Bernese Oberland pass & trip from Venice to Paris

Hi We are a family of 5 from Australia (2 adults, 1 x 25 year old, 2 kids (11 and 8). We will be travelling from Venice on Saturday 2 July to Murren and spending 3 days exploring Bernese Overland area then travelling to Paris on 6 July. My plan is to buy train tickets from Venice to Brig, then use BO pass and then train tickets from Bern to Paris.

We have chosen BO pass for convenience so we can travel easily and hassle free throughout the area without having to buy tickets all the time except Jungfrau and Schilthorn which has discount only.

Our travel agent in Australia will organise our point to point tickets prior to us leaving also for convenience.

I have a couple of queries if anyone can help me please -

1. Should I be getting Junior travel card for kids and if so what is the benefit and how do I get these?
2. How early can I get travel out of Murren on the 6 July to catch our train booked from Bern?
3. I am trying to book BO pass online but it appears it can only be booked 1 week prior to the travel date. Is this correct and if so where else can I buy this pass?

Thanks in anticipation of your responses.

Hi Aussie01, welcome to MySwissAlps,

1./3. You can already order the pass. Go to www.swissrailways.com/ en/ products/ regionalberneseoberlan dpass and click "Order now". Enter 3 adults and 2 children. Select "Full Fare Ticket" for the children. That will get you a pass for them for the same price as the Junior Card so they can travel along across the region for free (well, nearly free: CHF 30). They will send the passes 2 weeks before the start date, but if you prefer to receive them earlier you can ask for that in the "Notes" field.

2. Schedules can be found in the timetable. You may or may not have to change in Bern (depending on departure time) on your way to Basel. The train to Paris departs from Basel.

Tickets from Venice to Brig and Bern to Paris can easily be purchased online and printed at home. If you book well in advance that might be cheaper and quicker than a travel agent. As you live in Australia you may first want to check raileurope.com.au/trai n/italian-international-trains-7267. More options are here:

• myswissalps.com/ traintickets/italy/ price
• myswissalps.com/ traintickets/france/ price

Hi Aussie01-

The attached screen grab form the timetable, as recommended by Arno, will help you understand how to use it.

Slowpoke

Thanks Arno and Slowpoke for your responses

Is it possible to buy Bernese Overland passes once we get to Switzerland say at Brig because for me to order via the swiss railways website i have to pay and extra 25CHF to have them posted to australia, which seems very expensive.

I have seen on the SBB ticketshop website I can order and print them from online however I can't do this until about a week before the start date and I will already be travelling at this time.

Aussie01

Hi Aussie01,

You can get them locally too. Probably in Brig as well, but I'm not 100% sure. The disadvantage is that it takes some time so depending on when your train departs you may have to take the next one. One more thing: only the regional train via Kandersteg to Spiez is covered by the pass. This train is slower than the regular ones but the scenery is much better.

Hi,

One more query about rail passes for you :)

Me and my wife would be travelling to OB region towards end of July and following is our tentative itinerary:

1. Leave from Venice to MIlan. Take train from Milan to Spiez and then Spiez to Interlaken. Stay the night at Interlaken

2. Next day move to Lauterbrunner or Wengen for 3N/4 Days. Our idea is to keep 1 day for trip to Jungfrau and other days for hiking (Kleine Sheidegg and Mannlichen, Murren to Schilthorn, Lauterbrunnen to Trummelbach Falls, Boat ride in Lake Thun or Brienz etc.). Both of us are fit and moderately challenging hikes should not be an issue

3. At the end of day 4, leave from Lauterbrunner or Wengen to Lucerne and spend a day in Lucerne (I am guessing via Interlaken)

4. Leave for Paris from Lucerne

Now the questions:

1. Is Speiz - Interlaken covered under the OB regional pass?

2. Is Interlaken - Lucerne covered under the OB regional pass?

3. During hiking in the region, does one need to frequently take cable cars, lifts or short train trips to reach the starting point etc. or if you are fit and have the time, everything is doable on foot.

4. Does the answer to Question 3 change based on place of stay (Lauterbrunner or Wengen or Murren)?

Please suggest would be it be best to buy a Regional OB pass or some other pass.

Thanks a lot for your help

Regards

Bhushan

Welcome to MySwissAlps Bhushan!

1./2. Please see www.myswissalps.com/re gionalpassberneseoberl and/validity.

3. The more interesting hikes are higher up in the mountains and one usually needs some transportation, at least at one end of the hike.

4. There are hikes from each of these villages, but for variety one usually also hikes elsewhere and thus needs some transport.

Please post further questions in a new thread as this one is about Aussie01's travel plans.

Thanks Annika. Will post more questions in a separate thread

Regards

Bhushan