Europe 2025/26

[MarzNC]

Nice.
My wife and I used a 21 day eurail pass to visit Ger, IT, FR, Switz in May-June 1983! Also rode buses and boats with that pass. Visited Jungfrau, Zermatt, Garmisch, Paris, Rome, etc. Terrifically memorable trip totaling 25 days in Europe, carless.

A difference between the 1980s and the 2020s is that with the Eurail app and other apps for individual country railroad schedules, it's a lot easier to get up-to-the-minute info. Although still pays to look carefully at signs once in a station. There was one change where the track had changed and the app was updated. It was a short change situation, so ended up with a bit of a run down some stairs to get one track over where the train we wanted was in the midst of boarding. Then we had to find a 2nd class car.

Signage at the train stations is good, but learning to interpret them took a bit of practice.

For the days we would be on the train most of the day, we used one phone with the automatic daily fee in order to have WiFi access. While there were places with free WiFi, didn't want to end up without access. I also learned to take a screen shot of my activated daily Eurail pass QR code. That way, it didn't matter if I didn't have WiFi access when the conductor wanted to see it.

 

[MarzNC]

Even if he's in a single base ski resort for a week, his wife will want the car to do something else.

Probably not applicable to the trip likely for @jimk 's wife in Jan 2026, but If I were the non-skier staying in Chamonix, I would have no interest in dealing with a car for solo sightseeing. Assuming that lodging was a short walk to a bus stop or train station. When riding a train and taking in the views is an option, would much rather do that than be a solo driver. On a snowy day, would let the skier(s) take the car if they didn't want to use the Ski Bus or the Mont Blanc Express train.

Mt Blanc train stops between Chamonix and Vallorcine, Argentière is the stop for Grands Montets
The views going down off the ridge of the ridge top to Vallorcine are worth the train ride. The tunnels are fun too.