Driving to Switzerland

[cdk_chris]

My partner and me usually fly out to Switzerland for Christmas and new year, this year though for one reason and another we're contemplating driving over.

Has anyone here done this?

Currently trying to weigh up the cost comparisons for driving or flying.

Does anyone know of the "hidden" costs of driving to Switzerland?

I already know about the need to carry snow chains, spare bulb kits and things like Hi-Vis and and warning triangles.

Is there anything obvious that I should know?

Cheers

Chris

[patpending]

Originally Posted by cdk_chris

My partner and me usually fly out to Switzerland for Christmas and new year, this year though for one reason and another we're contemplating driving over.

Has anyone here done this?

Currently trying to weigh up the cost comparisons for driving or flying.

Does anyone know of the "hidden" costs of driving to Switzerland?

I already know about the need to carry snow chains, spare bulb kits and things like Hi-Vis and and warning triangles.

Is there anything obvious that I should know?

Cheers

Chris

I think Carl asked this exact question.

Swiss and German drivers reserve snow chains for the worst roads, but they do have winter tyres.

If Brits still drive to Switzerland in the winter, they must all be in the same boat(!).

Look on a ski-ing site.

Other costs: French and Swiss motorway tolls, extension of car insurance (if anything), all kit needed to get car legal, breakdown recovery cover...

Car is MOST unlikely to be cheaper. Calais-Geneva and return is €132 in French and 40 SFR in Swiss tolls...

http://fr.mappy.com/#d[]=Calais,...=1&p=itinerary

Make sure there is a solution to the winter tyres thing. Have an accident in the snow in Germany on summer tyres and the court will say it's your fault...

[simcor]

Can't really give you much advice tbh Chris, however the taxi company I worked for used to take the coach over to switzerland sometimes when they went as a big family for skiing trips, but they did have relativesd out their and it was a tour bus so acted as sleeping accomodation too woth all it's bunks.

I know he used to drive over to switzerland quoite regulary in his cars too, whether ut worked out cheaper who knows.

Might be worth comparing how much it would be to get their by other means of transport like coach etc and the cost of a hire car while over there.

When you have all the costs in front of you you would easily be able to work out which is likely to be cheapest I would think.

Fuel for example to Switzerland without any running around etc, roughly 1230 miles each way, so if you did an average 43mpg in your car would cost around £160 of fuel each way. So your looking at a minimum of £320 fuel just to get their and back, plus extra insurance plus all associated cost.

Not to mention doing that kind of mileage would need both of you driving, taking regular breaks and over a few days. I would say doing a steady 60mph your gonna be looking at 20-24hrs non stop driving between 2 of you, one sleeping one driving and rotating every 4hrs or something.

That is usually how truck drivers do dostances like that double manning, although iirc you ned 3 men to drive non stop in a truck.

Good luck but I would thing flying etc would likely work out much cheaper myself and less hassle and stress.

Simon

[cdk_chris]

Some good info there Simon - cheers.

Looking at the figures - last year we spent 230 each on plane fares, add to that the £90 or so each it cost us to get from the airport to the village we were staying in by train - that's £640 for the pair of us to fly there.
With flying there is the hassle of baggage allowance - while we get free winter sports allowance for flying with Swiss air we are still limited on hat we can take with us (in that whatever we take we have to be able to carry across the airport, through train stations and then the mile or so trek from the train station in Kandersteg to the place we stay.

With driving, I need to look into A) how much it would cost to add my partner to the insurance (probably not a lot) and B) How much it would cost to add single trip European cover on to the policy.

Also need to look at the costs of European breakdown cover.

As for actually driving there - it's 775 miles door to door (minus the 36 or so miles on the train!). Works out roughly 13hrs I think.

Given bottom end Mpg of 43mpg that's probably going to work out at about 35 gallon of fuel - work that on £1.16 a litre and we're talking about £180 quid. Add to that the train cost of around £110 return trip.

Rough cost just to get there in the car then works out at around £290 . As long as all the extra things needed (insurance, snow chains etc) don't rack up to more than £350 it almost seems to make sense driving - especially if I can convince another person or two to come along for the ride!

C.

[simcor]

Originally Posted by cdk_chris

Some good info there Simon - cheers.

Looking at the figures - last year we spent 230 each on plane fares, add to that the £90 or so each it cost us to get from the airport to the village we were staying in by train - that's £640 for the pair of us to fly there.
With flying there is the hassle of baggage allowance - while we get free winter sports allowance for flying with Swiss air we are still limited on hat we can take with us (in that whatever we take we have to be able to carry across the airport, through train stations and then the mile or so trek from the train station in Kandersteg to the place we stay.

With driving, I need to look into A) how much it would cost to add my partner to the insurance (probably not a lot) and B) How much it would cost to add single trip European cover on to the policy.

Also need to look at the costs of European breakdown cover.

As for actually driving there - it's 775 miles door to door (minus the 36 or so miles on the train!). Works out roughly 13hrs I think.

Given bottom end Mpg of 43mpg that's probably going to work out at about 35 gallon of fuel - work that on £1.16 a litre and we're talking about £180 quid. Add to that the train cost of around £110 return trip.

Rough cost just to get there in the car then works out at around £290 . As long as all the extra things needed (insurance, snow chains etc) don't rack up to more than £350 it almost seems to make sense driving - especially if I can convince another person or two to come along for the ride!

C.

I did coventry to switzerland on the aa route planner which is where I got the figgure of 1230 ish miles but then again I don't know exactly where in switzerland it is you go so it may work out a little more cost effective then. Still a lot of driving though.

Good luck.

Oh and don't forget some countries you need to have a good reserve of cash to pay any vehicle fines, I know my brother used to send vans out to portugal and they always had a safe with money in as in some countries not having the dough to pay up meant some time in jail.

Simon

[cdk_chris]

Originally Posted by simcor

I did coventry to switzerland on the aa route planner which is where I got the figgure of 1230 ish miles but then again I don't know exactly where in switzerland it is you go so it may work out a little more cost effective then. Still a lot of driving though.

That's probably the distance in KM you were looking at then - coventry to switzerland on AA route planner shows 1221.9km (or 759.2 miles).

750 miles between two isn't that much to be fair - probably looking at a night in Reims or somewhere on teh way out to break up the journey.

Cheers for the input tho

C.

[Bbroomlea]

We have been on a few of european trips of the the last few years and its a pretty stress free way to get somewhere!

Neither of our insurance companies we have used have charged for european cover as long as we are not away for more than 90 days so you shouldnt incur any additional insurance costs. When you get going across the channel you will eat miles much faster than the AA route map suggests - we got from Lake Garda to Dunkirque in 12 hours and thats 3-4 hours further than parts of Switzerland that we passed.

You will need a vignette for Austria and the Swiss equivalent when you get there but neither are too expensive.

Do it and have fun - we certainly enjoyed driving abroad and is much more fun that jumping on a plane at Gatwick

If you need to know anything feel free to ask

[Jackonicko]

Don't forget to add in the cost of road tolls, as someone said.

Also bear in mind that if you do get pulled by the French or Swiss 'flics' the holiday will be ruined. They're not nice or friendly and they'll escort you to the cashpoint to pay fines that will make your stones shrink to the size of garden peas.

Great roads. Great road trip. Great experience. But if the aim is to save money and hassle............ I'd bite the bullet and fly.

[MG3]

Toll road pass in Switzerland is about £40 I think for a year. You don't get a short term option.

Check insurance carefully, many companies will give you free cover in Europe up to a limit but it is often the basic cover, equivalent to UK 3rd party. Well worth upgrading to fully comprehensive.

[patpending]

I repeat, this will cost you maybe £150-£200 in tolls plus the same again(?) in fuel.

It's not a cheap option.

Your biggest issue is how legally to approach the "winter tyres" issue. How do ski-ing sites advise that?

[SLARTIBARTFAST]

I did this in 1984 in a new, brown 'B' reg Montego 1600 with five of us on board, to Torgon, in the mountains near Geneva.

I can remember it being a long, long way.

Just thought I would share that thought with you.

[patpending]

Originally Posted by SLARTIBARTFAST

I did this in 1984 in a new, brown 'B' reg Montego 1600 with five of us on board, to Torgon, in the mountains near Geneva.

I can remember it being a long, long way.

Just thought I would share that thought with you.

I drove my 180 to Germany in January 2006.

Then the German law about winter tyres changed.

I would never drive to Germany in the winter again without winter tyres.

Just thought I would share that thought with you.

How do skiers deal with this now?