just traveling to Switzerland and you're going to go around and you're interested in learning more about this path so that's what this video will be all about and before we dive in know that this pass is only for non-residents of Europe if you are a resident of Europe you can look at the interrail pass but we are going to dive into the URL now so if you've been watching our channel for a while you're familiar with the Swiss travel pass all the different pass options you have in Switzerland the URL pass has one key difference and maybe you can tell by the name that it is not just for Switzerland it is for Europe so with this one pass you have access to the trains across 33 countries on have the map on the screen so it's a really really robust validity map so you can buy this one train pass and if you buy it just as a straight pass you can buy an increments of 15 days 22 days one two or three months so the intention of that passes you're really going to be traveling quite a bit around Europe they also have a flex pass option which we'll go into as well and those you can buy in different day increments as long as they are used within a month for example you can get a four day flexi pass and you can use it on the 7th 10th 15th and 25th as long as it's within a month so those are the two main kind of pass options that we'll go into so the way we're going to dive into this and structure this video is first we're going to talk about what this pass covers in Europe but in Switzerland particularly and then maybe just as importantly we'll talk about what it does not cover that section will particularly focus on what it does not cover in Switzerland we'll compare it to some of the other passes that you're interested in then we'll talk through price and then last but not least we'll talk about some tips on deciding of this passes is right for you this is going to be a lot of information but there are some key questions that we'll go through to decide whether or not this pass is going to make sense for your itinerary and for your budget so without further Ado let's get right into the video we are going to going to start with what it covers and start in Europe so in Europe it's really really Broad and the Western Europe and some of Eastern Europe will show you in a map but you can go anywhere from Portugal Spain France Switzerland Germany the Netherlands and then to even Poland Romania in and up to I think Greece and so this is a big coverage this covers mostly trains but not only you also have some boats that are being covered for example in the Greek Islands I think you need reservations but this is also something fun that it covers this if you have a big Europe trip planned so the the really convenient thing about that URL pass is that you for the most part don't need a reservation you can just jump on a train and just go wherever it's uh leading to and this is actually a pretty nice feature of this pass you have some partners that require a reservation for example in Spain Affair does I know and there are some others that will require some reservations as well but this is still giving you a lot of convenience and also sort of you have one ticket and you don't need to buy tickets every time and lose some time also when you want to just catch a train so this is not dissimilar to the way the Swiss travel pass works for the most part you don't need any extra tickets but if you've watched our videos you know for some trains like the glacier Express and Virginia Express you need to make seat reservations so you can think about the URL pass really similarly for the most part this is ticketless traveling so if that's something that's interesting to you you don't know exactly when you're going to be traveling around Europe you plan on coming for a long time this is a really great feature of it as well so what the Euro pass covers in Switzerland is similar to what it covers in Europe all of the trains are included so all of those trains on the SBB line whether you're going from Geneva to Zurich Zurich down to Lugano or anything like that all of those SBB trains are covered don't need a ticket it you don't need a reservation all of those trains are covered things like the glacier Express the birming express those are covered as well the seat reservation still applies we've talked about that in past videos but the URL can work as your train ticket for those panoramic trains in Switzerland so there's a lot of things it covers in Switzerland there are some other unique things that it covers which are good to note so like Louie mentioned some boats in Europe are covered in the Euro pass in Switzerland that applies to the boats on Lake tune and Lake brand so the two like surrounding Interlocken the cruises on that those are covered in the Euro pass as well so if you have that pass and you're here in the summertime take advantage of cruises on those two Lakes there's also a lot of discounts in Switzerland but the predominant places that that pass covers are trains and boats on those two Lakes so before we get into our next section we want to thank our partner Amanda sleep for sponsoring this video and thank you guys for supporting sponsors that support us because it really helps make this channel a sustainable business and community that we can focus on growing together so without further Ado let's learn about the myth of sleep sleep mask so if you're watching this video chances are that you're planning a long journey soon Louis and I are on the road a lot and our parents to an infant and it's important for us to be able to catch a little bit of sleep whenever we can so whether we're on a train playing anywhere in between the mantis sleep mask provides 100 blackout anytime anywhere guaranteed this mask is infinitely adjustable with detachable eye cups in different sizes that can be placed anywhere on the head strap you'll be sure to have a perfect fit so purchase today with our code for 10 off there's a 60-day money-back guarantee if you aren't satisfied but we're confident that you will be okay so in this section probably just as important if not more important than the last section this is what it does not cover in Europe but in particularly Switzerland so your rail as the name indicates is primarily focused on rail so all of the train is covered but there's a lot of things that mean that it's not covered so the first thing which is important to know is Intercity Transportation whether you're in London or Zurich is not covered with URL so that's your Local transportation options like buses trams all of that will not be covered within the URL pass for the exception there if you are in a larger City with multiple Railway stops like Zurich has several different SBB train stations those are covered but if you're taking a tram or a local bus those are not covered when you're traveling with the URL pass most boats in Europe are not covered with the URL pass that applies to Switzerland outside of those two lakes around Interlocken that I mentioned the boats are not covered in Switzerland with this pass you will need to get a separate ticket some sometimes at a discount when you're considering this pass in Switzerland it is important to note that Switzerland is unique in Europe in that a lot of its Transportation while they have many trains a lot of their transportation is outside of a typical Railway Network because there are so many mountains so Switzerland has a lot of gondolas and funiculars and Mountain cogwheel trains all things like that are also not going to be covered in this past there will be ranging discounts from nothing like the gornograph has no discount the glacier 3000 has no discount up to things with 50 discount but most of the ones you can expect will be that 25 range Which is less than the half fare card and swiss travel pass will give you for the same experiences so most everything around Interlaken including the menly shin the heartachom the jungfra yak you'll get a 25 reduced ticket with the URL pass but these are expensive train tickets 25 while helpful is not much if you're going to be doing a lot of these experiences so that's important to consider the last kind of piece of information before we move into the prices and tips and tricks of who we think this is most important for is if you're interested in museums and castles as well the local passes in the Swiss travel pass in Switzerland do cover this I know we've mentioned that in a few videos but the europass does not so you can't use the URL pass to get those discounted or free admissions into those museums and Castle so that's also something that's on your itinerary just have that in mind and also what's not included is a discount on these Regional passes for example you can get discount with the half fat cons on the burner obelons pass or the Jung file passes but you cannot get a discount with the Euro pass on these passes so that's also something to consider exactly so if you're trying to stack the passes the URL pass will kind of live independently of those ones within Switzerland and that's by Design so now this kind of back section of the video will be helpful in really deciding if this pest is right for you and that starts with the price the prices vary with the Euro pass and they have different pricing structures than the passes in Switzerland because there's different age brackets so with the eurail pass until the age of 11 you travel free 12 to 27 is considered youth so there's a much wider kind of category of what's considered a youth travel with a URL pass and then 28 plus is considered adult and then 60 plus you have a senior pricing prices I'll be talking about here will be the adult prices so there are so many options to buy for this past starting from four days within one month so those are non-consecutive days up until three months so the price is of course vary tremendously the one kind of in the middle that aligns with the stress travel pass is that 15 day pass the 15-day URL pass is 498 US Dollars and the 15 day Swiss travel pass is 429 francs which is probably about at this current moment for 450 US Dollars about that so the prices aren't super different it's a little bit more expensive for the URL pass but you get a wider Network as well so that's significant to consider so there's a lot of different options again what's on the screen is for adults this is free if you're a child until the age of 11 and discounted if you are up until the age of 27 or over the age of 60. so the pricing information is on the screen right now it's also linked in the description but this is just kind of an example of the prices you can expect when purchasing this year Rail Pass so in this next section I'm going to quickly compare kind of the Swiss travel pass and the URL pass so in terms of area validity you have a much wider validity if you want to go around in Europe for the URL pass but the Swiss trail pass covers in Switzerland much more it covers the buses the all the boats it covers also some Mountain trains and gives you a lot more discounts on some gondolas and Mountain trains in Switzerland in the Swiss trail pass you also have access to 500 plus different museums in Switzerland so this is something to consider as Alexis was saying and finally you also have some discounts that are given on other Swiss Regional passes for example the burner Oberlin pass has discounts when you are a Swiss trial pass holder so this is pretty nice for the Swiss trail pass it does not work with the top of Europe pass but the bonal bone pass works with the Swiss roller passed okay so don't exit the video yet I know that was a lot of information and you're probably like I'm so much more confused than when I started this video so this last section we're going to go through some key kind of questions that you can ask yourself to see if this URL pass is right for you so question number one is am I traveling a lot throughout Europe if so the Euro pass is going to be a better option than just getting the travel passes within Switzerland the URL pass has a much greater Railway Network that passes in Switzerland are really just focused within Switzerland of course so if you're going to be traveling all over Europe and taking your time the URL pass is a better option now there's also some instances where if you'll be in Switzerland the Euro pass can be a great option so the next thing to ask yourself is am I going to be spending most of my trip within cities if so the Euro pass again can be a good option for you the Euro pass will get you to all of those different cities within Switzerland it will get you to Geneva it will get you to Zurich and it will get you on the railway around and if you're staying in those locations you're going to get a guest card from the hotels which will give you access to that public transportation that is not included on the URL pass so if you're spending a lot of your time in Switzerland cities Basel fur and Lucerne Geneva Zurich Etc the Euro pass again can be a great option and in certain instances can be a little bit cheaper than buying some of the Swiss passes yes the next thing to ask yourself if you're going to be in Switzerland for a lot of the trip is are you going to be spending a lot of your time in the mountains if yes then I would say it's a resounding no for this past this pass really does not make sense I get a lot of DMS and comments asking if they should buy the URL pass because they're going to be going to all these different mountains and they think they found like a cheaper hack you didn't and my answer to those questions is always no you cannot use a URL to go to the um for a yacht you cannot use URL to go to Zermatt up into the mountain so if you're going to be spending your time in the mountains it's best to consider either the Swiss travel pass or half fare Court are maybe even better one of those Railway passes that doesn't mean that you shouldn't buy the URL pass that means if you're spending a lot of time outside of Europe you can get the URL pass but I would get it in conjunction with the past in Switzerland the year I'll pass will be no good for you to use in the mountains there's a lot of better options and check that playlist here yeah so for example the bunny Overland pass or the top of Europe pass will be a great addition if you really want to do mountains within the jungfa region for example so that's it for us guys thank you so much for watching this video this helps and like things more confusing for you and make decision of what train passes to get in Switzerland and this is also considerable outside of Switzerland as well thank you guys so much for watching if you still feel like you need more one-on-one help Louie takes one-on-one video consultations and the price we think is really reasonable and Louis will check in with you on your itinerary connect with you for 45 minutes on a one-on-one video chat he loves meeting you guys he's our resident Swiss expert and will help you curate your vacation cure your itinerary in Switzerland and can help you make decisions on what passes and make most sense as well if you like this video please make sure to like And subscribe if you haven't already or you can support us by buying us a virtual coffee here as always thank you guys again so much for watching we really appreciate it and we'll catch you in the next one bye guys bye guys hey guys thanks for watching thanks for watching if you want to see more videos like this please make sure to like And subscribe see you soon [Music]

Channel: The Traveling Swiss – Alexis & Louis

Views: 29,305

Keywords: eurail, eurail pass, swiss travel pass, eurail pass vs swiss pass, wurail pass vs swiss travel pass, eurail pass in switzeröand, how to use eurail pass in switzerland, eurail pass explained, eurail pass switzerland explained, the traveling swiss, travelling swiss, swiss, switzerland, how to switzerland, eurail global pass, which train pass switzerland, eurail train pass, how to use eurail pass at train station, eurail switzerland

Id: YM3X1f5PPwg

Length: 15min 7sec (907 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 07 2023