5th day validity of a 4 day Swiss Travel Pass

Hi there,

www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/howtouse

Above thread mentions about using 4 day pass till 5 AM on the 5th day for late night trips. I will be arriving in Gimmelwald, Switzerland (via Basel and Interlaken) from Paris on the night of Sept 28 and spend 3 nights there . Later I plan to do some sight seeing in Lucerne on Oct 1 and head to Zurich airport by catching a 4:55 AM train on Oct 2nd.

I have two questions -

1. I will be spending 3 nights and 2 full days in Gimmelwald and close to a day in Lucerne. Is a 4 day swiss travel pass worth it for me? I thought a 4 day pass would help me as many forms mentioned about getting 50% discount and free transportation within Switzerland using this pass.

2. If a 4 day pass is worth is, can I board a train leaving at 4:55 AM on the 5th day using a 4 day pass ? I have a return flight from ZRH at 7:40 AM on Oct 2nd.

Thanks for any help in advance.

Warm Regards,

Ranjith

Hi Ranjith,

Thanks for signing up with MySwissAlps!

1. A 4-day Swiss Travel Pass would certainly work. It gets you from Basel to Gimmelwald for free (even the cableway is included). It also includes a free trip to Mount Rigi near Lucerne, should you be interested in that. I recommend to take a look at the map to see what else is included or discounted so you can see whether that matches your plans.

Be sure to print the pass at home so you won't loose time in Basel: please visit www.swissrailways.com/ en. After filling out your address, they will show the delivery options. Pick "Online Ticket" from the bottom of the list. They will e-mail the pass (no delivery fees) with 1-3 business days, so don't wait to the last minute.

2. That would not work as the pass expires 5 minutes after boarding. The 5:00 AM limit is for traveling after midnight. So it would allow you to take the last train from Lucerne to Zurich, for example. A regular ticket costs CHF 29.

I see you say the fare is CHF 29 for the train from Lucerne to Zurich. Is that regular fare? Can you get a discount booking the train to / from Zurich/ Lucerne along with the Tell Pass?

That's indeed the regular fare to the airport. A single ticket to the main station costs CHF 25. A Tell-Pass covers the Lucerne to Baar leg (see the map), so you would need a Baar to Zurich ticket which costs CHF 13.40 (to the main station).

Thanks so much for the info, Arno. I think I will buy the 4 day travel pass.

Since the time I posted this question I have gone through some posts on this forum advising to arrive at the airport at least 2 hours prior to boarding. So planning on taking a 2:35 AM train from Lucerne that's scheduled at ZRH airport by 4:40 AM. I hope I should not have any problem using the 4 day pass in this case ? Thanks for your help, once again.

Hi ranjith23,

You're welcome! There are trains to the airport until about 11:00 PM and the first one is the 4:55 AM train you mentioned before. Where did you find one at 2:35 AM?

Personally I would travel to the airport the evening before the flight and book an hotel near the airport.

Sure, Arno.I'll plan to be in Zurich before 12 AM itself.

I found the 2:35 AM train using Google maps search.

You'd better use the official Swiss timetable, not Google Maps. There are no night trains that I know of.

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks, Arno. I really appreciate all your help. Will plan according to this timetable.