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Hi , I will be travelling to Switzerland next year April/May. I will be in Switzerland from 29/04/20 til 07/05/20. I am planning to buy 8 day swiss pass starting 01/05/20. What is the best option/pass/tickets to travel from 28/04/20 till 30/05/20 as the swiss pass will only work in a month bracket. I reckon my 8 day pass won’t work if I activate on 29/04/20 till 07/05/20. Any help will be appreciated.
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29/4 – 7/5 is only 9 days, so the usual advice (its a common question on here) is to buy a normal ticket on the 9th day (either the first or last day of your trip) by making sure that of the 9th day you are either not travelling at all or not travelling very far.
1960man provides sound advice. We were in Switzerland last year for 9 days and had an 8 day STP. On the 9th day, we simply bought a train ticket from downtown Zurich to the airport, which cost about 3.6 CHF if I remember correctly.
Hello Harpeet and Welcome to MySwissAlps,
Based on your personal itinerary you should read “How to choose the best travel pass” (http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass), download the handy spreadsheet calculator and do the math. The spreadsheet also includes links to the “Where it’s valid” page for all available passes. Be sure to check those pages for each pass you are considering. Study the map AND read all the text on those pages to fully understand what is covered by the respective pass.
At that time of year there may be some excursions that are not possible – it is between seasons and some cable cars etc close for maintenance. eg The cog-wheel railway to Pilatus Kulm is not operating. If you search this site for mountains or other attractions you want to visit and then check the “route” tab on the appropriate page you should be able to find out whether things are operating or not.
Hi Harpreet G –
<<“What is the best option/pass/tickets to travel from 28/04/20 till
30/05/20 as the swiss pass will only work in a month bracket. I reckon
my 8 day pass won’t work if I activate on 29/04/20 till 07/05/20. Any
help will be appreciated.”>>
I’m puzzled by your comment:
<<“swiss pass will only work in a month bracket.”>>
I’m not sure what that means.
First, I think that you mean the Swiss Travel Pass (STP). The Swiss Pass is a different item.
The advice others have given is sound. CabinJon states it clearly.
To the best of my knowledge, and the experiences of many travelers on this forum,the STP works for a given number of consecutive days, whether or not they are in the same month.
The information here:
http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass
does not say specifically the STP can be used for a single time period that happens to be in two consecutive months, but the description of “consecutive days” does not include any limitation about being used in two different months.
Please let us know if I did not understand correctly what your concern is.
Slowpoke
Slowpoke,
His concern is that he has an 8-day pass and 9 days travel. You’re overthinking it.
Rockoyster –
<<“You’re overthinking it.”>>
Could be. It is likely. The applicable acronym may be KISS.
But, his words don’t say that.
<<“swiss pass will only work in a month bracket.”>>
And, he did not elect to buy on April 30th, rather, waiting until May 1.
Let’s see if he responds to my comment.
Slowpoke
For what it’s worth, Ive been doing the sums for our trip to Switzerland-Austria next January, Our 4 major train trips are Buchs to St Moritz (full fare chf56), St Moritz-Tirano return same day (FF 64), St Moritz-Zermatt(FF145) and Zermatt-Luzern(FF107). So the total full fare is Chf372; A 4 day Swiss Travel Pass Flex is Chf 321 (saving chf51), a Swiss Half fare Card is Chf120 plus 186 (half price fares) total 306 (saving of Chf66). Bearing in mind all mountain excursions are discounted with either the flex or half fare card, the latter is easily the best. As a guide for example the 4 day flex at 321 works out at Chf80 per day, and for other Flex or continuous just divide the number of days by the total cost and you get how much per day your card/pass is costing. Then check the actual cost on SBB website and see if its worth it or not, all the fares quoted are half price so it assumes everyone has a Swiss Half Fare Card.
Hi Tonyw-
<<“For what it’s worth, Ive been doing the sums”>>
Seems likeitis worth atleast 66CHF. ;-).
Plus, a better understanding of the system.
It can get more complicated near the Jungfrau..the expensive journey to Jungfraujoch is discounted 25% with the STP, but, 50% with the Half-fare Card
http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfraujoch/tickets
Mürren to Schiltorn is free this year with the STP; 50% discounted with the Half-fare Card.
Next year, both are discounted 50%.
Slowpoke
Hi Slowpoke,
Thanks for the reply.
As mentioned earlier I will be in switzerland from 28th April 2020 till 7th May 2020
If I buy 8 day Swiss pass and activate on 29th April the pass will be valid till 7th May even though they are in 2 seperate months. ( 2 days in April and 6 days in May). I can’t find any information that 8 days has to be in a same month.
Hope this explains my concern.
Hi Harpreet G –
<<“I can’t find any information that 8 days has to be in a same month.”>>
We agree.
<<“<<“If I buy 8 day Swiss pass and activate on 29th April the pass will be
valid till 7th May even though they are in 2 seperate months. ( 2 days
in April and 6 days in May).”>>
On that, we don’t agree.
So, you might buy on the 30th, and use through the 7th, or buy it on the 29th and use it through the 6th.
If you activate on the 29th, it will not be good on May 7th.
If your day without coverage is in a city, public transport for a day is cheap.
Or, you can buy point-topoint ticketst or a saver day pass for the day not covered by the STP.
That was described earlier in the thread, by 1960man, CabinJon and Rockoyster.
Slowpoke
Thanks guys,
That explains my concern.
I will weigh out my options whether to activate on 28th April or 29th April as I will be taking a train to paris on 7th May.
Hello Harpreet,
Just another minor point of clarification. You don’t buy the pass then activate it. You have to nominate a start date and duration when you buy it.
Hi Harpreet G –
<<“That explains my concern.
I will weigh out my options whether to activate on 28th April or 29th April as I will be taking a train to paris on 7th May”>>
From where in Switzerland will you start that journey?
I’m thinking about tickets….
Slowpoke
Hi Rockoyster,
Thanks for the information. I will keep that in mind while buying the pass
Hi Harpreet G,
Welcome to MySwissAlps!
You can find more details about the Swiss Travel Pass from this page:
http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass
If you click on the ‘How to use’ tab, it will tell you all the details about how to validate and use the pass. Just to clarify, the Swiss Travel Pass travel days are consecutive and it doesn’t matter if the days are distributed in different months. As suggested by the other forum members, you could get an 8-day Swiss Travel Pass for your trip and just buy a point-to-point ticket for your first or final day to cover your transfer to or from the airport/border. Point-to-point tickets: http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets
You can use the SBB timetable to calculate the duration and cost of your journey
http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metableBest regards,
Anna
Hi,
I will be starting from Zurich and ending in Interlaken.On our last day we’ll be travelling to paris by train from interlaken or the nearest station where we can catch train to paris
Hi Harpreet G –
1960man wrote:
<<“…….. the usual advice (its a common question on
here) is to buy a normal ticket on the 9th day (either the first or
last day of your trip) by making sure that of the 9th day you are either
not travelling at all or not travelling very far”>>
<<“I will be starting from Zurich and ending in Interlaken. “>>
You will have to use the timetable as linked by Anna to determine costs for each day.
No Rail Pass for the First Day:
If your first day is spent in a bit of time looking around Zürich, followed by travel to Interlaken, with no excursion beyond Interlaken, you might spend a few CHF per person to ride the trams in the city without a discount, then buy a point-to-ticket to Interlaken. It will be good on any train to Interlaken on that day. If your plans are absolutely definite, then you might buy a SuperSaver Ticket which is valid for a specific train only and offers no flexibility:
http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/switzerland
That option is also discussed in this thread:
http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/city-ticket-1
However, if your plans include excursion travel beyond Interlaken on your first day, you’ll have to add in those non-discounted costs.
No Rail Pass for the Last Day:
<<“On our last day we’ll be travelling to paris by train from interlaken or the nearest station where we can catch train to paris”>>
The timetable will show you the possible connections and costs, if you check the cost for the Swiss portion only. If you try to check the cost all the way to Paris, you’ll have to enter the SBB ticket Office screens, which is more complicated and not relevant for making the decision about which day should be “passless.”
The timetable gives the fastest connection unless you force it to go through some “via”point. Almost certainly, you will go from Interlaken Ost to Basel, with one change at Basel. You can determine the point to point cost to Basel from the timetable. Some journeys offered by the timetable for teh full route to Paris include an additional change at Mulhouse. I’d avoid those.
As you can see, in order to estimate costs for the non-STP day, you have to decide exactly what you will do on those days.
Slowpoke
Hi again,
As you will be spending the 9th and final day of your Swiss trip in Interlaken and travelling to Paris on the same day, I suggest you use the 8-day Swiss Travel Pass from the 2nd day onwards. In this case, your journey from Interlaken to the border is covered and you only need to buy a ticket from the Swiss border (i.e. Basel or Geneva) to Paris. On the first day of travel which is not covered by the Swiss Travel Pass, just get a point-to-point ticket or the Saver Day Pass from Zurich, as suggested by Slowpoke.
- Saver Day Pass: http://www.myswissalps.com/sa verdaypass
- Tickets to France: http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/france
Best regards,
Anna
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