MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial 8 days Zermatt, Wengen, Lucerne: which railpass?
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Hello! Our family of four is so excited for our upcoming trip to Switzerland at the end of July! Our itinerary is as follows:
- Zurich to Zermatt and 3 nights in Zermatt, hoping to hike like crazy here
- Zermatt to Wengen and Wengen for 4 nights, doing day trips to Pia Gloria, Interlaken, and any awesome hikes in the area
- Train to Lucerne and then a 5 1/2 hour tour (already arranged)
We are very active and plan on taking whatever transportation is easiest and most ‘swiss’.
Any recommendations on the easiest transportation pass to use across these towns?
Thank you!
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Hi Adroy03, thanks for joining MySwissAlps!
I can imagine you’re excited and I hope you and your family will have a wonderful stay in Switzerland.
As for rail passes: if you’re looking for the easiest railpass, an 8-day Swiss Travel Pass is the best option. It allows you to hop and on trains, buses and boats for free and without having to buy additional tickets. Mountain transportation is discounted. If you have children under 16 years old, they’ll travel for free on all routes (even on mountain routes that are discounted for the adults). with the free Swiss Family Card Please find all details here:
- http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass
- http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass/price
- http://www.myswissalps.com/swissfamilycard
If the first or last day of your stay isn’t covered by an 8-day Swiss Travel Pass, you can look into normal tickets or Saver Day Passes:
Another option that could be a good match for your plans is the Swiss Half Fare Card. You’ll get 50% off of tickets for nearly all trips in Switzerland. Again, children under 16 can travel along for free with the Swiss Family Card. It’s less easy than the Swiss Travel Pass as you’ll have to buy tickets for all trips before boarding. Details can be found here:
You can consider combining Swiss Half Fare Cards with discounted Jungfrau Travel Passes for your days in Wengen, and discounted PeakPasses for your days in Zermatt:
- http://www.myswissalps.com/jungfrautravelpass
- http://www.myswissalps.com/jungfrautravelpass/price
- http://www.myswissalps.com/gornergrat/tickets
Which option is cheapest can only be told if you make calculations as explained here: http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass.
Does this help you out?
Hello Arno, thank you for your reply! Yes this is very helpful. One additional question. If we buy them ahead of time and want to start using the pass starting with our train ride from Zurich to Zermatt, does the 8 days start immediately? Or is it 8 days of travel so if we don’t use any transportation while in Zermatt, then we can use the remaining 7 days after we leave Zermatt?
Also is buying ahead of time recommended?
Our kids are over 16 so we’ll get a pass for each person.
Thanks again!
Hi Adroyo3,
The validity period is measured in dates, not in 24-hour periods. It’s explained here: https://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass/howtouse. While buying your pass, you can indicate at which date you want to start the 8-day validity period. The 8 days are continuous, so they’ll “expire” even if you don’t travel in Zermatt. But you’ll probably use mountain transportation in Zermatt (https://www.myswissalps.com/zermatt/activities), for which the Swiss Travel Pass offers discounts. So I expect you’ll benefit from your Swiss Travel Pass in Zermatt too.
If you’re looking for a pass with non-continuous travel days, you can look into the Swiss Travel Pass Flex: https://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpassflex. But note that it doesn’t grant any benefits on non-travel days. So if you don’t use travel days in Zermatt, you’ll have to pay full-fare tickets for any mountain ride.
If your kids are under 25, they can get a cheaper Swiss Travel Pass Youth (https://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass/price) or Swiss Travel Pass Flex Youth (https://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpassflex/price)
Yes, buying your passes online in advance is recommended. You’ll get a digital pass that you can store on your phone (and print in addition, if you like). If you buy your passes at a station in Switzerland, you’ll get one paper pass that can’t be replaced if it gets lost or damaged. Please see http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/wheretobuy for more details.
Trusted retailers for the Swiss Travel Pass are listed here: https://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass/price.
Hi Adroy03,
I would also look into both the Top of Europe Pass and the Bernese Oberland Regional Pass.
I am planning a 7-day trip to Switzerland in August 2022 flying into Zurich then spending 4 full days in Wengen, then flying home out of Geneva.
I created a tentative itinerary of all train/bus rides I anticipate and created a spreadsheet to compare costs with various combination of passes. Myswissalps.com has a great spreadsheet to do this as well.
In general, my key observations were:
– If spending most of the time in the Jungfrau region where most of your time will be taking lifts/trains/funniculars above Wengen/Grindelwald/Murren, then the Swiss Travel Pass is not really worth the price because it only discounts rather than covering these rides in full. Instead, I found the Bernese Oberland Regional Pass to be a better value since it covers most of the lifts above Wengen/Grindelwald/Murren.
– If you definitely know you will go to Jungfraujoch (“Top of Europe”), then the Top of Europe Pass should be considered. There are two types of Top of Europe Passes, but the cheaper set (not the Jungfrau Corona Season Pass) gives you one round trip to Jungfraujoch included in the price.
For me, the cheapest option for our travel plans was a Swiss Half Fare Card + Top of Europe Pass (4 days) with purchase of point-to-point tickets from Zurich into Jungfrau region and from Jungfrau region to Lausanne/Geneva (via Golden Pass train).
The bottom line is: if you prioritize cost savings, it is a good idea to price out various scenarios on a spreadsheet because depending on the types of excursions and activities you plan for, different combinations of passes may provide better value, but it’s hard to know until you do the calculation yourself.
Hope that helps!
-Crabcooker
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