[Removed user]

21 August 2012 at 16:06:48 #805559

Hi Forum –
My wife, 17 year-old son, and I are going to be spending 2 weeks in Switzerland during September – most of it hiking in Bernase Oberland or the Zermatt area, with the option of travelling throughout the country if the urge hits us. We will be travelling together at all times. We’d like a rail pass that would also discount cable cars, mountain trains, etc. We’re thinking 2 15-day Swiss Saver Passes and a 15-day Swiss Youth Pass is our best option; what do you think?

Is there a place to buy the Passes in the Zurich airport when we arrive or do you advise that we purchase in advance? We’re leaving in 3 weeks from the U.S.

Also, we’re planning on trying to find Matratzenlager accomodations in huts or berghotels we find at the end of each day’s hike. Is it safe to assume we’ll find accomodations without advance reservations in Sept.? What is the approximate cost we should expect per person per night for these kind of accomodations ? Any other hints would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help. (Just reading other posts on your forum has been helpful.)

Kimandfred

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[Arno]

22 August 2012 at 3:25:39 #837002

Hi Kimandfred,

The 15-day Swiss Saver Pass for the adults plus a Swiss Youth Pass would normally be the best option indeed. Please select your preferences (pass type, etc.) at this page to see purchase options. You’ll see that you can buy them locally (e.g. at the rail station of Zurich Airport), but buying online is slightly cheaper as you get a discount with raileurope-world.com if you purchase before September 5.

However, there’s a 2-for-1 promotion on 4-day Swiss Saver Passes and Swiss Saver Flexi Passes which is the cheaper option for you. I think it would be possible for you to purchase two 4-day Swiss Saver Flexi Passes (each for 2 adults). That will save you over $200 and I think it will work out just as well as a 15-day pass in your case. Be sure to look into that! Again, I think raileurope-world.com would be the best place to buy as you can take advantage of these promo codes.

Mountain huts can be pretty popular in September. I wouldn’t risk to hike all the way over there to find them fully occupied. There’s usually no alternative around in these remote places. I would at least give them a call in the morning. Take a look at the Schweizer Alpen-Club website for details on the huts.

I hope this helps you out!

[Removed user]

23 August 2012 at 20:53:22 #837003

Hi Arno –
Thanks for your help. After checking the RailEurope wbsite as you suggested, I’m a bit confused and hope you can clarify for me. If we indeed got two 4-day Swiss Saver Flexi Passes, doesn’t that mean that we can only use transportation on 8 of the 14 days we’re there? If we want to travel any or all of the 14 days, are we better off with the 15-day Pass? Is the Swiss Saver Flexi Pass good for 1 adult or 2? In other words if we want 2 adults to be able to travel on 8 days, do we need to purchase 2 Passes or 4?

Sorry, I’m probably making this way more complicated than necessary; I’m just trying to get crystal clear.

Thanks for helping us with this,
Kimandfred

[Arno]

24 August 2012 at 3:52:45 #837004

Hi Kimandfred,

You would have 8 free travel days and 50% discounted traveling on the remaining days. That should be sufficient unless you plan to make really long travels on all days. Please check the Swiss Flexi Pass page for details on how the pass works. In short: one pass would be for two adults (so you would need to order two passes to be used consecutively if you choose this option). Each pass requires you to start with a free travel day and end with a free travel day. The two travel days in between can be selected as you like. All other days in between the first and last free travel day will grant discounted traveling. So it’s a bit more complicated than one 15-day Swiss Saver Pass for 2 adults, but it’s cheaper. For example, you would use the first pass for 7 days, and the second one for the next 7 days. The choice is yours 🙂