Advice on Which Pass to Purchase

Hello,We are 2 adults. Our itinerary as below. Can you please help guide as to which rail pass will suit us the best?

3Aug: Train from Salzburg to Zurich(stay at Zurich)

4Aug: Train from Zurich to Luzern (stay at Luzern)

5Aug: Train from Luzern to Interlaken (stay at Interlaken)

6 Aug: Train from Interlaken to Bern, and back to Interlaken (stay at Interlaken)

7Aug: Train from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen --> Jungfraujoch --> Grindelwald (stay at Grindelwald)

8Aug: From Grindelwald to Mannlichen (stay at Grindelwald)

9Aug From Grindelwald to First (stay at Grindelwald)

10Aug: Train from Grindelwald to Gornergrat (stay at Gornergrat)

11Aug: Sightseeing at Zermatt (stay at Zermatt)

12Aug: Train from Zermatt to Zurich(stay at Zurich)

13Aug: Train to Zurich Airport

Appreciate your help and advice for the above itinerary and travel plans. Again we will be using buses and boat rides as needed within the days we spent in each town/cities.

R Wan

Hello R Wan,

Thanks for posting your plans here! It's hard to say which pass is best without doing the math. Please see here for instructions. I'd recommend to compare the 8-day Swiss Travel Pass, the 3-day Swiss Travel Pass Flex Combi and the Swiss Half Fare Card. You can use the 8-day Swiss Travel Pass from August 5 to 12, and buy regular tickets on the remaining days. The 3-day Swiss Travel Pass Flex Combi would be used on August 3, 10 and 12, and you would purchase discounted tickets on August 4 to 9 and 11.

Regarding your itinerary: you are switching base a lot. If this is your traveling style then it's all fine of course. But my recommendation would be to skip Zurich and go straight to Lucerne. And to skip Interlaken and stay in Grindelwald for two more nights. You will save time as switching hotels is quite time consuming, and you'll be more flexible too: a fixed itinerary may not work very well in Switzerland. You'd best make your plans on a day by day basis, based on the weather. Visit a town (e.g. Bern) if it's rainy, visit a peak if the skies are clear. This is much easier if you stay multiple nights in each town.