1st time Switzerland, pass Zurich&Berner Oberland

I am going to spend 1 night in Zurich then head to the Berner Oberland area for 4 nights, and then onto Milan. I read up on the regional pass for the Berner Oberland area, but my question is this. Do I need to purchase a Swiss Pass to get from Zurich to the Berner Oberland area and then from there to Milan?

Hi DRoss, welcome to MySwissAlps!

If you have a 6 day Regional-Pass Bernese Oberland, it will be valid on the days of your inbound trip from Zurich and your outbound trip to Milan. In that case you only need additional tickets for the legs Zurich-Lucerne or Zurich-Bern and for Brig-Domodossola. These are relatively short and inexpensive distances, so no need to get an additional Swiss Travel Pass or other rail pass.

If you opt for a 4 day Regional-Pass, meaning it's not valid during your inbound and outbound journeys, you can cover those with a Swiss Transfer Ticket.

Yet another option is the Swiss Transfer Ticket Combi. That will cover your inbound and outbound trips and provide a 50% discount on your trips in the Bernese Oberland. The coverage for this area isn't as good as with the Regional-Pass though.