2 day trip in June to Swiss Alps, family of 5

Hi Euro2017 and welcome to MySwissAlps!

First a few questions on the train passes you mention:
When you say “the Half family card” you mean the Swiss Half-Fare Card I think?
and when you say the “Swiss Half Flex pass” you mean the Swiss Half-Fare Card again? or the Swiss Travel Pass Flex?

Also when you mention the Swiss rail pass – which pass are you referring to here? There is no Swiss Rail Pass – there is a Swiss Travel Pass however.

My recommendation would be to get the Swiss Half-Fare Card for both adults and add on the free Swiss Family card that will cover the children. This will give you 50% off your travel to either Jungfraujoch or Schilthorn. I think during your short stay you should only look at visiting one attraction, but time may be available to do both if planned well enough – check train schedules here.

Train reservations are not needed no – you need to buy a ticket at the reduced price if you get the Swiss Half-Fare Card.

The Swiss Half-Fare Card will get you a reduction on the train from anywhere in Switzerland to Milan (it automatically discounts the Swiss section of that route only (so it won’t be 50%).

Be sure to read through our pages on the different passes for Swiss Trains and let me know if you have further questions!

Lucas

I just wanted to comment because we have almost an identical itinerary. We are also going to Switzerland in the summer for 2 nights, 3 days. Then heading to Milan after 🙂 I was going back and forth with either purchasing the Swiss Travel Pass or the Half fare card and ultimately decided to just purchase the Swiss Travel Pass (and make it worth it!) Because I heard you just board and go, whereas if you have the Half Fare card, you still need to purchase discounted tickets for each trip. (We are a family of 4 with a child in a wheelchair and a 4yr old…and I’m trying to travel with the least hassle!! Lol) Please Lucas, correct me if I’m wrong! 🙂 Lucas has been really helpful in making me decide which places I want to tackle in the short time we will be there. Ps: I just saw on the website that they are having a special on Swiss Travel Pass, 30% off first class tickets with code 30SWISS17 valid on or before June 30th, 2017. Too bad we aren’t going until July!!!!! :'( Good luck on ur trip!!!

~May

Lucas

Just to make it clear and confirming:

If I take the Swiss Half Fare card for me and my husband, I do not pay for my three Kids. DO I still need to buy tickets for the 3 kids in discounted price for the trips.

Let’s say I am paying 120$ for the Swiss half fare card for me and 120$ for my husband and the 3 kids are free. Now I am buying the train ride from Interlaken to Jungfraujoch for 54$ for me and my husband which is discounted rate of 50%. Do the kids travel free during the trip or do I purchase a ticket for them?

Does it seem economical to buy the Swiss Travel Pass rather than Swiss Half Fare card? With the Swiss Travel Pass, I dont pay for any of the trips and I just board the train/local buses/boats for free. How about the kids. Sorry it is a bit confusing since there are different blogs saying some people did the Swiss Travel Pass and Some did Swiss Half Fare card.

What would you recommend? We will be there only for 2 days and the 2nd day evening we are leaving to Milan from Lucerne and we are a family of 5 inlcuding 3 kids and the places we would like to see are Jungfraujoch, Shilthorn and Lucerne (all if time permits). Please advise to do the best experience in such a short time but an economical trip. We will not be visiting museums.

Thank you Lucas

Hi Euro2017,

If you and your husband both get the Swiss Half-Fare Card then you will both have to buy discounted tickets for every train trip. Your kids (with the Swiss Family Card) travel free – they don’t need to buy any other tickets.

The Swiss Travel Pass allows you to board any train or boat or local bus in Switzerland without buying any other tickets at the train station. There a few exceptions, such as traveling to the Jungfraujoch where you have to buy a ticket from Grindelwald (or Wengen) to Jungfraujoch (where you get 25% with the STP).
The trip from anywhere in Switzerland to Grindelwald (or Wengen) would be free. There are a few other trips like this – read through our page on the Swiss travel Pass areas of validity.

I think for your short stay the Swiss Half-Fare Card is probably the most economical. The cheapest Swiss Travel Pass is for 3 days – the best option is to do the math on all your planned trips on the Swiss Half-fare Card and see if that price is less or more than the 3 day Swiss Travel Pass. Here is our page on choosing the best rail pass with an excel document to help you on the math.

I think you are ok to see Luzern in a 1/2 day, it is a nice city but the highlights can be seen in a few hours as your itinerary dictates. It sounds like your time is best focused on mountain trips – be sure to check the weather the day before departure to Jungfraujoch or Schilthorn to see if it is worth the trip (clouds can hamper the sights on some days and you end up seeing nothing).

Lucas

Lucas

I highly appreciate all the help I’ve been getting in planning our trip.

I am coming down with tightly packed day and want to make the most of the time in Swiss Alps.

Day 1: Would like to start from Interlaken to Jungfrau via Grindelwald and return via Lauterbrunnen route. From Lauterbrunnen go to Schilthorn via Stechelberg and return via Grutschalp.

That should cover day 1 and will hit both Jungfrau and Schilthorn

Day2: Head to Lucerne to Golden pass line or Interlaken-Lucerne Express and then try to cover Mt Rigi if time permits. Then leave from Lucerne to Milan in the Evening.

How long does Interlaken Lucerne express take on an average time or even Golden pass line.

How long is the Mt Rigi route to do the trip.

Depending on it, we will be able to book our train from Lucerne to Milan.

Thank You

Euro 2017

Hi Euro2017,

Certainly a doable but busy itinerary!

The Interlaken to Luzern route is about 2 hours. The Express train is the same train as the Golden Pass. You can check timetables and trains for this and other routes here.

There are several routes available to Mt. Rigi – read here for more details. So it will depend on your final choice. I would want a 1/2 day to do Mt. Rigi properly.

I hope that helps, all the best!

Lucas