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Hi Everyone, I have been reading these forums and I still cannot figure out what is the best option for me. My wife and I are flying into Zurich on Sept 1 2018 and will be taking the train/ cable car to Murren, checking out schilthorn while there. On Sept 3 we will be going to Lucern. Than Lucern-Zurich-Vernazza Italy via Genoa on Sept 5. And from Vernazza to Rome on Sept 7. So using the trains what is the best option? A 2 Eurail pass? or maybe a half fare card? Can the half fare card be used on the Zurich to Genoa train?
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The swiss travel cards are for use only in Switzerland
I am aware of that but is the half fare card worth it for my situation? and if I book a train ticket from Zurich to Genoa will the half fare card be used on the Swiss portion? or do I need to take point to point trains in Switzerland before entering Italy, to use the half fare card? example. Zurich- Lugano, and than Lugano to Genoa?
From what I understand there is no discount unless you get off in Lugano. From what I checked there is minimal savings if you get off in Lugano.
Hi Kporteous and welcome to MySwissAlps!
The Eurail Pass is probably only an advantage if you plan on traveling regularly by train in the other countries as well as Switzerland.
If you buy either the Swiss Travel Pass or Swiss Half Fare Card, they will only save you money on train trips within Switzerland.
http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass
http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isshalffarecardWith the Swiss Travel Pass you only then need to buy a ticket from the Swiss border to Genoa. The border near Lugano would be Chiasso.
http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/italyTo know which rail pass is the best for your specific itinerary, you need to plan out all trips you will make (train, bus, boat, cable car) and compare the prices for regular tickets to the rail pass price (including which routes/mountains are free or discounted).
Once you have that information you can read our page here on how to choose the best rail pass. There is a spreadsheet there to help with the math. 🙂 http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpassThanks for the replies. It seems if I buy the half fare card the savings will be minimal for my Itinerary.
It is possible that a rail pass doesn’t work out saving any or much money – but it sounds like it will save you some. 🙂
The more you travel by train, bus, cable car or boat the more you save, with any rail pass. Sometimes if you take only 2 or 3 trips in the country though it might not save you any money.
If you aren’t sure which pass might be best check out the Swiss Travel Pass. It is often a good idea as It allows you to travel spontaneously for free (most of the time). Even if it is about the same price as point to point tickets I’d still buy it for the flexibility.
Hi kporteous! I agree with Lucas. It’s very likely that a rail pass will be cheaper for your Switzerland plans than buying regular, full-priced tickets. Did you start calculating as explained in the link Lucas gave you? And are you aware that the prices displayed in the Swiss timetable (https://www.myswissalp s.com/timetable) are half-fare rates by default? You have to double them to know what the fares without any type of rail pass would be.
Just a quick example: full a fare tickets for Zurich-Mürren, a return trip Mürren-Schilthorn and Mürren-Lucerne-Zürich would amount to CHF 241,20 per person. Just for those trips you’d save a bit with a Swiss Half Fare Card (https://www.myswissalp s.com/swisshalffarecar d), and the savings will only be more if you add day trips made from Lucerne and the trip south to the Italian border.
I’m not sure if a Swiss Travel Pass would be better. It does include the entire Schilthorn trip for free, plus boat trips on Lake Lucerne, should you be interested: https://www.myswissalp s.com/swisstravelpass/ validity.
Lucas and Annika thank you for the advice. I decided to get the 4 day STP and add a couple excursions to our trip making it worth while.
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