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Car rental - Basel to Lucern to Zurich


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Considering spending a few days in/around the Lucerne area after our Viking cruise ends in Basel June 2015. Any suggestions on rental agencies and expected costs? I know taking a train is an option also, but I like the flexibility of having our own car. I drive a manual transmission.

 

Any suggestions, recommendations, etc?

 

Doug

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Considering spending a few days in/around the Lucerne area after our Viking cruise ends in Basel June 2015...

 

Any suggestions, recommendations, etc?

 

Doug

 

Yes - just do it! The area is beautiful for driving. We just spent a day in the eastern part getting to Lucerne (from Lindau) and another day driving north through Zurich. We haven't driven Basel to Lucerne, but the scenery that we saw was incredible!

 

Can't recommend a specific rental agency because we had our own car this trip (European delivery of a new Audi). But everything is expensive in Switzerland... And they seem to really nail you on one-way rentals in Europe. Check around and see what prices you get. Regardless, the area is easily worth a few days; there is plenty to see and do along the way. We'd do it again tomorrow if we could.

 

Some specific things we enjoyed: A gondola ride to the Titlis Glacier, from Engelberg. The Rheinfall in Schaffhausen. Lucerne itself is very beautiful.

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Considering spending a few days in/around the Lucerne area after our Viking cruise ends in Basel June 2015. Any suggestions on rental agencies and expected costs? I know taking a train is an option also, but I like the flexibility of having our own car. I drive a manual transmission.

 

Any suggestions, recommendations, etc?

 

Doug

 

We checked prices with Avis a week or so ago with the reverse pick-up and drop off and can't remember the cost, but felt it was very reasonable. I agree about driving in the area rather than using the train.

Cole

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We did this last year on Avalon. We rented the car from the Zurich airport. We had a hotel package thru Avalon which included transfer to the Zurich hotel, then took the hotel airport shuttle to airport to pick up car. As we wanted to return the car to the Zurich airport. Then took train to Austria.

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We are also consider this for a Sept. cruise with a tour of Lake Geneva, Interlaken, Lucerne and then departing from Zurich. We will be staying in several hotels but cannot decide between train or rental. How is it for parking in villages and in the larger towns? Do most hotels have parking?

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We checked prices with Avis a week or so ago with the reverse pick-up and drop off and can't remember the cost, but felt it was very reasonable. I agree about driving in the area rather than using the train.

Cole

 

Thanks. "Reasonable" is a relative term, but I saw under $200 without insurance for I think about 4 days. That was a "mid-size" car.

 

Doug

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Thanks. "Reasonable" is a relative term, but I saw under $200 without insurance for I think about 4 days. That was a "mid-size" car.

 

Doug

 

That's true! We thought $50 a day to have the freedom to do our own driving, stopping as we wanted, etc. was "reasonable".

Cole

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Thanks for those suggestions. Are you returning the Audi to the USA? I am assuming you are US?:rolleyes:

 

Yes, we hope it gets here soon!

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Forums mobile app

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Hi there. We have rented for several years from gemutdotcom for European rentals, they will act as a middleman in case of a problem and will also meet or beat any price you may find. Good service and affordable. The only drawback I can see would be parking cost in Lucerne if that's where you intend to stay, it could be very expensive as is everything in Switzerland.

 

Have a wonderful trip, Lucerne is beautiful.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

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Hi there. We have rented for several years from gemutdotcom for European rentals, they will act as a middleman in case of a problem and will also meet or beat any price you may find. Good service and affordable. The only drawback I can see would be parking cost in Lucerne if that's where you intend to stay, it could be very expensive as is everything in Switzerland.

 

Have a wonderful trip, Lucerne is beautiful.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Thanks for that tip. http://www.gemut.com/ is the URL, right?

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Car rental is looking like a more viable option for us. Our last night is in Lucerne and we fly from Zurich the next day. How difficult and time consuming is it to return a rental at the Zurich airport? Should we consider returning it in Lucerne the night before and just taking the train to the airport?

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This doesn't quite answer your question, but we did pick up a rental from Zurich in March and I don't remember it being anything slow or out of the ordinary. The rental offices are in the Airport Center, which is connected to, but a short walk from, the terminals. You then walk to an attached parking garage and grab your car.

 

Can't say for sure that returning is as quick and/or easy, as we didn't do it. Just remember that "Car Rental" in German is "Mietwagen" and you should be able to figure out where to go.

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