CH (4 days) > Italy Itinerary: Which pass/route

Hey all!

I need some help making the final decision on buying a pass for a very basic Swiss/Italy itinerary (two 25 year olds traveling together).
Day 1: Land in ZRH around 11am - travel to Murren (3 nights) ~$58
Day 2: Explore Lauterbrunnen Valley or Jungfrau/Schilthorn
Day 3: Explore Valley or Jungfrau/Schilthorn
Day 4: Travel from Murren across the Italian border (via Milano?) to Sirmione, Lake Garda, Italy (explore Italy and fly out of Rome)

I realize we're mostly going to be in the mountain area wherethe discounts apply more than the free pass rides, and my biggest travel days are the first and fourth day.

SBB.ch is farely confusing when comparing point to point tickets versus start to end locations. It always seems that buying point to point is less expensive.
For example, my Day 4 travel:
Murren > Desenzano del Garda (~$140 sbb.ch)
Murren > Milano (~$60 sbb.ch) > Desenzano del Garda (~$22 via trenitalia)

Which pass is best? Which routes would be best? Am I forgetting or overlooking something? What would you suggest?

Thank you!
Adam

Hello Adam! A Swiss Card is the best option for your stay in Switzerland. The longest and most expensive train trips, being your inbound journey from Zurich to Mürren and your outbound journey from Mürren to the Swiss border, will be for free. Your other trips, such as visits to the Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn, will be discounted by 50%.

The SBB is a bit more expensive than Trenitalia for Italian trips, so that explains the price difference. The best route is indeed Interlaken - Spiez - Brig - Domodossola - Milano.

Does this answer your questions?

Hi again,

I'm finalizing trip plans now and realized that the Swiss Card includes a round trip from the airport. Since we're going from the airport to Murren, and then Murren to Italy, would both of those legs be covered? Or would we have to be returning to the airport to get the most use out of the Swiss Card?

Thanks!
Adam

Hi Adam! Yes, the Swiss Card will cover the leg airport-Mürren and Mürren-Swiss/Italian border. You don't have to get back to the airport first, as the inbound and outbound trip don't have to be the same and don't necessarily have to include an airport: it's about either an airport or a border railway station. Further details can be found at the Swiss Card page.

Hello again!

We've purchased our Swiss Cards and I'm getting our big travel day organized (Murren BLM to Desenzano del Garda). I'm using SBB.ch and found a timetable for the day of travel that is perfect, but it's a Sunday and at the bottom of the itinerary SBB has a note that say: "Duration: 6:00;runsdaily, 30. Oct until 4. Dec 2011 Mo - Sa", which obviously doesn't include Sunday. Does this mean that the itinerary SBB gave me is not guaranteed? Are there any other nuances to the system that I should be aware of?

Thank you so much for your help Annika :-)
Adam

Hello Adam,

What date did you fill out? It should only return train services that are available on that particular day.

Hi Arno,

I put in August 21, 2011.

Thanks!
Adam

Hello Adam,

Ok, I see what you mean. This service is available on August 21, but between October 30 and December 4, it is not available on Sundays.

Ah, thank you very much. Easy enough answer overlooked by anxiety.

Adam