[Removed user]

12 August 2012 at 21:28:12 #805533

Good day! I have quite a fewquestions hence I posted them under miscellaneous. Thank you very much fortaking your time to read through them. It’s my first trip to Switzerland, I’ve self studied through several websites over the past 2 weeks, however got a little confused after all the “holiday homework”. I’m pretty nervous, do help me through my questions. Appreciated much!

[u] [/u]
[u]Swiss[/u][u] Pass[/u][u](2 for 1)[/u]
1) Iam a Singaporean, studying in Switzerland,am I entitled to buy Swiss Pass (2 for 1)?
2) Isswiss pass (2 for 1) cheaper when bought at Zurich Airportas compare to eg. Lucern train station?
3) Mustboth travelers be present during purchasing of swiss pass(2 for 1)?
4) Isthere any limitation to how many times one traveler can purchase the swiss pass(2 for 1)?
5) Whatis the difference between swiss pass and swiss card?

[u]1 day travel passes[/u]
1) Does 1 day travel pass valid on all transports in Switzerland?

[u]Railway[/u]
1) isit safe to purchase train tickets from zurichairport/ train station on the day of arrival in switzerland to travel to lucern?(will there be incidents where the train does not have vacant seats?)

[u]Mobile Plans[/u]
1) Arethere any good and cheap temporary/short (say for 3 weeks) mobile plans fortourists (or foreign students studying in Switzerland) which include internetconnection (data plans), cheap incoming/outgoing calls & SMSes?

[u]Tickets[/u]
1) Weare visiting several places in Switzerland.Was wondering if it is necessary to pre book the tickets?

[u]Advise on my itinerary[/u]
1) We are studying at IMI(Kastanienbaum – Luzern). We areplanning to visit several places in Switzerland during our 1 weekholiday. (Mount Pilatus, Rigi, Jungfraujoch, Stanserhorn, Mounttitlis, LakeLucerne and Zermatt).Could you advise us on how should we go about planning the route so that wecould visit all in 1 week?

2) As for Zermatt, Iunderstand that we have to travel via Glacier Express. How do we travel fromLucern to take the glacier express? If we have swiss pass, do we still have topay the tickets/ reservation? I saw onGlacier Express Website that Reservation fee
during Summer is 33 CHF, and Winter 13 CHF. Is that a 2 wayfee or a 1 way fee?

3) Base on the places that we planned to visit, itis advisable that we purchase the 2 for 1 swiss pass or the half fare swisspass?

For Emergency:

Is there any important/ emergency numbers we should take note of during our tour?

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[Removed user]

13 August 2012 at 2:20:04 #836932

Another few questions that pop into my mind. i’ve tried tosearch on the ways to go to all the places i mentioned above from Lucerne train stations(from sbb website) but it doesnt seems to work. Therefore, would appreciateyour help in guiding us. Please Correct me if I’m wrong.

[u]From Lucerne train station to Mount Pilatus:[/u]
(I planned to take the panorama gondalas/ arieal cablewayup)
Train to Lucerne,then bus no. 1 (Kriens) to the ‘Linde Pilatus’ stop (approx. 15 minutes), then5-minute walk to the Kriens base terminus.

[u]From Lucerne train stationto Mount Rigi:[/u]
By Train: Take a local train to Küssnacht am Rigi and thena bus to Weggis orVitznau.
By Boat: Take a boat from Lucerneto Weggis orVitznau

[u]From Lucernetrain station to Jungfraujoch:[/u]
I have no idea how to reach Interlaken ost from lucerne. Via Goldenpass??

[u]From Lucernetrain station to Stanserhorn:[/u]
By Train: 20 minutes train ride from the Lucerne station to Stans (Luzern – Stans –Engelberg).

[u]From Lucerne train stationto Mount Titlus:[/u]
By train: International rail connections to Zurichand Lucerne. Lucerne – Engelberg 50minutes by train “Zentralbahn”.

[u]From Lucerne train stationto Zermatt[/u]:
I have no idea how to reach Zermatt from Lucerne. Via Glacier Express? If so, how toreach the Glacier express stations from lucern?

Taking account that I am buying the swiss pass (2 for 1),Are those trip above free?

Thank you!

[Arno]

13 August 2012 at 3:05:22 #836933

Hi joeleneguek, and welcome to MySwissAlps!

First of all, let me reassure you that you don’t need to be nervous for a trip to Switzerland. It’s easy and comfortable to travel around there. Now, as for your questions:

Everyone except permanent residents of Switzerland and Liechtenstein may travel with a Swiss Pass. All purchase options can be found on the Swiss Pass page. Just fill out your preferences in the upper right corner. You can also download a detailed network map from that page. It shows you what’s covered. You can purchase as many passes as you like. If you buy a pass in Switzerland (but I don’t think the 2-for-1 offer is for sale locally), everyone should be there, including their passports. To learn about the differences between passes, please select the appropriate pass from here to see all details.

There is no one day travel pass, except as an add-on for the Swiss Half Fare Card, but the Swiss Pass is a better choice given your travel plans.

Here's all about seat reservations. In short: there’s no need to book seats for 99% of the trains. Only a few panoramic trains and international trains require to be booked in advance. Seat reservations are always for one leg only and on top of the ticket or pass you have for the trip itself.

There are several topics about mobile plans in the forum, such as this one.

It helps to use this map to plan you traveling. It shows many details such as rail stations, bus stops and boat docks. It also includes a timetable tab that might come in handy. For details on train, bus and boat schedules, I prefer this timetable. It allows you to select preferred means of transportation, so you can find boat schedules as well, even though a faster train connection may exist. Please also have a look at our pages with suggested hotels (including maps and traveling times from hotels to attractions) and tips about how to find the best hotels.

Does this help?

[Removed user]

14 August 2012 at 2:37:21 #836934

If you get the pass, then you have the advantage of being able to take day trips: Lausanne, Geneva, Vevay, Neuchatel, Lucerne would all be interesting (and others of course). Renting a car has the advantage that you can day trip into France, Germany or Italy without having to buy an extra pass or one of the 2 or 3 country passes.