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Thank you Rockoyster!
I think I get a better picture now. I’ll get a 8 day Swiss Rail pass as it’ll cover me from Zurich airport too.
Thank you once again for your help!
26 posts
Hello. We have been to Switzerland in 2017. We are going back to this beautiful country in 2018 and will be based in Wengen, a 10 minute train ride from Lauterbrunnen. There is so much to see in the Bernese Oberland. We may be getting a Swiss Half Fare card and Bernese Oberland Pass.
The BO Pass purchase price is discounted with a Half Fare card. You can get a discount of about 85 SF for second class and 102 SF for first class for the 8 day BO Pass with your HFC which costs 120 SF. You can get from Zurich to Lucerne with half fare and almost all boats, train, and Post Bus are free or except for a few train companies which are 50% discounted (look at validity tab for both passes). Swiss Travel Pass gives you only 50% discount when travelling to the mountains villages by train or cable car beyond Wengen and Grindelwald, and some PostBus. You can use the Bernese Oberland Pass bounded by Lucerne, Bern, Visp, First, Pfingstegg, Schynige Platte, Meiringen and Kleine Scheidegg using all boats, train and PostBus that are marked on the BO validity map.
Of course you sometimes pay 50% for cable cars and Special Train Rides like Schilthorn and Jungfraujoch. Depending on how far you go up to the mountain villages, there are several trade offs. For 2018, the Swiss Travel Pass will offer free rides to Schilthorn, Stansenhorn, Engelberg to Brunni Cable way, Vitznau to Rigi Scheidegg.
If you are not going beyond Wengen and Grindelwald, and may want to visit Basel, Zermatt and Montreux, Swiss Travel Pass has a lot to offer. Beyond Wengen and Grindelwald to the east and most mountain cable cars, BO Regional Pass has a lot to offer, too. You may want to make a list of which places you want to visit to decide on the most efficient pass based on the validity map. Boat rides to Lake Thun and Lake Brienz are covered by both passes.
Take care.