[Removed user]

13 January 2015 at 3:29:18 #806806

I’m going to be travelling with my family (wife and two children, 12 and 15) to the Grindelwald area this summer from Florence, Italy, and staying for 3 nights in that area and tour the area. After that, we will go to Zurich for our last night in Switzerland, and fly out of the airport in Zurich. What is the best rail pass to buy for our family?

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[Arno]

13 January 2015 at 17:26:30 #841533

Hi Weldyj,

There are two options to look into:

1. Swiss Transfer Ticket with Swiss Half Fare Card Combi: this basically gives you a free ride from Domodossola (Swiss/Italian border) to Grindelwald and from Grindelwald to Zurich, plus 50% off tickets during your stay. All the details are on myswissalps.com/swisstransferticket.
2. A 4-day Regional-Pass Bernese Oberland: free unlimited traveling in the area. More information can be found on myswissalps.com/regionalpassberneseoberland.

For a short stay like yours option 1 is usually best, but if you plan a lot of traveling you can look into option 2. Alternatively there is a 3-day pass but it’s for a limited area only. I’m not sure about your exact plans so I want to mention that just in case: myswissalps.com/jungfrauvippass.

For your last night, please see this list of recommended hotels.

Kind regards,

Arno

[Removed user]

13 January 2015 at 23:55:24 #841534

Thank you Arno for the info! A couple other questions if you don’t mind: If we buy the Swiss Transfer Ticket, and it covers the portion from Domodossola to Grindelwald, where exactly should we buy the Italian portion (Florence to Domodossola) of the trip? How do we coordinate the two portions so that things run smoothly…is there a way to stay on the same train/seats? I’m assuming we should buy these tickets ahead of time? This is our first trip to Europe and we are clueless, despite the hours we’ve spent researching! Thank you for the info.

[Annika]

14 January 2015 at 5:45:10 #841535

Hi Weldyj,

There’s no need to get off the train. You’d better arrange for tickets or passes for the whole journey in advance. In your case you need the Swiss Transfer Ticket (for sale here since you’re from the USA), and a point to point ticket from Florence to Domodossola (for sale from the same website here). Point to point tickets can be purchased no sooner than 3 to 4 months before traveling, so that’s the best time to get the tickets and the pass.

Did this help you out?

Kind regards,

Annika