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Hello Myself and my husband will be visiting Switzerland next week June 16th for one week staying above Lake Brienz. Never been before. We will have a car but will want to use excursion transport . Have been looking and trains seem to go up various mountains, will probably visit Gimmelwald and Lauterbrunnen and see there is a train recommended up Schynige Platte also Murren and Jungfraujoch. We also fancy a boat trip on Lakes Thun and Brienz. Would also like to visit the Trummelbach Falls and Giessbach Falls plus Ballenburg open air museum. with these ideas in mind what is the best ticket to get that will encompass much of this and provide discounts on what it does not actually include. Have been thinking either the swiss travel pass or the Bernese Oberland ticket not sure which is the most suitable or is there another. Have been looking but find it all a little confusing. Also seeing various prices for the same ticket. Also can we buy the ticket when we are in Switzerland as we get paid when we arrive so will have more money then. If anyone can advise would be really grateful. Thanks for reading.
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Hi Denandshazza and welcome to MySwissAlps!
Being based in Lake Brienz and focusing your travel in that area, I’d look at either the Swiss Half Fare Card (50% off all tickets) or the Regional Pass – Bernese Oberland (some trips free, some trips discounted).
Read about the coverage areas of those rail passes below:
- https://www.myswissalp s.com/regionalpassbern eseoberland/validity
- https://www.myswissalp s.com/swisshalffarecar d/validity
For pricing information click the price tab for online retailers – you can also buy once in Switzerland yes. Prices shouldn’t vary too much (exchange rates etc).
To know which rail pass is the best for your specific itinerary you need to plan out all trips you will make (train, bus, boat, cable car) and compare the prices for regular tickets to the rail pass price (and which routes/mountains are free or discounted). Once you have that information you can read our page here on how to choose the best rail pass. There is a spreadsheet there to help with the math. 🙂
I followed a similar itinerary and used the Bernese Oberland Pass. It was great and offered greater flexibility within the area than a Swiss Pass.
There are also some excellent trips a little off the regular international tourist track and most worthwhile; e.g. the bus ride to Axalp.
Do you really need a car? Switzerland has an amazing public transport. And you leave the driving to the experts while you enjoy the scenery.
As usual, some excellent advice from Lucas. The resources are readily available on or via this site.
Enjoy your travels.
The question of cars vs public transport in Switzerland is moot
I am an avid public transport user but also use a car and my summer family holidays to Switzerland are always by car initially as it is often the best (sometimes the only) way to access camp sites or mountain chalet self catering accomodation, but as the contributor is suggesting, undertake many (most?) excursions during the holiday by public transport. Nevertheless the odd excursion by car provides a different perspective. Last year our car stayed firmly parked in an Interlaken camp site for a week, but was used from time to time the second week from a self catering chalet
You can also read through our travel page about cars vs. trains here: https://www.myswissalp s.com/carversustrain
Many thanks for your comprehensive advice. I have thoroughly read it and found it most helpful. We will have our car with us d as we coming over on the ferry from England and making our own way to the chalet. As you suggest we will get a half fate tickey which will help towards cable cars boats etc but we will do so me exploringby car. You really have been most helpful.
My car travel is likewise via ferry (or Eurotunnel) from UK.
For our Interlaken area week last summer we purchased Bernese Oberland passes, at a discount because with frequent travel to Switzerland I have a Swiss half fare card of the annual type as used by Swiss permanent residents.
When we stay in remoter chalets it is often necessary to use the car to drive to the nearest railway station and do the day’s excursion from there. Occasionally a remote valley can be quicker and easier to reach by car (for example in south east Switzerland we have a favourite valley chock full of Marmots. It is served by post bus but it is far quicker and more convenient to reach by car – and you can vary your stopping points on the way up the valley.
Sounds just like we plan to do. Because we are not purely doing excursions I find as suggested by the moderator the half fare pass seems best and we will be doing some exploring by car. The chalet is on a bus route but from what I see last bus is 4o’clock. Going on Thursday so not long now
Hi Denandshazza,
You can find a link to online retailers for the Swiss Half Fare Card here: https://www.myswissalp s.com/swisshalffarecar d/price. You can then get it emailed to you to print at home before arrival – will save you time at a local train office and you’ll have a back up to print again in case you lose it. 🙂
Happy Travels!
Thanks Lucas. We will however have to buy the pass when we get to Switzerland as we do not get paid until we travel but from what I have read the pass can be bought at Railway stations and other outlets. Am I right. Not long now we get the ferry Friday morning to Dunkirk. Going to pop to the Petersplatz flea market at Baseline on route so hopefully the train station there will be able to sell us the ticket.
Silly phone meant Basel not baseline
Ah yes, that is right. No problem buying a rail pass at any station – Basel for sure.
Well I think we are pretty much sorted now thanks for all the brilliant advice. Just one extra thing are we best getting the motorway vignette at a petrol station before the border or are the queues at the border not too bad. Will let you know how we went on when we get back.
Just been having some other thoughts. The excursion trains I have been looking at are the ones going up mountains. Although I was looking to do further exploration by car I am looking at scenic train routes. The Bernina express looks the most appealing but may not be suitable as a day trip from where we are in Brienz. Could we plan a realistic scenic day trip on any train from where we are if we drive to say Lucerne. Thanks…again. If we did this would we be better with a Bernese Oberland pass rather than the half fare pass?
Tried opening the spreadsheet but could not do so possibly as I do not have excel on my phone
The SBB timetable here: https://www.myswissalp s.com/timetable can help you figure out if the Bernina Express route is too much for you in 1 day (probably at 8 hours 1 way!).
From Brienz you could go to Interlaken and travel to Montreux via Zweisimmen following the Golden Pass route. Or from Luzern take the Gotthard Express route to Lugano. Both are more doable as day trips.
Yes, I’d wait until home on a computer to try and do the excel sheet for the rail passes.
I doubt the Regional Pass – Bernese Oberland would help out much more than the Swiss Half Fare Card unless you start planning more and more train trips. 🙂I have been looking into the Gotthard Pass route you suggest. As I want to do it as a day trip I do not want to do the whole express route. Is it possible to book the boat on it’s own as I do like the look of that, then a train from Fluelen to Goschene then return Lucerne by train alone from Goschene, does a normal express do that route? I imagine these would be 3 separate ticket but all half fare with the half fare pass Can they be bought at the station on the day of travel? we will not have wi fi and possibly no internet at our chalet.
Just had a rethink may I be better going as far as Andermatt Goschene does not look that far after all only about half an hour?
The timetable link will give you all the details on any trips you want to make.
You can certainly buy tickets the day of departure if that works best. Take the boat to Flüelen then grab a train to Göschenen or Andermatt and return the same way or go on to Brig and then back via Kandersteg and Spiez.
You can buy tickets for the trip all from Luzern train station or as you go along depending on your schedule. You would then be taking regional trains on the same route as the Gotthard Express train which is totally fine.
I really do think I am sorted now. What a great help you have been and I feel much more reassured that I am going to enjoy my holiday all the more going armed with all the information. You provide a fantastic service. Thank you so much. As I said will definitely give you an update how it all went on our return.
Sounds great. Look forward to your trip report! 🙂
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