15 Day Europe Trip - Mix of rail and car.. Cost ineffective?

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Hi all! Next year in January, we will be going to Europe for a 16 day trip. We have made some plans, but transport costs are adding up, partly due to our insistence to drive on a select part of the journey. Maybe someone could vet this and let us know if it's wise not to get any rail passes, and to carry on with this itinerary?

We will arrive in Zurich and spend 3 nights in Interlaken. We will be getting the 2-day flexi pass to save on the trip up to Jungfraujoch.
It will cost us around 124 Euros for the pass, and 137 Euros for the trip up to Jungfraujoch.

On the morning of the 4th day, we will move up to Munich by rail and spend 3 nights there. The trip to Munich will cost us 25 Euros.
We intend to get the Lander ticket for a day trip to Neuschwenstein castle. Another 25 Euros each.

On the 6th night in Europe after Munich, we will take a overnight bus to Vienna, arriving at 0600 for a day of sightseeing. This will cost 36 Euros.

At the end of the day, we will depart for Prague by bus at 2240. We will reach at 0330.
We will spend 2 nights in Prague.

Following that, we will depart for Nuremberg in the morning at 0700 by bus, and arrive at 1030.

We will spend a night in Nuremberg.
Here is where we will get rent a car for 158 Euros (a person) for the duration of 6 days.
During this 6 days, we will be spending time in Stuttgart and Bruges.

On the last day from Ghent, we will drive to Cologne in the morning before taking a flight to Zurich (53 Euros) where we will depart Europe.

Here's a summary:

Day 1-3 Switzerland
Day 4-6 Munich
Day 7 Vienna
Day 8-9 Prague
Day 10 Nuremberg
Day 11-12 Stuttgart
Day 13 Mainz
Day 14 Brugges
Day 15 Ghent
Day 16 Drive to Cologne for flight to Zurich

What do you guys think in terms of the cost? We might consider taking out Vienna altogether.

Thanks!

We will be getting the 2-day flexi pass to save on the trip up to Jungfraujoch. It will cost us around 124 Euros for the pass

Well, Swiss Railways (SBB) sell special discounted tickets called SuperSaver (can be purchased 14 days before the journey), in case of Zurich to Interlaken trip SuperSaver tickets start from just 24,6 CHF (app.20 euro) per person). Also can get one from Interlaken to lake Constance (meaning as a part of your Interlaken-Munich trip)

The trip to Munich will cost us 25 Euros.

Here meant paying for German part of the trip Interlaken-Munich, right? For Swiss one you intend to use the pass?

We intend to get the Lander ticket for a day trip to Neuschwenstein castle. Another 25 Euros each.

Why each? Bavaria Lander Ticket for two passengers cost 26 euro (when purchased online or via DB ticket machine)

On the 6th night in Europe after Munich, we will take a overnight bus to Vienna, arriving at 0600 for a day of sightseeing. This will cost 36 Euros.

Honestly, this is a bit rough, with rail options you can get discounted 29 euro (per passenger) tickets for fast (<4 hours) day time train

At the end of the day, we will depart for Prague by bus at 2240. We will reach at 0330.

Again, you sure you want to arrange the journey this way, especially since it will be second night in a row withou bed? Maybe more comfortable will be to catch evening train (discounted tickets from 29 euro per person) or bus and spend a night already in Prague. Or spend a night in Vienna and then take morning train/bus to Prague

Following that, we will depart for Nuremberg in the morning at 0700 by bus, and arrive at 1030.

Between Prague and Nuremberg operate couple bus companies (DB ExpressBus, Student Agency, EuroLines), so we suggest to you check all of them and see which one offers better fares for the time and date you wantl

Here is where we will get rent a car for 158 Euros (a person) for the duration of 6 days. During this 6 days, we will be spending time in Stuttgart and Bruges.

158 euro is obviously a good price, but an alternative for German part can be just to go with Lander Tickets and Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket/Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket

Well, Swiss Railways (SBB) sell special discounted tickets called SuperSaver (can be purchased 14 days before the journey), in case of Zurich to Interlaken trip SuperSaver tickets start from just 24,6 CHF (app.20 euro) per person). Also can get one from Interlaken to lake Constance (meaning as a part of your Interlaken-Munich trip)

Thanks! We will be checking this out!

Here meant paying for German part of the trip Interlaken-Munich, right? For Swiss one you intend to use the pass?

Yes, the German Part.

Why each? Bavaria Lander Ticket for two passengers cost 26 euro (when purchased online or via DB ticket machine)

Thank you for pointing that out. My mistake!

Honestly, this is a bit rough, with rail options you can get discounted 29 euro (per passenger) tickets for fast (<4 hours) day time train. Again, you sure you want to arrange the journey this way, especially since it will be second night in a row withou bed? Maybe more comfortable will be to catch evening train (discounted tickets from 29 euro per person) or bus and spend a night already in Prague. Or spend a night in Vienna and then take morning train/bus to Prague

Yes, it is. We have decided to remove Vienna from our itinerary, and going to Prague for 3 days from Munich. We will be looking out for overnight buses/trains so we can save on accomodation.

Between Prague and Nuremberg operate couple bus companies (DB ExpressBus, Student Agency, EuroLines), so we suggest to you check all of them and see which one offers better fares for the time and date you want

 Yes we will. Thanks! Hopefully there are overnights as well.

158 euro is obviously a good price, but an alternative for German part can be just to go with Lander Tickets and Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket/Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket

We are re-thinking this after some of our friends raised concerns about driving in winter.



Thank you so much for your help, tUt! You are truly the HERO (member) this forum deserves! 

We will be looking out for overnight buses/trains so we can save on accomodation.

For the overnight journey trains aren't really an option here (unless you ready to make changes and overpay), with buses you do have a chance to catch a sort of overnight one, but since distance is not very long (meaning relatively short travel time) it will be only half decent overnight trip (like 01:05am - 6:30am with Student Agency bus)

Hopefully there are overnights as well.

Well, here travel time is even shorter, so you best chance of more or less overnight journey is again Student Agency bus with schedule 23:00-3:05

We are re-thinking this after some of our friends raised concerns about driving in winter. 

Germany isn't the worth place to drive, so unless it will be some force majeure case, roads should be fine, but on the other hand DB rail passes also give a good level flexibility + no need to worry about parking, finding right turns etc.