[Anonymous]

25 January 2016 at 11:43:08 #808323

We are planning to travel from Nice to Interlaken in the first week of May and be in Swiss for 5 days covering Grindelwald,Jungfraujoch,Lucerene, Engelberg, and Zurich. We would like to extensively use the train network.

From Zurich we travel to Austria for 5 days and then head to Munuch.

We are a group of 14 including adults, youths and children. What kind of passes should we take?

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[Annika]

Reply 1 of 3 • 25 January 2016 at 14:22:47 #847962

Hi RejiThomas, welcome to MySwissAlps!

There are several pass options, but which is best, depends on the details of your itinerary. For example: will either your first or last day in Switzerland involve short/local trips? What exact trips do you plan to make? Do you have a finalized day-per-day itinerary and if so? What are your plans for Austria? And what are the ages of the travelers, especially the youths and children?

For now, I’d say a 4 day Swiss Travel Pass (plus regular tickets for either your first or last day in Switzerland) or a 2 country Eurail Select Pass are worth looking into.

If you provide us with more details, we’ll be able to give a better recommendation.

[User]

Reply 2 of 3 • 25 January 2016 at 14:56:07 #847963

Thank you for the revert Annika. Our Schedule would be

Country: France

Day 1: Nice to (thru Spiez)Interlaken ( Night Train)

Country: Switzerland

Day 2: Arrive at interlaken Hotel( Please suggest)

Day 3 : Make a boat tour on Lake Brienz. (Please suggest things to do)

Day 4 : Take a train towards Grindelwald. Get on board the mountain railway to Jungfraujoch. Stay in Interlaken

Day 5 : After breakfast take the train to Lucerne (1.5 hrs.). Check in to your hotel. Overnight in a hotel in Lucerne

Day 6 : Go to Engelberg, the foot of the Alps. Visit the famous Mt Titlis at leisure. Enjoy the cable car and Rotair experience en route to the mountain peak. Back to your hotel in Lucerne

Day 7:Take a train to Zurich.Back to your hotel in Lucerne

Country: Austria

Day 8: Take the train to Innsbruck, Austria.Arrive in Innsbruck, check in to your hotel.Explore the city of Innsbruck

Day 9: Take the train to Salzburg (1.45 hrs).Overnight in your hotel in Salzburg

Day 10: n and around Salzburg. overnight in Salzburg

Day 11 : Take the train Vienna (2.2 hrs.)Arrive in Vienna, check in to your hotel. Overnight in your hotel in Vienna

Day 12: City tour of Vienna,Overnight in your hotel in Vienna

Day 13:City tour of Vienna,Overnight in your hotel in Vienna

Day 14: Day trip to Graz by train (2.5 hrs).Overnight in your hotel in Vienna

Country: Germany

Day 15-18: Take the train to Munich (4,5 hrs).check in to your hotel. Overnight in your hotel in Munich. In and around Munich

Day 18 – fly out

Details of the 3 families travelling – 14 people in Total

Family 1 consists of 3 adults and two children aged 18 & 14 ( Total 5)

Family 2 consists of 2 adults and two children of 16 and 14 ( Total 4)

Family 3 consists of 2 adults and 3 children of 14,8 and 3 ( Total 5)

[Annika]

Reply 3 of 3 • 25 January 2016 at 16:11:19 #847964

Hi RejiThomas,

Thanks for your update. Based on the itinerary you’ve described, these are the options you can review.

Option 1: Swiss Half Fare Card OR 8 day Swiss Travel Pass plus regular tickets

• buy Swiss Half Fare Cards for the Swiss portion of your trip. Do mind that you’ll have to buy discounted tickets for each trip, which may be time consuming with a large travel party. You need Swiss Half Fare Cards for everyone in your travel group aged 16 years and older. All children aged 15 years and younger travel along for free on all routes with the free Swiss Family Card, which is a huge money saver. Resellers are listed in the Price section of our Swiss Half Fare Card page. The easiest option is to buy through http://www.swissrailways.com, allowing you to buy the Swiss Half Fare Cards and the Swiss Family Cards as print at home tickets without any additional fees;
• if the idea of free ticketless traveling appeals to you, consider 8 days Swiss Travel Passes for the adults and youths instead. This option may turn out to be less economical than Swiss Half Fare Cards. Swiss Travel Passes can be combined with the free Swiss Family Card for all children aged 15 years and younger too, allowing them to travel along for free anywhere. Please refer to the Price section for resellers. The Swiss Travel Passes and Swiss Family Cards can be bought as print at home tickets from http://www.swissrailways.com as well;
• get regular train tickets for the French and German legs of your journey. You won’t be doing that much traveling in both countries. Please refer to our pages on tickets for France and Germany;
• calculate whether regular train tickets or a rail passes turn out better for the Austrian part of your trip. We can’t comment on pass options for Austria that well.

Option 2: 10 day 2 country Eurail Select Pass

• buy 10 day versions of the 2 country Eurail Select Pass and do so for Switzerland and Austria. You can purchase sets of the cheaper saver variant for the adults (26 years and older) that will be traveling together at all times. Get youth passes for all travelers aged between 12 and 25. Children up to and including 11 years old travel along for free. Prices and resellers can be reviewed in the Price section of our Eurail Select Pass page;
• use your 10 free travel days for the longest and most expensive trips in Switzerland and Austria. Get regular tickets for Switzerland and Austria for the remaining days, not covered by your Eurail Select Pass;
• get regular tickets for the French and German legs of your stay, just as with option 1.

You will still have to work through the maths, but I hope this helps you decide for the Swiss portion at least.