Walking from one Valley to Another

Sometimes when we go for a hike we walk along a route that makes getting back to the car quick and easy. For tomorrow’s walking getting back to the car would take three trains and more than an hour. For Londoners this is a familiar routing situation, but for people in Switzerland it might not be.

When I was looking at the route I found that the best place to park might be near Cossonay and another town. It’s convenient because you can take train A in the morning to get to the start of the Hike, and take the train from the end of the hike directly back to where the car is parked.

The paradox is that by taking the train from the end of the hike you spend more time than if you take the train from Nyon to Le Day, and then from Ste Croix to Nyon.

In light of this I took a billet défriché. The concept is simple. If you buy a ticket one or two days earlier for a specific train at a certain time you pay less than if you take the same ticket for the same route, but open-ended.

It costs a franc more than parking the car for a day, and that’s without counting the price of charging the car.

Nyon to Le Day is 9.60 CHF when bought ahead of time. It’s 14.40 when bought on the day. The return from Ste Croix to Nyon is the same. A day card would cost 28.80 CHF

The Car Solution

If the group was not gettting there by train then I would have parked at Cossonay-Penthalaz, taken the train to Le Day, and then done the hike, before catching the train back to Cossonay-Penthalaz from Ste Croix. That second journey would have taken an hour and ten minutes, and then I would have another hour of driving. My driving plan was ready, until I learned that people were using trains.

And Finally

I like linear hikes. I like walking from one place to another. I also like using trains. By using trains, and buses you open a world of possibilities. It is also a chance to have conversations. The greatest thing about trains, and buses, is that they force punctuality.