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Hello, wondering if it would be more economical to buy a Swiss Pass or to buy point to point tickets; our itinerary will be as follows: From Zurich airport train station to Murren, 4 days later will go from Murren to Lucerne for 1 night and the next day go from Lucerne train station back to Zurich airport. Tried to find the website to plug in the itinerary to see which would be the best value, but can’t find it. Any advice or insight from any seasoned Swiss traveller would be much appreciated!
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Hi Sue-
Look here:
http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass
Slowpoke
Hi Suelynn, and welcome to MySwissAlps!
>> Hello, wondering if it would be more economical to buy a Swiss Pass or to buy point to point tickets; our itinerary will be as follows: From Zurich airport train station to Murren, 4 days later will go from Murren to Lucerne for 1 night and the next day go from Lucerne train station back to Zurich airport.
As well as your trips Zürich-Mürren-Luzern-Zürich, if you are spending 4 days in Mürren, I expect you will be using the mountain transport there and also travelling to some of the nearby places such as Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Grindelwald, and perhaps the Jungfraujoch and Schynige Platte. All these trips need to be factored into your calculations, including cable cars in Wengen and Grindelwald, and buses in Grindelwald if relevant.
In Luzern, any mountain trips or lake cruises will also need to be factored in. If just walking around the old town, you won’t need to use any transport.
Only when you have the costs for all those trips will you be able to calculate the most cost-effective option. I would expect a Swiss Travel Pass to be most economical.
Is that 6 days of travel all up? You will need to choose between a 4-day and an 8-day Swiss Travel Pass. It might be marginally cheaper to get a 4-day pass and buy point-to-point tickets for your days of arrival and departure. Unless you are certain you will not be using additional transport in Mürren and Zürich on your arrival and departure days, personally I would go for the 8-day pass.
Just a note on the Zürich – Mürren trip: the SBB (Swiss Railways) timetable will bring up the fastest connections by default, which in this case routes you via Bern. However, if you put “via Luzern” into your timetable search, you will get connections that include the sector from Luzern to Interlaken Ost over the Brünig Pass, which is much more scenic (but takes about an hour longer). It is part of the Golden Pass panoramic route.
If the timing is right, you could also incorporate a boat trip between Brienz and Interlaken Ost into this trip. Incorporating the boat trip is very easy to manage with luggage, as the wharves at Brienz and Interlaken Ost are adjacent to the railway stations, and there are no stairs at either end to negotiate.
>> Tried to find the website to plug in the itinerary to see which would be the best value, but can’t find it.
Slowpoke has given you a good link to assist with this.
Alpenrose
Thanks so much for your help Alpenrose and Slowpoke!
Alpenrose, if I have the Swiss Pass then do you think it would be necessary to buy this type of pass too? The hotel we are looking to stay at in Murren is offering this “holiday pass” as a package and was wondering if it would be worth purchasing if we already have the Swiss Pass or to decline it. Between the rails, cable cars, funiculars, etc, I’m a little confused as to what is covered by Swiss Pass and what we would have to pay in spite of having a Swiss Pass:
Here is the pass the hotel is selling, it would include all this:
– cable car Stechelberg-Gimmelwald-Muerren-Birg-Schilthorn
– funicular Muerren-Allmendhubel
– cable car Lauterbrunnen-Gruetschalp
– train Muerren-Gruetschalp
– bus Lauterbrunnen-Stechelberg
– cable car Isenfluh-Sulwald
– bus Lauterbrunnen-Isenfluh
Please note that this pass does not cover any transportation facilities in the area of Wengen, Kleine Scheidegg or Grindelwald.Any insight would be greatly appreciated, thank you!!
>> Alpenrose, if I have the Swiss Pass then do you think it would be necessary to buy this type of pass too? The hotel we are looking to stay at in Murren is offering this “holiday pass”
No, it wouldn’t be worth it in my opinion. As far as I can tell, it is the Holiday Pass (Mürren – Schilthorn), which costs CHF 93 for 4 days for adults who have the Swiss Travel Pass. All it would save you is CHF 48.40 in total, by providing free travel Mürren-Birg-Schilthorn and Mürren-Allmendhubel (for which the Swiss Travel Pass provides only 50% discount).
http://schilthorn.ch/en/Angebot/Offers/Special_Offers/Holiday_Pass_(Murren_-_Schilthorn)
>> Here is the pass the hotel is selling, it would include all this:
– cable car Stechelberg-Gimmelwald-Muerren-Birg-Schilthorn
– funicular Muerren-Allmendhubel
– cable car Lauterbrunnen-Gruetschalp
– train Muerren-Gruetschalp
– bus Lauterbrunnen-Stechelberg
– cable car Isenfluh-Sulwald
– bus Lauterbrunnen-Isenfluh
Please note that this pass does not cover any transportation facilities in the area of Wengen, Kleine Scheidegg or Grindelwald.
Most of this is covered by the Swiss Travel Pass.
Cable car Stechelberg-Gimmelwald-Muerren-Birg-Schilthorn
Holiday Pass – free
Swiss Travel Pass – Stechelberg-Gimmelwald-Mürren – free; Mürren-Birg-Schilthorn 50% discount (CHF 41.40)
Funicular Muerren-Allmendhubel
Holiday Pass – free
Swiss Travel Pass – 50% discount (CHF 7.00)
Cable car Lauterbrunnen-Gruetschalp
Free with both passes
Train Muerren-Gruetschalp
Free with both passes
Bus Lauterbrunnen-Stechelberg
Free with both passes
Cable car Isenfluh-Sulwald
Holiday Pass – free
Swiss Travel Pass – not covered
Bus Lauterbrunnen-Isenfluh
Holiday pass – free
Swiss Travel Pass – possibly not covered
I think Isenfluh and Sulwald are mostly of interest to hikers, and would not be on the must-see list of most first-time visitors to the region, so I don’t think you are missing out on anything by the fact that they are not covered by the Swiss Travel Pass. (I haven’t been there myself.)
Alpenrose
Hi Suelynn,
A map of what’s covered by the Swiss Travel Pass can be found here: myswissalps.com/swisst ravelpass/validity.
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