Advice on travelling from Zurich to Venice

Hello would really appreciate some help as I'm travelling for the first time to Switzerland in August with my 2 daughters (ages 16 & 13) and I'm trying to work out the cheapest train travel and route.

provisional itinerary is :-

Zurich to Lucerne for 2 nights

lucern to Interlaken for 2 nights

Interlaken to Lugano for 2 nights

we only have one week as we are then taking a cruise from Venice which is why our final Swiss city is Lugano. Is this itinerary possible or have I mixed up the route...?

is it better to purchase the swiss travel pass or is the 50% discount card more economical. Or do we get both?. A little confused as you can see. I understand that my 13 year old can travel free but does my 16 year old have to pay full fare?

Also is the travel pass valid upto Lugano?

Is there a possibility of paying something like an upgrade for the final journey from Lugano to Venice.

Would appreciate any suggestions or advice regarding above.

thanks

Hi Benni,

Welcome to MySwissAlps! Your itinerary is certainly possible. I think the 8-day Swiss Travel Pass will be best for you. The 13 year old indeed travels along for free as you can order along a free Swiss Family Card. The 16 year old can have a 15% cheaper Youth version of the pass. Please see here for all details.

You may want to compare it with a Swiss Half Fare Card. You would need two of those. Again the 13 year old travels for free. You don't need both the Swiss Half Fare Card and the Swiss Travel Pass. Just one of them. This page helps you choose.

The Swiss Travel Pass is valid to Chiasso, the Swiss border. So you only need a ticket from Chiasso to Venice.

You're in the UK, so you can buy your pass from www.swisstravelsystem. co.uk (slightly cheaper than in Switzerland, payment in GBP, free shipping or print at home). The ticket to Venice can be purchased from trenitalia.uk.voyages-sncf.com/en/.

Thank you so much! Have now decided to go with the Swiss Travel Pass as allows flexibility and do not have to get tickets (from my understanding). We have booked hotels for Lucerne and Interlaken, but do we need to make reservations for the train trips ? i.e. From Zurich to Lucerne then onwards to Interlaken or can we just get on the train with our Swiss travel pass without reserving?

Also would really appreciate any suggestions about making our way down to Venice. Initially had thought of going to Lugano but not too sure. Would be grateful if you can help at all.

Thanks again

Hi Benni,

I noticed your new thread so I've answered your questions there.