5 days Brienz and 1 Zurich with Swiss Travel Pass

Hi..

W are a family of 4. With kids aged 11 and 13. Wewill be reaching Zurich by train from Paris on 13.05.16. Will then travel to Brienz and will be staying there for 4 nights. From there I will be covering Titlis, Jungfrajhoch, and Brienz local sightseeing with the Open air Museum at Ballenberg.

Can I visit Luzern also the day I go to Titlis..I mean will I have the time. Similarly for Interlaken when I go to Jungfrajhoch.

On 17th I plan to reach Zurich Hb, leave the luggage at the station and visit Rhine falls.

Later in the evening check in at our apartment in Zurich.

On 18 we leave for the airport and fly to london.

I need your view on my itinerary.

Aso if I buy 4 days swiss travel pass and also transfer tickets. Will the transfer tickets tbe valid upto Brienz as I am coming by train and leaving by air.

Also can I get discount on my swiss pass for my train tickets from Paris to Zurich?

Pease advise.

Hi Nadave,

Brienz is a good choice for the plans you have in mind. I think you'll love the village and its great location along the lake. As for your questions: yes, you will have some time to include Lucerne and Interlaken visits. I suggest you study the timetable and decide for yourself how much time you'd like to allocate for such sightseeing. Note that Interlaken itself is quite touristy, so I wouldn't spend too much time there if I were you.

I'm not sure what your inbound trip from Paris looks like, but assuming you'll be entering the country via Basel, a Swiss Transfer Ticket for Basel-Brienz and Brienz-Zurich isn't an economical choice. You'd better get regular full fare tickets for these legs.

I don't quite understand your question about possible discounts. Do you mean whether your Swiss Travel Pass allows discounts for the route Paris-Zurich? Well, that's not the case if your Swiss Travel Pass isn't valid yet, and I don't think it will be as I guess you'll be using your 4 free travel days for May 14, 15, 16 and 17, right? A valid Swiss Travel Pass would cover the Swiss portion of the Paris-Zurich trip, most probably being Basel-Zurich. All information about the Swiss Travel Pass validity is here; details on tickets Paris-Switzerland are here.

Hi Annika,

Thanks for your prompt reply...It was very helpful. I will get back to you if I need any amore help.

Hi Annika,

As my kids will be travelling with us only they can travel free if I buy the Swiss family travel pass. Is it the same if I buy point to point tickets or I will have to buy their tickets also.

Hi Nadave,

A Swiss Family Card can be ordered along for free if you buy a Swiss Travel Pass. Your children will travel for free anywhere, even if the adults need to buy discounted tickets for mountain trips.

If you do not buy a Swiss Travel Pass (or another Swiss Travel System pass), you can not obtain a Swiss Family Card.

Thanks so much Arno. .One more question. .I have been trying to search the fares but am not able to. Could you please give me a rough idea as to how much would train travel cost us from Basel to Brienz.

Hi Nadave,

The timetable Annika linked to explains how to find fares. The trip you mentioned costs CHF 64 p.p. one way.

Thanks a lot Arno.

H Nadave-

As it explains on the various links in this forum, the prices quoted in the timetable are all half-fare. Almost all Swiss have a kind of half-fare discount card, so that is whatthe timetable shows at first. Fourtherinto the ticket purchase process, it asks if yiu have some kind of discount....

Slowpoke

Ok..Thanks. .I guess as per my itinerary an 8 day swiss pass would be more cost effective as I will get down at Basel and will travel to Brienzon the first day.

As we are 4 members that cost come up to quite an amount.

I expect another promotion for rail passes within a few days. We'll post about it in the rail forum as soon as it's available.

Thanks. .Will look forward to it.