[bdog]

14 April 2018 at 18:29:50 #815325

My family is planning a trip to Geneva, followed by Lauterbrunnen and hiking, and then to Zurich for the plane back to SF. I’m confused about the most economical and hassle-free tickets / passes because there are 3 of us with different lengths of stay, and slightly different itineraries.

My wife (4 days): Geneva to Latuerbrunnen July 20; Lauterbrunnen, Widersil, Schynige Platte, First, Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen; the Lauterbrunnen to Zurich.

My daughter (8 days): Geneva to Lauterbrunnen July 20; then numerous trains, buses, Trams in that area until July 26; then Lauterbrunnen to Zurich July 27.

Myself (9 days): same as my daughter but I start 1 day earlier.

Advice? Transit + half-fare? Swiss travel pass? different plans for each? many thanks!

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[User]

Reply 1 of 1 • 15 April 2018 at 5:38:10 #882263

Hi DH, and welcome to MySwissAlps!

There is only one way to know for sure: plan your itinerary in detail, including all trips by train, bus, boat and cable car. Then look up the full-fare cost of all these planned trips and compare the total cost of separate tickets with the cost of doing the same trips with the Swiss Travel Pass, Swiss Half Fare Card etc.

You will need to do this separately for each traveller who has a unique itinerary.

You can find fares in the Swiss Timetable.

http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

It is important to be aware that the fare shown for any trip in the Swiss Timetable defaults to half fare, as most Swiss residents will have a Half-Fare travelcard which entitles them to this discount. Your calculations need to be based on full fares, which are double the default fare that comes up.

There is information and a spreadsheet here to help you:

http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass

If you can’t be bothered doing the calculations, you might simply consider getting a 4-day Swiss Travel Pass for your wife, and an 8-day Swiss Travel Pass each for yourself and your daughter.

For your extra day, choose the first or last day (whichever is the least expensive) and get point-to-point tickets or a Saver Day Pass, whichever is cheaper.

Alternatively, a Jungfrau Travel Pass each (available for a maximum of 6 days), plus point-to-point or Saver Day Pass tickets for trips outside the region/period covered by the Jungfrau Travel Pass. Saver Day Pass tickets are not valid for most mountain transport. In the Jungfrau Region, they will get you as far as Grindelwald, Wengen or Mürren only. A Swiss Transfer Ticket would save you a few coins on your trips Genève-Lauterbrunnen and Lauterbrunnen-Zürich, but commits you to the fastest/cheapest routes, ruling out scenic routes such as the Golden Pass.

http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfrautravelpass/valid ity

Those are easy, convenient options. Whether one of them (or some other solution entirely) is also the most economical option can’t be known without doing the sums.

Alpenrose