Bed and Bus in Switzerland

The national hosteling associations of Switzerland and Australia have packages for independent travelers that combine youth hostel accommodation with transportation passes.

Jugi Tours, the travel section of Swiss Youth Hostels, has worked out a new program for the coming summer. It’s called “Switzerland--go as you please” and it’s a combination of overnights in youth hostels and a pass for public transportation. There is no age restriction.

Switzerland is an expensive country to travel in, but with the packages you know that your transportation and accommodations are taken care of and that you’ll be staying in places with facilities for preparing your own meals, or for buying meals at more economical rates than in restaurants.

The accommodations are in multi-bed rooms in any of more than 70 youth hostels around Switzerland. Breakfast is included. A reservation can be made for you for your first night in Basel, Geneva, Lucerne or Zurich.

You also get a Swiss Pass that is valid for unlimited travel on all Swiss public transportation and a travel kit containing maps and other information.

For four nights of accommodation and a four-day transportation pass, the price is $289; eight nights’ accommodation and an eight-day pass is $429; 15 days’ accommodation and a 15-day transportation pass is $616.

For further information and bookings, contact Jugi Tours, Schaffhauserstr, 14, Postfach, CH-8042, Zurich, telephone 011-411-360-1400, fax 011-411-360-1444.

The Australian Youth Hostel Assn. (YHA) has packages for independent travelers that combine lodging in any of their 140 facilities with unlimited bus transportation on the nationwide Greyhound Pioneer services. You won’t have the camaraderie that the alternative backpacker buses such as OZ Experience offer, or their door-to-hostel-door service, but you will have a much greater selection of routes and departure times.

The Aussie Pass Value Packages offer vouchers for 15 to 60 nights of hostel lodging in multi-bed rooms. The bus passes are valid for seven to 90 days and allow you to travel in one direction over a fixed route, allowing you six to 12 months to complete your journey.

For details, contact YHA Travel, 38 Sturt St., Adelaide, Australia SA 5000; tel. 011-618-231-5583, fax 011-618-231-4219.