[Removed user]

6 September 2011 at 14:09:24 #804680

Hi, I am planning for a 10-day trip to Switzerland in early October, and is deciding which whether to get the Swiss Flexi Pass (3 days in a month) or the Swiss Half Fare Card. Our itinerary is as follows:

Day 1 – Geneva

Day 2 – Geneva – Lausanne

Day 3 – Lausanne – Montreux – Lausanne

Day 4 – Lausanne – Bern

Day 5 – Bern – Interlaken – Grindelwald – Kleine Scheidegg – Lauterbrunnen – Interlaken

Day 6 – Interlaken – Engelberg – Titlis – Engelberg – Interlaken

Day 7 – Interlaken – Zurich

Day 8 – Zurich – Winterthur – Zurich

Day 9 – Zurich – Basel

Day 10 – Basel

Apart from the entire itinerary, I would particularly like to ask, how much discount is the Half Fare Card offering for the Jungfraujoch section? (Kleine Scheidegg-Jungfraujoch-KS, or Grindelwald-KS-JFJ-KS-Lauterbrunnen as a whole). As I heard from somewhere that the discount is 50% while somewhere else indicates it is 25%.

As for the Flexi Pass, I am aware that the discount for KS-JFJ-KS is 25% only, but I am not sure about the connections in between Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen with KS, or Wengen-KS (seems to be 25% as well but just wish to make sure). Besides, we are getting the 3-day pass instead of longer ones because it’s now having a 30% discount in the pass till Nov 2011 which is quite a nice deal.

Thank you so much for the advice, and any suggestions are welcome!

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[Annika]

7 September 2011 at 14:27:55 #834142

Hello charista, and welcome to the forum! The Swiss Flexi Pass provides free traveling up to Wengen/Grindelwald, and a 25% between those towns and Kleine Scheidegg/Jungfraujoch. The Swiss Half Fare Card offers a 50% discount on the entire route. Such details can be reviewed by checking the maps we link to at the detail page of each pass.

As for which pass is most economical: could you first let me know
1. whether you actually intend to go up the Jungfraujoch, or travel to Kleine Scheidegg only?
2. what your country of residence is? That will help me figure out which pass is most suitable for you, since the current 3 day Swiss Flexi Pass offer is interesting to residents of some countries, but not all.

Depending on these answers, the 8 day Swiss Saver Pass (to be used on day 2 to day 9) might be a good choice as well, as you intend to do quite some traveling during your stay in Switzerland.

Just let me know some further information and I’ll get back to you! Regards,

[Removed user]

7 September 2011 at 15:16:38 #834143

Thanks for your reply! Oh yes sorry i missed the most important point, we are definitely planning to go to Jungfraujoch from Kleine Scheidegg. Besides, we have made a some minor changes to our route and this is the revised one:

Day 1 – Geneva

Day 2 – Geneva – Lausanne

Day 3 – Lausanne – Zermatt – Gornergrat – Zermatt – Lausanne

Day 4 – Lausanne – Bern

Day 5 – Bern – Interlaken (travelling around local Interlaken with the tourist pass)

Day 6 – Interlaken – Grindelwald (or Wengen) – Kleine Scheidegg – Jungfraujoch – Lauterbrunnen (or Wengen) – Interlaken

Day 7 – Interlaken – Lucerne – Interlaken

Day 8 – Interlaken – Zurich

Day 9 – Zurich – Winterthur – Zurich

Day 10 – Zurich – Basel

Day 11 – Basel

I am from Hong Kong but I have been residing in the UK for more than 6 months (so I suppose I am eligible to get the Interrail Passes as well apart from the Swiss Passes and Swiss Half Fare Card?), and my friend who is from Hong Kong (and is in HK right now) would join me for the trip. In such case, can we both get the Swiss Half Fare Card from the SBB website for UK residents? (http://www.swisstravel system.com/index.php?lang=en_uk&system=GB)

Also concerning Day 3, we are considering which mountain ride to take for Matterhorn. Which one would be more preferable, the ride to Gornergrat (http://www.swisstravel system.com/ausfluege.p hp?ausflugid=1) or the Matterhorn Paradise (http://www.swisstravel system.com/ausfluege.p hp?ausflugid=26)? And is it a must to take any of the rides or can we already see Matterhorn from Zermatt?

Thank you very much for your useful advice!

[Removed user]

8 September 2011 at 11:57:31 #834144

On your itinerary of Day 7 and 8, I think it isn’t necessary you go back (south) to Interlaken (from Lucerne).
You can stay at Lucerne or proceed to Zurich (north of Lucerne) which it takes only 58 minutes comparing Lucerne – Interlaken for more than 2 hours.

[Arno]

8 September 2011 at 13:04:46 #834145

Hi charista,

I don’t know all the Interrail details, but I suppose you qualify if you have documents that show your residency. I would suggest the Swiss Half Fare Card for your Swiss trips. It’s more economical than the Swiss (Flexi) Pass.

Yes, you can order your passes through Switzerland Travel Centre UK if you have a shipping address in the UK.

Gornergrat and the Matterhorn Paradise are very different. I like the view from the Gornergrat better, but both are great. You can indeed see the Matterhorn from Zermatt, but the view from high up in the mountains is much better.

[Removed user]

9 September 2011 at 9:53:42 #834146

Thank you all for the information, and yes we’ll consider taking the Gornergrat train and going straight to Lucerne instead of a day trip
so looking forward to the trip 🙂