Travelling holiday around Austria and Switzerland

Hey all,

A quick question - I'm thinking of heading on a two week trip or so around Austria and Switzerland during August and looking for any advice. I'm currently living in Munich so I was thinking of first of all heading to Vienna, then heading to Innsbruck, Zurich and finally Geneva. So my question is - what do you all think would be the best way to get around? By bus or by train is the obvious way. So I was hoping there would be a cheap way of getting around (like the Länder Karte they have here in Germany).

Anybody ever even tried it before? Any advice?

Thanks all

Unfortunately, neither country has the equivalent of the Länder Karte, as far as I'm aware. Both do offer some kind of day ticket, but you need to have that country's equivalant of the BahnCard to qualify. You can reduce the cost of the tickets by booking in advance and by travelling with two or more people. Add up the cost of the journeys you want to make and then see if an Interrail pass will be cheaper. The trains are frequent and reliable, and often spectacular - especially in Switzerland.

The websites are: Austrian Railways and Swiss Railways.

Itinerary-wise, it sounds good; my only advice would be to add in Salzburg (beautiful) and Lucerne (gorgeous) and take out Geneva (dull). Also, getting back to Munich from Geneva is a nightmare, whereas from Zürich it's a direct, 4-hour train journey.

Why does changing trains once qualify as a nightmare? There's a direct InterCity train from Geneva to Zurich, stopping only in Lausanne, Fribourg and Bern; it's the part from Zurich that's a real bore because the train doesn't travel as fast and there are no fewer than eight stops on the way.

I consider eight hours on a train, costing €100, to be a nightmare, especially as Geneva is absolutely not worth the detour in the first place. It's at completely the wrong end of the country.

At least you've added Lucerne to the OP's list, but what's the point of going to Switzerland and not seeing the Lake Léman region (Vevey/Montreux) or the area around Interlaken, Grindelwald, etc., especially since the country is so small?