5 days in Switzerland

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Dec 27, 2011 - 4:38 AM

Hello,
We will be travelling to Switzerland in September 2012. We will be travelling with our 2 adult children aged 23 & 21.
Itinerary is as follows:
Day 1 - travel by train from Austrian border to Lucerne
Day 2 - Golden round trip to Mt Pilatus. Golden Pass train to Lauterbrunnen
Day 3 - Schilthorne trip. Visit Wengen
Day 4 - Train to Interlaken, Lake Thun cruise
Day 5 - Train to Zurich airport.

I have been looking at the various passes & having trouble deciding which one would be the best buy for us, taking into account the initial cost of the card & factoring in the costs of the trips we are planning to do.
I don't think the Swiss Saver pass is an option as we will be in Switzerland for 5 days, & the pass is only for 4 days & then jumps to 8 days.
My thoughts are either the Half Price card or the Swiss card. We would like to travel 1st class where possible.
I had a look at the Swiss Flexi Pass, but I think this works out more expensive for the 5 day pass
I would greatly appreciate your opinion into what would be the best option for us to go with.

Many thanks & happy new year to all!

Arno

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Dec 30, 2011 - 11:19 AM

Hello jkmunchy, and a happy 2012 to you as well!

Although there's a relatively small price difference between the 4-day and 8-day Swiss Passes, I'm quite sure that in this case, a Swiss Half Fare Card would be the cheapest option for all travelers. The calculate exactly, please follow the instructions in this FAQ.

Details and purchase options of the Swiss Half Fare Card can be found here. You'll also need these prices in order to finalize your calculations:
Pilatus
Schilthorn
Lake Thun boats

Please note that a Swiss Pass may be cheaper after all depending on your country of residence: some resellers offer much better prices than the local Swiss prices, so please be sure to check our pass pages and select your country, pass and travelers to see all options and prices. Also, be sure to check our site the coming months as there may be special offers next Spring.

I hope this helps!

MySwissAlps.com recommends to read this:
All Swiss rail passes How to choose a pass?

Last modified on Jan 27, 2020 - 11:19 AM by Arno

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Dec 30, 2011 - 8:46 PM

Thank you so much Arno, I really appreciate your advice.

I had worked out the figures roughly myself & thought the Half Fare card worked out a little better,
& really appreciate an 'expert' looking at it for me.
I will watch out for the specials over the next few months & just can't wait till September comes!

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Feb 18, 2012 - 3:43 AM

Hello,

Now there is the 2 for 1 offer available, I would just like to check the best option as we will be able to take advantage of this as we are travelling in September.
I have done my calculation for the costs involved for each day & obviously we will be better off using the pass on the most expensive 4 days of the 5 days we are there.
With the Swiss Saver pass we would need to pay full price for the 5th day & with the Swiss Saver Flexi Pass we would get half price for the 5th day.
I think the first day of our journey into Switzerland would be the cheapest day of travel being from the Austrian border to Lucerne, so we would not start using our
passes till day 2.
I think both passes cover us completely for the 4 days & the only additonal costs we have are for sections of the Mt Pilatus trip & the Schilthorne, which
will incur the same costs with both passes. Given the initial cost of each pass & the additional cost of day 5 there is very little difference in the cost of each pass.
Am I on the right track in both of these cases? Which pass would you recommend then?

My next query is regarding the final day in Switzerland, when we will be travelling from Lauterbrunnen to Zurich airport. 3 of us will be ending our journey here & the 4th person
will be continuing to the border. Is he able to still use the pass to the border, even though the rest of us have finished travelling?
Last question - how far in advance can the passes be purchased. As we will be leaving Australia earlier than the 3 weeks postage time, I will have the passes delivered, so we can
collect them in Germany.

Thank you very much for all your help - it is very much appreciated & really helps with the planning process.

Arno

16099 posts
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moderator

Feb 18, 2012 - 4:52 AM

Hi jkmunchy,

Yes, you are on the right track here. Just beware that the Swiss Saver Flexi Pass allows discounted traveling only between the first and last free travel day. So you cannot have a 4-day pass, use 4 free travels days and have a 5th day for discounted traveling. Further details are here. With a 4-day pass, I would use discounted traveling on day 3 and free traveling on the other days.

Saver passes can be used by a part of the group, while the others do not travel.

You can already order the pass if you want to. You can indeed have it delivered to Germany, or request early shipping so that you'll receive it in time in Australia. I justed posted a message in this topic about that.

Last modified on Dec 24, 2021 - 8:23 AM by Arno

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Feb 18, 2012 - 7:21 AM

Hello Arno

thank you very much for your prompt reply. I was actually going to use the 50% discount on day 1 as that was the trip from the Austrian border to Lucerne. I
understand what you have said though, that the card only allows discounted travelling between the first & last free travel day, so I would not have got the 50% discount on day 1 anyway.

I have redone my calculations using day 3 as my discounted day & I think the Swiss Saver Flexi Pass comes in about chf25 cheaper that the Swiss Saver pass (where we would have to
pay the full fare from Austrian border to Lucerne) on day 1 & Saver Pass on days 2,3,4 & 5. Do you think I am really on the right track this time?!

So, my understanding is pay for the initial cost of the Flexi Pass & additional costs would only be the part of the Mt Pilatus trip, 50% day 3 - the Schilthorne trip & that would be all.

Also, could you please tell me the name of the station where the Swiss section (from Zurich) ends & the Austrian section (to Innsbruck) begins?

Very best wishes

Arno

16099 posts
expert &
moderator

Feb 18, 2012 - 7:45 AM

It sounds fine to me jkmunchy! Did you check the network map you can download from the Swiss Flexi Pass page? The border station depends on which train (thus route) you take, but most probably it will be Buchs. The timetable and the map allow you to check the details.

Just another tip: the train up the Rigi, near Lucerne, is free with your pass.

Last modified on Nov 1, 2018 - 4:17 PM by Arno

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Feb 18, 2012 - 8:00 AM

Thanks Arno

your forum is wonderful & takes the stress out of the unknown.

We are really looking forward to visiting your lovely country in September:-)

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