Rail travel from the UK to Switzerland
Bill Jones is planning a trip from the UK to Lauterbrunnen for walking in the Bernese Oberland area and needs help with rail travel costs and passes. He specifically asks about using his UK Senior Railcard and which Swiss Travel Pass might be beneficial. He mentions that they had a great holiday there before and found the car unnecessary during their stay.
- You can apply your UK Senior Railcard for tickets bought in the UK, but discounts generally apply to Swiss cards only.
- The Swiss Travel Pass is useful for multiple train trips within Switzerland, but may not be cost-effective if you're only taking a few trains.
- Consider the Jungfrau Travel Pass for hiking, as it covers mountain transport for 3-6 days and allows some return travel options.
- For a faster journey, you can fly to Basel and then take a train to Lauterbrunnen.
AI-generated summary-
We had a very good early summer holiday in Lauterbrunnen (near Interlaken) three years ago. We went by car but discovered we didn’t need it while there. Advice please on costs of rail travel from the UK to Lauterbrunnen. Can I use my UK Senior Railcard? How to find out the cost of the fare from the UK? Which Swiss Pass would help? We would be walking around the Lautebrunnen/Bernese Oberland area, with for example Kleine Scheidegge as a starting point. Thank you. Bill Jones
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Hi Bill Jones,
Your UK senior rail card could be applied to the cost of the ticket when bought in the UK….check with your local travel/train office. Typically in Switzerland, the rail tickets can only be discounted if you have a discount card from Switzerland, Germany or Austria.
You can try the online retailers here for help also travelling to Switzerland from the UK.
The Swiss Travel Pass only covers train travel within Switzerland. You can perhaps buy a ticket from your town in the UK to a border town in Switzerland and then use a Swiss Travel Pass onward from there. However, these passes usually only make sense if you are planning on multiple train trips will in Switzerland – which it sounds like you are not.
Lucas
Hello Bill
The Jungfrau Travel Pass is well worth getting if only so that you can walk one way and travel back the other! It is valid for between 3 and 6 (consecutive days) with the 5- and 6-day passes being valid on Lakes Thun and Brienz in addition to all the mountain trains, buses, cable cars etc. (There are one or two exclusions so you would need to look at the exact range of validity on the map – which I believe you can find on this web site). My husband and I try to arrange “round trips” with a walk included for at least one leg of the journey each day. This works well in the Bernese Oberland. Have a great holiday!
If you want to save a bit of time on the train you can fly to Basel and then it’s an easy train journey from there. Last summer I paid £110 return from Luton to Basel, then with a half fare card the return from Basel to Interlaken was something like 60CHF. You obviously have to pay for your half fare card but if you’re out and about in the mountains a lot you’ll probably see a benefit. Or if you like the train, you could investigate a global Interrail pass. They have a senior discount.
There is a discount on point to point train tickets that might be useful for you, depending on your travel date. The discount is only available tomorrow, and only for trips up to March 22. Please see:
Hi Bill
If you want to look into train prices i don’t know when your travelling but loco2.com and sncf trains cover trains from the UK I have tried for you by selecting London St Pancreas to Lauterbrunn on the 1st April using senior railcard for 1 passenger travelling at 10am from london and prices range from 126.50 to 156.20 single the link is https://loco2.com/journey/london-st-pancras-international-lauterbrunnen-v6zsq2
Hope this helps as unsure of the rest of your plans i can only suggest . We have debated over which pass as I took the plunge to buy a Interrail Global Pass as we will be passing through France,Switzerland and Austria .Just to note though the cost of the pass has already been covered in my first trip from my home town to London and then onto my first destination
Thank you very much for that really helpful advice and information – I very much appreciate it! It shows that the cost and convenience of rail travel from the UK are both manageable (the journey is possible on one day) . Once in Lauterbrunnen we found the car was quite unnecessary – walking, rail and bus were entirely adequate, and the car was unused (except as a store for gear) for two weeks. My thanks to the other replies too. Bill
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