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I am planning a trip in June and was wondering if I could get some help making a decision about the pass. My itinerary is as follows:
Day 1: Land early morning, visit Rhine Falls and back to the airport from where I take a train to my base in Wengen.
Day 2: Trip to Lucerne, Mount Rigi and back.
Day 3: Wengen – Lauterbrunnen – Grütschalp – Mürren – Schilthorn – Murren – Gimmelwald – Stechelberg (Trummelbach and Staubbach falls) – Lauterbrunnen – Wengen. (Should I include Allmendhubel?)
Day 4: Trip to Zermatt, Gornergrat and back.
Day 5: Wengen – Mannlichen – Kleine Scheigg – Jungfraujoch – Kleine Scheigg – Grindelwald – First, Bachapsee Lake – Grindelwald – Schynige platte – Wengen. (How can I include Eiger Gletscher and is it worth stopping at Alpiglen?)
Day 6: Early morning train from Wengen to Airport.
Do you think the following option is the cheapest:
HFC: 120 CHF with the Jungfrau Travel Pass: 135 CHF
So that only excludes the costs of going to Jungfraujoch (69 CHF) and Schilthorn (42 CHF), am I right?
Also for Day 2 and 4, I was thinking of taking the SDP (29 CHF each) as it will also help get us travel to Lucerne and Zermatt and makes travel to Rigi free. Additional cost of 49 CHF for the Gornergrat train.
Are these calculations correct? Is there a cheaper way to do this trip that I may have missed or should I not take the Jungfrau Travel Pass?
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Hi Eff and welcome to MySwissAlps!
The only way to know for sure which rail pass is best is to work out the prices for every trip you will do and do the math to compare: https://www.myswissalp s.com/train/ticketspas ses/practical/choosera ilpass
Often it can be a good idea to combine the Swiss Half Fare Card with the Jungfrau Travel Pass yes. But rather than buy those two passes plus one or two Saver Day Passes (you have to be quick to buy them at 29chf) you might be best off getting a Swiss Travel Pass for everything. It will at least be simpler I would think. Be sure to compare those options on the spreadsheet (link above) to figure out what is best for you.
Hi Lucas,
Thanks you so much for your reply! I have downloaded the numbers app to help me open and create that spreadsheet now. Could you help me understand the costing for the Jungfrau region a little bit.
Day 3: Wengen – Lauterbrunnen – Grütschalp – Mürren – Schilthorn – Murren – Allmendhubel – Gimmelwald – Stechelberg (Trummelbach and Staubbach falls) – Lauterbrunnen – Wengen.
Is everything in this trip included in the Swiss Travel Pass?
Day 5: Wengen – Mannlichen – Kleine Scheigg – Eiger Gletscher – Jungfraujoch – Kleine Scheigg – Grindelwald – First, Bachalpsee Lake – Grindelwald – Schynige platte – Wengen.
For this trip, I need to pay for the trip from Wengen to Jungfrau and return to Grindelwald. The spreadsheet has a cost for this at 155.25 with discount. Other than this supplementary cost is everything else included in the Swiss Travel Pass, including going up to First? I can’t find those details.
I would like to walk from Mannlichen to Kleinne Scheigg, Murren to Grindelwald, First to Bachalpsee. Do these walks affect the overall costs?
Appreciate the help!
Hi Eff,
>> I am planning a trip in June … Should I include Allmendhubel?
When in June?
The funicular from Mürren to Allmendhubel is closed between 9 Apr and 22 Jun 2018.
>> Day 2 Rigi Day 3 Schilthorn Day 4 Gornergrat Day 5 Jungfraujoch, First, Bachapsee Lake, Schynige platte
Day 5 looks rather rushed, if not a bit ambitious. Have you planned this out with the Swiss Timetable, and noted what time the last mountain transport leaves from the top of your final peak for the day?
For days 2-5, I would prioritise your mountains. On the first clear day, go to your number one priority etc. You never know when the clouds will set in.
Weather forecasts and webcams can help you decide:
http://www.rigi.ch/en/Informa tion/Webcams
http://www.zermatt.ch/en/Webc ams
http://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/live/webcams/
http://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/live/weather/#jungf raujoch
Alpenrose
Hi Alpenrose,
Since we will be there from 14th to 19th June, Allmendhubel is out. Thanks for that info.
Can you advise me on which parts of Day 5 I could skip over to not make it so rushed? How far is Bachalpsee lake from Grindelwald and should I skip First and Schynige platte and just do Bachalpsee after Jungraujoch?
I would ideally like to go to Jungfraujoch, Schilthorn and Gornergrat in the morning and be done by lunch. For Rigi, the trip is planned a little late in the afternoon.
As for prioritising my mountains, here’s my order:
1. Gornergrat to see Matterhorn.
2. Schilthorn, because a lot of people say the view of Jungfraujoch is better from here, do you share this opinion?
3. Jungfraujoch, to be honest it is an expensive trip up but I’m trying my best to include it.
4. I can skip Rigi if the weather doesn’t comply.
Appreciate you helping me make sense of this!
Day 3 is covered by your STP yes, Day 5 you pay 50% for the trip to First (black dotted line on the validity map).
To see any costs for any trip you can use the timetable (you can price out the sections you take on transit opposed to hiking) just enter the to and from and hit search. The first price you see is the Swiss Half Fare Card price so double it and the take off any discount you get with the STP. I’m not sure about hiking from Murren to Grindelwald…do you mean Gimmelwald?
Hiking to Bachalpsee won’t affect any prices as you normally take the cable car to First and then walk.
On day 5 I’d be tempted to leave out Schynige Platte to enjoy your day a bit more (or at least 1 of the 3 destinations).
Oh wow, I made all my calculations based on the sbb website and did not realise the prices reflected there were already based on the Half Fare Card. Thanks for clarifying that.
Yes, I meant Gimmelwald, sorry about that. I read that the walk from Murren is quite nice and so is the walk from Mannlichen to Kleine Scheigg. Not looking for anything too tiring, just want some nice views and a pleasant walk. I’m thinking of dropping Trummelbach from that day, as it will involve climbing but hopefully will be able to catch the Staubbach falls if they aren’t too far from Lauterbrunnen.
I am leaving out Schynige Platte but its hard deciding between Lucerne and Zermatt, I’ve been waiting a really long to get a chance to see these places. I know I am trying to cram it in but honestly I don’t know when I would be back next 🙁
I also wanted to know, if the STP is for 4 days, is buying point-to-point tickets the only option for the first and last day?
Hi Eff,
>> will be there from 14th to 19th June … I would like to walk from Mannlichen to Kleinne Scheigg … First to Bachalpsee
You are right at the very beginning of the hiking season for those altitudes. Those hikes may or may not be open. The local tourist offices will be able to advise you.
If the hikes are still closed, it is still worth getting the gondola or cable car from Grindelwald or Wengen up to Männlichen, and/or the gondola up to First, just for the views if the weather is clear. You will need to use the Swiss Timetable to work out what you have time to include and what you will have to skip.
Alpenrose
Thanks Alpenrose, I would love to see all those places and enjoy the views even if the hikes don’t work out. Will check with the tourist office nevertheless.
Actually, Lucas prompted me to rethink removing one place from this itinerary and I am leaning towards Lucerne. My reasoning was that I would be visiting the Salzkammergut area in Austria which has a few beautiful lakes and I just want to take my time and enjoy the breathtaking mountains in Switzerland. I hope I made the right decision and won’t regret it later! 🙂
I also feel like our first day is lost mainly because the check in time in 4 pm (landing at 6.15 am) and the plan to see Rhine Falls was made to accommodate it. Do you feel its worth making that plan or should we head directly to Wengen, find some storage lockers and explore the surrounding areas instead?
>> I also feel like our first day is lost mainly because the check in time in 4 pm (landing at 6.15 am) and the plan to see Rhine Falls was made to accommodate it. Do you feel its worth making that plan or should we head directly to Wengen, find some storage lockers and explore the surrounding areas instead?
You could consider heading straight to Wengen, but stopping off in Luzern for a few hours on the way, leaving your luggage in the lockers at the station. Then time the second leg of your journey to arrive in Wengen around 4pm. I would regard that as a better option than going to the Rhine Falls, especially if you would otherwise have to drop Luzern from your itinerary.
Alpenrose
That’s a brilliant suggestion Alpenrose, thank you! 🙂
Also, coming back to the rail passes, I am thinking of taking the Swiss Travel Pass Flex for Day 1 in Lucerne and getting to Wengen, Day 2 for Zermatt and Day 6 for getting to the Zurich Airport from Wengen. For Day 3, 4 and 5, the 3 day Jungfrau Travel Pass.
Does this seem feasible? Would really appreciate your advice.
>> Does this seem feasible?
It’s certainly feasible, but I don’t know how cost-effective it would be.
You pay a premium for the flexibility of the Swiss Travel Pass Flex. The average daily costs of the various passes are:
- 3-day Swiss Travel Pass Flex – average of CHF 86.33 per day
- 3-day Swiss Travel Pass – average of CHF 75.00 per day
- 8-day Swiss Travel Pass used only for 6 days – average of CHF 66.33 per day
(All prices relate to second-class passes.)
If you like the convenience of what you have worked out, by all means go with it. But if you want to know what the most cost-effective solution is, you will need to do the sums, as explained earlier in this thread.
Just be aware that you can’t get a discount on the cost of the Jungfrau Travel Pass with a Swiss Travel Pass Flex unless you also use a travel day on your Swiss Travel Pass Flex for each and every day on which you use the Jungfrau Pass. That’s definitely not cost effective.
Alpenrose
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