Correct choice of "Pass" or "Regional Passes"

Dear Forum Expert,

Greetings from India !! We are family of 3 ( 2 adults and 1 child - 13 yrs old). We are travelling form 2nd May to 11th May in Switzerland, and would request your help for finalising the pass/ passes/ regional passes etc..

The choice is so much that its becomes all the more confusing. So I am enclosing our itinerary for your kind perusal:

• 2nd May : Using point to pint ticket. (AM)Depart from Innbruk towards Lausane . Reaching Lausane @ 1:40 PM
• 2nd May : (PM) Lausane local trip
• 3rd May : (AM) move to Gruyeres/ Broc for Cheese and chocolate factory visit.
• 3rd May : (PM) Montreux visit
• 4th May : (AM) Geneva - UNO/ Red Cross/ Cern
• 4th May : (PM) Visit to Vevy
• 5th May : (AM) move from Lausane to Interlaken.
• 5ht May : (AM) Deposit luggage and mover to Grindelwald area or Murren depending on weather for hiking etc. We have a open plan as not bought any tickets of passes. So we can visit Schilthorn also
• 6th May : (AM) Take first (breakfast) train to Jungfrau and return post lunch. Mix with hiking in lower region
• 7th May : (AM) Schilthorn and local hiking (Falls)
• 8th May : (AM) Checkout and go to Bern .
• 8th May : (PM) return to lucerne
• 9th May : Pilatus / lucerne lake golden pass trip. Or Rigi as alternative - depending on the pass suggested
• 9th May : (PM) lucenrne city walk
• 10th May : Lucerne city leasure
• 11th May : (AM) 7 AM checkout and head for zurich for return flight at 11 AM

Additional information :

1. We have blocked point to point ticket on 2nd from Inssbruk to lausane. We got it very cheap on special fare category
2. However, we can break at Berne if required and if forum expert says its feasible. But we will have to buy local city pass and point to point form bern to lausane
3. In lausane we were thinking of using the Lausane card given by hotel to cover parts of the city. But we would be paying for any entries etc (Olympic museum). So the cost advantge reduces, if we do not activate the pass on 2nd May
4. If we buy swiss pass, we were hoping to activate it on 3rd May so as to use it till last day in Switzerland (10th in lucerne)
5. we have not taken any pass yet - dilema is to swiss 8 day pass or 15 days pass/ half fare card/ or 8 day pass with jungfrau card .. the choice is endless
6. On 11th we were planning to take point to point ticket, since the validity of pass will expire by 5 AM
7. If we do cost analysis on half fare card vs swiss pass, its half fare card which saves us money .. But its only on travel - we have not included the tickets of locaitons/ museums etc
8. Hotels have been booked on said days already

So our question is as follows:

[a] Which pass, between the lot and for how many days

[b] since we are spending so many days in Interlaken area, would local pass be better

[c] Do we have to buy juniour card in addition to swiss family pass

[d] Is some tweaking required for places to visit given the constraints mentioned

Request kind support please

Thanks in advance

Vivek

Welcome to MySwissAlps, Vivek!

You're right, it's quite challenging to pick the right pass. The only way to tell for sure is to make calculations as explained at myswissalps.com/train/ ticketspasses/practica l/chooserailpass , but you'll have to include each and every detail (museum entrance fees, all public transportation trips, etcetera) to be able to rely on the outcome.

Having said that, I guess this combination suits your plans best:

• the point-to-point ticket to Lausanne you've already bought;
• the Lausanne Transport Card offered by your hotel on May 2. Note that museums like the Musée Olympique aren't for free indeed, but they are discounted, so you'll still profit from this local offer;
• an 8 day Swiss Travel Pass for May 3 to 10. It will cover all regular train trips, the entrance fees for the cheese and chocolate factories, urban transportation, boats (e.g. on Lake Lucerne) and the Rigi. The free Swiss Family Card allows your children to travel along for free anywhere and you don't need additional Junior Travelcards. Cost wise it would be more attractive to get a hotel in Zurich/near Zurich Airport for your last night, so you could still make the trip Lucerne-Zurich within the Swiss Travel Pass validity range. If you can't change bookings you'll have to get an additional ticket Lucerne-Zurich Airport (CHF 29.00 per adult) for May 11.