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Getting from point A to point B is easy with Switzerland's nearly perfect transportation system.Apr 17 '01 (Updated Apr 21 '01) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line The Swiss transportation system is seemlessly integrated. Getting from point A to point B is easy even if it takes a train, a bus, and a cable car. The Story On my first trip to Europe, nearly 15 years ago, my companion and I ended up in Zurich after a quick train trip from München (Munich). We planned to spend the night there, and the following day go on to Gimmelwald, a tiny village high in the Alps above Interlaken. We'd been following Rick Steve's original Europe Through the Back Door, and we wanted to see "where Heidi lives." Being accustomed to public transportation in California, I felt some trepidation about just how difficult it would be to get to our destination. I shouldn't have worried. When I told the ticket agent where we were going, he didn't even bat an eye. He did issue a ticket that more or less said: From Zurich to Gimmelwald via Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen, Stechelberg. The actual trip was a lot more interesting and educational than the ticket. We took a train from Zurich to Bern, and within minutes transferred to another train that took us the rest of the way to Interlaken. In Interlaken, we boarded yet another train that took us to Lauterbrunnen. Then things got interesting. The route from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg was via Swiss Postal Bus, which turned out to be a thoroughly modern, almost new, clean and comfortable, air-conditioned bus, which dropped us off in Stechelberg, a small hamlet. When we asked where Gimmelwald was, the person pointed just about straight up what looked like a 2,000 foot cliff, and directed us to the cable car station, which was just a few hundred feet away. The cable car then hauled us up the last bit of the trip to Gimmelwald. What I Learned The amazing thing was that one ticket took us from a big city to a tiny, isolated village and that we had ridden two trains, a bus, and a cable car to get there, with just one ticket and no hassles of any kind. The Swiss transportation system is seemlessly integrated. For the most part, the national railroad, the dozens of private railroads (e.g. the Jungfraubahn), the Postal Bus system, and the scores of cable cars all seem to be integrated into a single extremely efficient transportation network that connects the largest cities with the most isolated villages. And, pure joy, the ticketing system is perfectly integrated, too. Some Practical Matters Be careful when buying rail passes for use in Switzerland. Although the major rail routes are covered by Eurail passes, most private railroads are not. On the other hand, Swiss rail passes cover or at least give discounts on many but not all of the private railroads, so know the routes you plan to take and be sure the rail pass you select covers them. Whenever you have to buy a point-to-point ticket, be sure to tell the agent you have a rail pass in order to take advantage of possible discounts. If you're buying point-to-point tickets, don't think you have to plan an elaborate itinerary. Just tell the ticket agent your final destination, and you're likely to get a single ticket that takes you all the way there, even if the trip uses many different modes of transportation. The Swiss National Railroad has a very good web site with the English language version at http://www.sbb.ch/index_e.htm . Try testing it with the Zurich-Gimmelwald route!  |
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by knotheadusc
by artemis8
