Confused about travel passes for Lauterbrunnen

Hello

We will arrive at Zurich airport at 4 October. We will be me, my husband and our almost 5 years old son. We will stay in Lauterbrunnen for 4 nights. At 8 Oct we have to fly back to Greece. Our return flight is at 21.00 at night. I am confused about trains. We will visit as much as we can the villages and the tops at Jungfrau Region.

1. Which travel pass do you think that suits our needs, so as not to break the bank? I am between the Jungfrau travel card or the Swiss Half Fare pass.

2. Or is it better to rent a car from airport and pay the normal tickets for the cable cars and the other trains to popular villages?

3. Also I cannot understand how to get from Lauterbrunnen to Eggishorn and see the Aletsch glacier, could you plz help me?

4. Another question is , when I check the sbb.ch for the train rides from Zurich airport to Lauterbrunnen, it shows many options, if I book for one option and my flight is delayed, do I have to buy new tickets or I can take the next option with the same ticket? I mean, can the train tickets be used for only one specific ride at a specific time, or they are like vouchers that you can use them once whenever you can at a specific date?

Too many questions, thank you for reading them!

r question

Hi Argyro, welcome to MySwissAlps!

1. The Jungfrau Travel Pass is not an option for you as it does not cover the trip to the Eggishorn (see the map for what's covered). Either a Swiss Half Fare Card or a Regional-Pass Bernese Oberland will work. I'd recommend to study the linked pages, and the maps in particular.

2. No, most of the area is car free so a car won't be useful. The trip to the Eggishorn can be done by car, apart from the last cableway section, but you'd have to get on the car train as there is the road ends in Kandersteg, which is adding to the costs. The drive is pretty time consuming and doing it by train would be at least as comfortable and very scenic if you take the local train via Kandersteg.

3. It is explained on the Eggishorn page, but basically you just have to enter Lauterbrunnen and Eggishorn in the timetable to get directions. Note: in case of the Regional-Pass you need to use the local train via Kandersteg (enter "via: Kandersteg" in the timetable once you see the travel options). That adds an extra hour to the trip, but it's a scenic ride.

4. You don't need to book tickets in advance. I recommend to first pick a rail pass. Which tickets you need depends on the pass, and you can get the tickets at the airport. With the Regional-Pass you would only need tickets to Bern or Lucerne as the pass covers the rest.

WOW! This is a complete answer! Thank u so much! I will check about thd Regional Pass, I did not have noticed it!

Hi Argyro-

Just to add a bit to Arno's answer for general information. You don't need reservations on Swiss trains, other than a few special panoramic trains. Tickets are typically good for the whole day when you buy them...valid times are shown on the tickets. You can buy in advance for a specific day if you wish. Take any train on the route you pay for during the valid time. Don't worry if you miss one. Take the next one. They are frequent.

Rail passes can be a good way to avoid the individual ticket purchasing process, as Arno noted.

hi Arno amd Slowpoke

Just reconfirming after reading the blogs that with my Eurorail pass ( switzerland included ) i can just hop in any train and at any time and i don't need reservations ?

is it right ?

thanks

Hi azaib,

It's not so much about trains but about routes. If a route in Switzerland is covered by your pass you can just hop on any train. Please see the Eurail Select Pass map. If it's not covered you need to buy a (discounted) ticket.

Hi Azaib-

I believe that the Eurorail Pass has somewhat different coverage , compared to the Swiss Travel Pass. I don't work with them or use them, so my "opinions" are just guesses. I know just enough to suspect that you may not be corrrect.

I don't know any of those details; Arno and Annika are the experts.

That said, I believe you are correct for mainline trains, but excursion trains ( such as specifically named "Golden Pass" trains on the Golden Pass Route, and those near the Jungfrau, for example) may not be covered, may only have a discount, or may need some other additional payments.

Better check this page while waiting for comments from the experts on rail passes:

www.myswissalps.com/mu lticountrypasses

it seems that there are different kinds of Eurail passes.

Slowpoke

One more question plz. What about my son, he is under 5 years old, where he needs to pay? Should I buy a card for him too or he gets in the trains for free? I saw that from Zurich airport to Lauterbrunnen he pays half price ticket.

Also, the last day our flight is at 21.00 at night, the check-out from the hotel is at 11.00 morning, so in fact we have almost the whole day for excursions before we fly back. I was thinking about visiting Lake Brienz or Thun, but what to do with luggage? I will have a big suitcase for the 3 of us, is there any place at the station maybe for big suitcases, to leave it there and take it when we catch the train for the airport?

Hi Argyro,

Children up to 5 years old travel for free everywhere and don't need tickets.

You can store your luggage in the lockers at the Interlaken Ost station, or ask your hotel to hold on to it if you plan to get back to Lauterbrunnen later that day. You can even send your luggage to the Zurich main station if you turn it in at the Lauterbrunnen station before 10:00. You can collect it from 18:00. This is the Express Luggage Service.

Hi Argyro-

Your idea of riding the lake boats is a good one. If it is still open this late in the season, the Hotel Giessbach on the Brienzersee has its own funicular from the lake up tot hotel, and it has a nice terrace for a coffee or lunch...if it is open.

Check the time tables...the boat service diminishes in the Fall.

An easy walk -

This walk is quite easy, and is spectacular if the weather is clear.:

www.myswissalps.com/hi king/maennlichen-kleinescheidegg

The ride up in the cable car from Wengen would be a treat for your child.

There is a playground at Männlichen. You could go up just to have lunch.

Luzern -

Although i do not recommend it, because it would make along day, Luzern is within reach.

The old town can be nice for a short visit to walk around...not sure how the 5 year old would like that.

My 8 year old granddaughter was fascinated by the Lion. I have attached a page from a Photobook that I prepared after our trip there in 2009.

The images unfortunately have a bit of duplication...I want to have one page only for the lion and filled the space with what I had available. ;-)

Slowpoke.

Terrific photos!!! What month?

Is it possible to buy the Regional Pass Bernese Oberland at the Zurich Airport?

<<"Terrific photos!!! What month?">>

Thanks-

Various.

0785, 0777, 0430, 0437 and 3806 - on September 22, 2009

Luzern Lion- 18 September, 2009. a week earlier

6614 - May 18, 2011.

LB Valley- Maybe 2004, probably in June

<<"Is it possible to buy the Regional Pass Bernese Oberland at the Zurich Airport?">>

I don't know. Arno and Annika are the pass experts.

However, by using the search function on the forum, I found this link. Perhaps it can help.

www.myswissalps.com/re gionalpassberneseoberl and

Slowpoke

Please see the Tickets tab of the page Slowpoke mentioned. You can buy it online or from stations in the region. Zurich will probably work as well, but I'm not sure. If you buy it online the pass will be ready for traveling, so you don't loose time waiting in line for a ticket office. In Zurich that might cause you to miss the first available train to Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen.

Thank you so everyone who replied to my query. yes i am fully aware that Eurorail pass will only give me 25% discount on some mountain trains cog wheel rails and cable cars. my children will be 14 and 15 ( at the time of travel as the trip is next year ) and i was informed through different blogs that kids travel for free if one of the parent purchases swiss half fare card anc opt for swiss family card which can be included for free . Thus my query is that will my kids be travelling free on mountain trains as well or they still need to pay inspite of us parents in possession of swiss half fare card .

i hope my question makes sense .

And Argyro i am positive that all the big stations inEurope would have a capacity to store your luggage for a day for some euros . i went to japan last year anx they had such lockers in most of the stations . hotels are very helpful in this regards and they can secure yoir luggage at the reception for you to pick up later.

Cheers

Hi azaib,

Your children do not need tickets anywhere if the parent travels with a Swiss Half Fare Card. Please see the Price tab of the Swiss Half Fare Card page. As you can see there, you can print both the Swiss Half Fare Card and Swiss Family Card at home.

I decided to buy tickets from Zurich Airport to Bern and to continue by the Regional Pass Bernese Oberland to Lauterbrunnen. Am I right? The printable copy of the Pass where should I show it, so as to be valid? I read the instructions but I wanna be sure not to have a mistake with this...

Hi Argyro,

Yes, that would work. Or you could travel via Lucerne; pass validity starts there too and it's a more scenic route. I don't know a printable version of this pass, but any printable pass I know of is ready to use. There's nothing else to do.

thanks Arno for this information .

Thank you all for the information provided! Honestly, this is the most useful forum for Switzerland! Keep on like this!

Good to hear that, glad you like it!