[Anonymous]

31 December 2019 at 16:05:59 #824768

My wife and I will be arriving at Zurich airport and want to travel by train to Grindelwald for 8 days of skiing, then back to the airport. I am a bit confused about the type of ticket I need and would appreciate any advice.

* We will ski 5 days and may want to take a day or two traveling to say, Interlaken or another destination that would be available for a day trip.

* Do we need a train ticket for travel on gondolas or cable cars. In other words would we need this train ticket to visit Murren or Wengen to ski? Would the ski lift ticket provide us with all the transportation we would need to ski the various areas around Grindelwald?

* would a second class ticket be adequate considering we will have luggage?

*. I was thinking a 3 day Swiss flex travel pass.

thank you for any help.

david

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[User]

Reply 1 of 8 • 31 December 2019 at 18:27:11 #927187

Hi David – Welcome to My Swiss Alps.

By the way, when are you traveling?

Swiss Rail tickets and costs, rail passes, regional passes and point to point tickets are complex enough for routine travel, but become more so for the Jungfrau Region. There is no easy single answer.

That is because the various rail passes offer differing discounts on the mountain railways and cableways in the Region.

The standard answer is to look at this link-

http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses,

and carefully study the details on the maps of validity, varying for different rail/cableway lines.

It is still not easy, and the spreadsheet offered is the most complete solution, but requires a lot of work and planning or guessing.

You would be assisted if you work with a map and the timetable ( this link has very helpful tips and tricks for using the timetable)

http://www.myswissalps.com/timetable

After you become familiar with it, you can go directly to the SBB website:

http://www.sbb.ch/en/

which offers a lot more than just a timetable.

Many maps are available, but this one is particularly good for rail travel:

map.search.ch/?pos=642592,164376&z=32

I have zoomed in to zoom level 32, at which point e rail lines pop into clear view.

Also, in the menu ( star in circle) you can get a lot more specifics about travel routes, schedules, and exact official station names….anywhere in Switzerland.

<<“Do we need a train ticket for travel on gondolas or cable cars. In

other words would we need this train ticket to visit Murren or Wengen to

ski? Would the ski lift ticket provide us with all the transportation

we would need to ski the various areas around Grindelwald?”>>

You need a specific ticket for cableways, which is free or discounted, or sometimes full-fare, depending on which one you use. Go to the ticket window, show your rail pass id you have one, and buy or get an entry ticket for the cableway, which gets you onto the cable car.

There is a regional pass or passes that would get you on the lifts and trains around Grindelwald.

Check this page:

http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses

A fine distinction – economical intercity public transport is a fundamental right of the population, due to the social policy of the government to help promote countrywide unity, and reduce air pollution from individual travel devices, such as automobiles.

So, since Mürren, and Grindelwald, as well as Lauterbrunnen and Wengen are population centers, tickets between them and Interlaken are highly subsidized. However, if you take a train from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg, the first leg to Wengen is cheap…a few CHF. The same train proceeds on the same rail line to Kleine Scheidegg, which is not a population center. So, that part of the trip is an “excursion” and is priced accordingly higher.

<<” would a second class ticket be adequate considering we will have luggage?”>>

Yes. Check the SBB website for details of luggage transport –

http://www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/services/luggage.html

but, I think that you will best carry it with you. If you fly SwissAir ( now called “Swiss” ) you may be able to check your luggage in at a station near the Jungfrau, for your flight back home.

The connection through Interlaken Ost has narrow passages, but, there

are frequent trains if you miss the connection. Just follow the herd of

tourists with skiis. 😉

I don’t really understand all the rail passes, so one of the moderators may offer a better understanding, and specific suggestions.

I’m probably wrong but you might find “point to point” tickets ( or Saver Day passes) for the ZHbf-Grindelwald-ZHbf trips, plus a Jungfrau region pass, to be a combination worth checking out. Not clear about optional day trips to nearby places, but the SBB timetable

http://www.myswissalps.com/timetable

will give you pries for point to point tickets. Please read the guidelines as noted above…you’ll usually see half-fare costs until you dig into the pricing menus. Almost all Swiss carry a half-far discount card……so that is what is listed first

Slowpoke

[CabinJon]

Reply 2 of 8 • 31 December 2019 at 21:31:06 #927188

My quick look at the Jungfrau Ski Region lift pass indicates it will cover all the trains, gondolas, chairlifts, etc. needed to ski in the region, including Grindelwald. It even covers the trip to/from Interlaken Ost. A search for ski region pass will provide more details and have links to trail & lift maps. We skied in Grindelwald for one week several years ago, and all we needed was the lift pass. We spent all our time riding the train up to Kleine Scheidegg, skiing on the upper mountain & having lunch, then taking the train back down to Grindelwald – which we thought a wise choice on tired legs at the end of the day. Although we might have skied back down once and aimed our tips towards Wengen too.

We loved it, and that trip caused us to return to Switzerland twice recently to see what it was like in the non-winter months. Great either way.

Have a good time skiing!!

[User]

Reply 3 of 8 • 31 December 2019 at 21:48:17 #927189

Thank you so much. This helps a great deal

[User]

Reply 4 of 8 • 31 December 2019 at 21:49:15 #927190

Wow! A lot of information. Thank you for the links and help. We are going mid February.

[User]

Reply 5 of 8 • 31 December 2019 at 22:27:07 #927191

<<“We are going mid February.”>>

Good to know. And, a good time to go for skiing. Although your aim is skiing, there will be some winter hiking trails groomed until late March.

http://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/winter-hiking/

Slowpoke

[CabinJon]

Reply 6 of 8 • 31 December 2019 at 22:45:32 #927192

Great time for skiing Grindelwald, we skied the first week of February when we were there. Weather was great too. Yes, it was years ago and weather can vary, but you should be in a sweet spot. Don’t forget to stop for lunch at the Kleine Scheidegg train station at least once during the day. Nothing like a hot plate of rosti, and maybe a cold weisse beer, outside on a winter day.

[User]

Reply 7 of 8 • 2 January 2020 at 9:34:41 #927193

Me(Age 65) and my wife (age,60) are planning to visit Switzerland in the first week of September 2020. Our itinerary is as follows as

07-09-20 Arrive from Paris bt TGV to Geneva.Afternoon explore Geneva lake.

08-09-20 Day trip to Chamonix

09-09-20 Day trip to Gstaad and visit Glacier 3000.

10-09-20 Transfer to Zermatt .Visit Matterhorn in the afternoon.

11-09-20 Visit Gongernat

12-09-20. Take GEX to St Moritz.

13-09-20. Transfer to Grindelwald.

14-09-20 In Grindelwald.

15-09-20 In Grindelwald

16 09 20 in Grindelwald.

17-09-2020 Transfer to Lucerne.

18-09-20. In Luzern (as German call it)

19-09-20 In Lucerne

20-09-20 Transfer to Zurich to catch a late night flight to Bangalore( India)

My queries are

1 Is thi Itinerary okay Geographically or i am criss crosing the country.?

Iur main interests are in mountains and lakes.Which mountains we can visiit from Grindelwald in 3 days and which mountains we visit from Lucerne.We plan to go for 15 days consecutive days Swiis rail pass.Is there any possibility to cut the no of bases .Already we are having 5 basesThanks

[User]

Reply 8 of 8 • 2 January 2020 at 12:16:37 #927194

Hi Harishparekh,

I would like to ask you, to start a new thread with your question and itinerary, as this one is Dmmdmd’s thread. Please see the forum rules at http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/rules. Thanks for your understanding.

My answer in brief is that you should rethink the Glacier Express, if you do not wish to spend time in St. Moritz. I rather recommend this route: Zermatt to Lucerne: Zermatt – Andermatt (same route than Glacier Express but by local trains), Andermatt – Göschenen (cogwheel train), Göschenen – Lucerne (Gotthard Panorama Express): http://www.myswissalps.com/glacierexpress/gettingthere

So you could visit first Lucerne after Zermatt, than the Jungfrau area and Grindelwald.

On these pages you’ll find the recommended activities, such as mountains, towns, panoramic train routes etc:

• Grindelwald: http://www.myswissalps.com/grindelwald/activities
• Jungfrau region: http://www.myswissalps.com/jungfrauregion/activities
• Lake Lucerne region: http://www.myswissalps.com/lakelucerne/activities
• Zermatt: http://www.myswissalps.com/zermatt/activities

Ildiko