Our experience in having the Jungfrau Travel Pass
A family of four visited the Jungfrau area for 3.5 days in summer, staying in Mürren. They bought the Jungfrau Travel Pass but found it didn't cover all expected transport routes, leading to some unexpected costs. They suggest taking time to enjoy the scenery and nature instead of rushing through attractions, and advise travelers to carefully consider which travel pass suits their itinerary best.
- Check carefully what each travel pass covers before purchasing, as certain popular routes may not be included.
- For families staying in Mürren or similar locations, the Jungfrau Travel Pass may be worthwhile if you plan to use many local transports.
- Don't overplan your visit; one or two attractions a day lets you enjoy the Alps without stress.
- Consider alternatives like the Bernese Oberland Pass if your plans involve several activities in the area.
- Enjoying local parks and walking in the villages can be just as rewarding, without needing an expensive travel pass.
AI-generated summary-
Our family of four (two adults, kids 9 and 3 years) visited the Jungfrau area in summer 2019. Great visit, the scenery is next to nothing and things work generally very well.
Arriving Interlaken, our decision on what travel pass to get for the 3,5 days we had was made in a hurry, and we decided to go half-blinded with the Jungfrau Pass since it was supposed to cover our travel routes. Our hotel was in Mürren, and getting up’n down was possible only by cableways. A quick calculation showed that the trips to our hotel and back alone would be well over 100 € during our visit.
What came as a bit of a surprise was that this pass did not cover exactly all the common transportation in the area as advertised. The scenic cableway from Stechelberg to Mürren is NOT included in the pass which we learned at the gate. It was around 25 € extra at the spot despite we just paid over 400 € for our travel passes. There was a rebate of 25 % with the pass for these tickets, but still… Only the cableway route to Mürren via Grütschalp is fully covered by the pass. Also, the local bus between Stechelberg and Lauterbrunnen is NOT covered by the pass, so if you plan to visit, for example, the Trümmelbach, you need to pay for the tickets or go by other means.
The coverage map indeed shows that these routes are not included, but it is very easy to get this wrong without eyeballing the coverage map carefully since the website convinces that…
“The Jungfrau Travel Pass allows free traveling by all modes of transport in the Jungfrau region. This is roughly the area between Interlaken, Mürren, Jungfraujoch and Grindelwald;
The buses around Grindelwald are free; Buses in the town of Interlaken are not included.”
(http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfrautravelpass)
The exceptions we found are not explicitly mentioned in the web page.
Also, the pass is decorated by pictures of Jungfraubahn and Schilthorn, neither covered by the pass, but there is some rebate available for the travel pass owners. We knew this beforehand, but I can bet it confuses those who don’t know.
So, was the travel pass worth the big money? Well, in our case it was pretty much a tie. Our travelling was 3 round trip rides from Lauterbrunnen to Mürren, one round trip from Lauterbrunnen to Eigergletscher (which is a surprisingly expensive train ride) and a round trip from Mürren to Birg. Anything in addition to this within the covered area would have made the travel pass a feasible purchase. In our case we did not want to do more than we did, but left something for the next visit. If your hotel is in a place like Mürren or Wengen, having a travel pass becomes a more feasible purchase. Local transportation in Jungfrau area is very expensive just like anything else.
The kids were cool when they had opportunities to play in local playgrounds, and we spent a lot of time just by walking in the Alp villages and hiking somewhere in the mountains. Rushing from attraction to attraction would have paid the travel passes off even more pretty quickly, but it would have been, in my opinion, a stressful, expensive and plain wrong way of doing the Jungfrau area. Enjoying slow life in the Alps while admiring the scenery and hiking in the mountains is the best thing there is, and it does not need to be expensive. In our case we didn’t go to Interlaken despite intentions, there was not enough time to do that without pushing it.
Horizontal transportation between villages is not that expensive and does not justify getting a travel pass, but when there is any significant altitude involved, the ticket price is also likely to gain some altitude.
An alternative is the Bernese Oberland Pass. It would have been around 80 € more if everything was done in the same way. It has better coverage, except the Eigergletscher which is not covered. In my opinion, the extended coverage is not the point to go for this pass if your plan is to visit for a few days unless you specifically plan to go to a place within the coverage.
My advise to those travelling this area is to not over plan the visit. Enjoy instead of pushing it. One attraction per day (or two in some cases) is in my opinion the maximum. Get in touch with the nature and the culture the best you can.
Happy travelling!
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Thanks, this is very useful. Still trying to decide which pass to buy. I was thinking about the Jungfrau Travel Pass, but it appears the Regional Pass Bernese Oberland pass is a better fit, or perhaps the Swiss Travel Pass. The Schilthorn seems more appealing given we are staying in Mürren.
What places are in your must-see list? How long are you going to stay there? Have you been in the area before? I could try to reflect our trip to yours.
As said, you may end up doing less than what you plan. It’s pretty good time without any plans, other than just being there, having good food or coffee, breath the fresh alpine air and admiring the beauty of the sheer mountain walls and waterfalls. If your visit is in the Lauterbrunnen valley area, the likelyhood of getting more value from a travel pass with more coverage than Jungfrau Pass is smallish unless you have a lot of time or a specific plan for something. The risk in getting a “wrong” pass (or not having a pass at all) may not be that significant, just be aware of their limitations which may not be obvious at first. It’s going to be expensive stay anyway but still some great time!
Hello Tero and Welcome to MySwissAlps,
Thanks for sharing your experiences. You observations serve to reinforce the need for travellers to do their homework thoroughly when working out which pass to choose.
My standard advice goes . . . . Based on your personal itinerary you should read “How to choose the best travel pass” (http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass), download the handy spreadsheet calculator and do the math. The spreadsheet also includes links to the “Where it’s valid” tab for all available passes. Be sure to check those pages for each pass you are considering. Study the map AND read all the text on those pages to fully understand what is covered by the respective pass.
Hi Tero
If I read Arno’s Report on changes in train routes for this year, the STP no longer fully covers the route to Schilthorn but only offers a discount.
Mark
Hi Mark,
Schilthorn is fully covered by the STP for 2019 but not for 2020 when it will revert to 50% – unless they have a last minute change of heart like they had this year. 🤓
Yes. Sorry should have said next year.
Mark
Hi Tero, welcome to the MySwissAlps forum and thanks for sharing your experiences!
I can imagine it’s tempting to assume that Schilthorn and Jungfraujoch would be fully covered by the Jungfrau Travel Pass, but as with all rail passes: the devil is in the details ;-). The text you quoted is an introductory text from our Jungfrau Travel Pass validity page at http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfrautravelpass/valid ity, shortly summarizing how it roughly works, but one has to study the validity map and/or the textual explanation for all details. You say that the exceptions you encountered aren’t explicitly mentioned at this web page, but they are. Below the downloadable validity map, we provide textual information, mentioning the exact discounts for both routes, so one’s not dependent on the validity map only. You’ll find it under the headers “Schilthorn” and “Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe”.
As Rockoyster rightly pointed out, it takes a lot of work to find out which pass suits your plans best. It involves a careful study of each pass’s validity details and quite some calculations. Of course one can also make an educated guess, as you did. It’s true that such passes really start to pay if one uses public transportation, and especially the more expensive mountain rides in the designated validity area, intensively. But in some cases just one or two of the more expensive mountain rides already justify the purchase of a pass, as regular full-fare tickets would have been more expensive.
Anyway, I’m happy to hear you enjoyed your stay and I fully agree with your advice not to overplan things. Simply being in the Alps and enjoying the scenery is what it’s all about :-)!
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