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Hello,
Based on the information and guidance received from this forum, I have planned the following trip for 6 nights in Switzerland. I intend to purchase a 8 day Swiss Travel Pass. Kindly confirm if the journeys/ excursions planned by me are included in the Swiss Travel Pass as per the details set out below. I will arrive in Geneva from Paris. Thereafter, Geneva to Interlaken via Be or Golden Passrn (free on Swiss Travel Pass). 2 night stay in Interlaken. Interlaken to Jungfra – Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald (free on Swiss Travel Pass) and thereafter to Jungfrau u (25% discount on swiss pass) or to Schilthorn (50% discount on Swiss Travel Pass). Interlaken to Lucerne for 2 nights (Train free on Swiss Travel Pass). Lake Lucerne cruise (free on Swiss Travel Pass). Trip to Mt. Titlis (train from Lucerne to Engelberg – free on Swiss Travel Pass). Engelberg to mt. Titlis (50% discount). Lucerne to Zurich 2nights (free train on Swiss Travel Pass). Lake Zurich cruise (free on Swiss Travel Pass) and Rhine Falls (free on Swiss Travel Pass). Also I Understand that all internal buses/ trams/ trains will also be free, for example, internal travel in Zurich or Lucerne to Meggen. I can purchase the Swiss Travel Pass from India and carry a print or buy it from Geneva train station. And I do not need to book any tickets in advance or reserve seats. I can just hop on to any train/ tram/ cruise covered under the Swiss Travel Pass. Thank you so much in advance!
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Hi meghaswiss,
Good to hear you’re making progress with your planning. I’ve read your proposed itinerary and yes, all your assumptions about the 8 day Swiss Travel Pass are correct. As for purchasing: you can indeed do so beforehand or at the Geneva railway station. Purchasing in advance would be a lot easier though. If you do so through http://www.swissrailways.com/ en, there are no shipping or handling fees and you’ll receive an online ticket to be printed at home. That way, you can start using it right after arrival in Geneva, without having to spend time on a local purchase.
Hi Annika, thank you for the prompt reply and validation! After doing some maths at my end, I found the 8 day pass more economical for a 6 day trip! Thanks again, Megha
No offense to anyone here but I bought the 4-day Swiss Pass from http://www.sbb.ch/en.
Per Arno & Annika, the Swiss Railways site is catered more to passes and international customers while the above url I gave has a lot more options of buying many things (more for Swiss people) including the Swiss Travel Pass. In few of the older posts I read that Swiss Railways sends the online PDF pass in 1-3 days via email while on the SBN site I could download it right away post payment. Also it gave me the option to pay in CHF or in Indian Rupees (incl. of all surcharge & markups)
Hi sskundu,
Yes, indeed the domestic SBB site is mainly for Swiss citizens, with a plethora of information and products most tourists do not need, or may even confuse them. The Swiss Pass for example, is an electronic card for Swiss citizens only. Tourists need the Swiss Travel Pass, which seems the same thing but is an entirely different product. The SBB asks us to refer to their tourist webshop, http://www.swissrailways.com, when it comes to rail passes. And we prefer that ourselves as well because it’s much simpler. Also we know the team of that web shop, like we do for most major retailers, so in case of any issues before or after purchasing we can help to a certain extend as well. Of course there are some differences between both options; I’m sure the download time, for example, will be quicker through the tourist web shop eventually as well. It’s an ever evolving thing. In the end, of course, any Swiss Travel Pass is the same regardless of where it was purchased, but we prefer to keep things as simple as possible and being able to assist. How did you like the Swiss Travel Pass by the way? Did you like the easy of use, and the train system itself?
Yes we enjoyed the 3 day Swiss Trip a lot. Will try to put a trip report once am back to India in a couple of days. The Swiss Travel System is extremely efficient and “on-time”. Very few times (maybe twice in 3 days), trains were running late by 5-10 mins max. But being first timers many might be paranoid or skeptical of missing a train or getting off at the wrong station (we got off at Fluelen instead of Brunnen once at night) but got another train withing 15 mins. So its really helpful if people visiting have the SBB mobile app to find the next bus or train to their destination & their running status.
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the system and found it easy to use. You’ll be a pro the next time you visit. The app you mentioned, plus other apps and handy websites, are listed here.
Hi, I have a general question – till what time do trains / trams and buses ply? Thanks!
Hi Megha,
trains & buses usually ply till midnight or 1am. If you put your source & destination stations in SBB app or site, it will show you all the connections along with time. You can check for later trains and first & last trains / buses too. But the frequency at night (esp. for buses) reduce a little like once in 30 mins or an hour. That depends on the place as well (big city like Zurich, Luzern or small towns like Gersau etc.)
Thanks, very helpful
Hello! I’m trying to book train tickets for Paris to Geneva on SNCF TGV Lyria website. However at the last stage my order gets rejected (while entering password for my credit card). Is it possible that I cannot book this ticket from india? Any other website from where I could book? I need to book three tickets (including two for senior citizens). Thanks!
Megha, this being a Swiss forum I can’t help you or post regarding Paris booking. You can write at [email protected] for same.
Some sites ask for a french card so i am not sure if that’s the case here. You can try raileurope.co.in
Hi meghaswiss,
All the major websites selling these tickets are listed on http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/france/pric e. The list automatically only shows websites that work for your country, India in your case. You can change it to another country at any time and the list will change.
Good luck and let us know if you need more help.
Thank you Arno and SS. I have booked TV ticket using raileuro india site.
You might have paid an additional booking fees on the rail europe india site… But its ok if its done now. Paris has some more things in terms of travelling. Let me know if you need help on that before booking.
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