First trip with my 21 and 13 years old kids

hi!! I´m alive and with one more year..yesterday was my birhtday..but I work instead..finally decide base for neurotic face personality..Bern ..central nice and near lot of places you recommend.. in an hour ,hour and half ratio..jaja
and making my counts I think is better to buy a half fare card,but I´m having problems to buy it in argentina because the rail europe here says that with this card you can´t have a family card..but I understand in the swiss page that you can have family card with half fare card..Do you know how is it?Thanks again and again!!

gustavo

Congratulations Gustavo! A Swiss Half Fare Card can certainly be combined with a Swiss Family Card. You can order them by selecting the number of adults and minors on either of these websites:

• www.raileurope.com.ar/ pass/swiss-half-fare-card-7429
• www.raileurope-world.com/pass/swiss-half-fare-card

They do have a technical issue right now, so that might be the reason why you can't order. I expect them to solve it today. If not please try again in a few days, and let me know if I can further assist.

More resellers are listed here.

Hi Annika-

Gustavo's children are 13 and 21 years old/. Does a Family card cover them?

Slowpoke

Hi Slowpoke,

The 13 year old is covered. The 21 year old is considered an adult. The conditions can be found on myswissalps.com/swissf amilycard.

Hi Gustavo,

Both websites I mentioned work again.

Thanks Annika!! thanks for the aclaration! but I have a trouble buying the half fare card in the argentinian site of rail europe.I did the transaction but when I ask about the family card they cancel the operation telling me that the family card is not available with the half fare..I insist and show the oficial web site of the swiss sistem so they make an issue and will answer next week..strange isn't..In the site I didn't find if I can print directly,only several weeks for the delivery so I think if I don't have another possibility to buy it in the airport.

gustavo

I I buy the half fare and they don't send me the family card..Can I ask for it in the airport?thanks again

Did you try the website Annika gave you? I just tried and don't see any problems. You may try to click CTRL+F5 to refresh the page, and try again. They only ask for the adult names, not the children names, but that is the normal procedure. Shipping is no issue either: the first site ships within 5 business days, the second within 8 business days.

If you would just order the Swiss Half Fare Cards for the adults that would be no problem either. In that case you could get it for free at the rail station of the airport.

Arno-

It seems that Gustavo is coming in through Basel Mulhouse EuroAirport, or, perhaps by train from Colmar.

I recall that there is no rail station at Basel airport (EuroAirport); that there is instead a shuttle bus to Basel main station (Basel SBB). I hope that has changed, but it has been a few years since I came in that way and I do not know. Annika, I recall, agreed that the shuttle bus is the best way.

So , perhaps he would get his family card at Basel SBB, and not at the airport?

However, he may be going from the airport to Colmar. When he comes back to Switzerland and on to Basel and Luzern, there are several different possible good train connections directly from Colmar to Basel SBB. They do not seem to pass through the airport. As they go through Basel SBB, there are quite a few different various connection combinations, some of which are up to an hour and others of which are only a few minutes. As far as I can tell, he would always change at Basel SBB.

Since there are four trains per hour from Basel SBB to Luzern (ranging in duration from 1 hr 1 minute at xx04, to one hour and 38 minutes at xx47 with two changes , he could always stop, get his pass, and catch the next train watching for the best travel time. That would be at XX04 or XX17, with no change of trains betweeen Basel SBB and Luzern.

If he returns to the airport from Colmar by the same route he uses to get there, he could leave his luggage at the EuroAirport and pick it up there on the way back, then take the shuttle bus.

Do you agree with my analysis? Or, does the SBB have a facility at EuroAirport? I can't find one in the list of SBB stations.

Slowpoke

Hi Gustavo-

Since you are staying in Bern, you may wish to go as far south as Montreux.

There are two obvious routes -

1.- via Gruyeres and Montbovon

2.- Via Lausanne (the main line)

There are some particularly nice scenic parts of each of these routes. Good weather, especially sunshine on the vineyards makes them special, but they are still nice on a cloudy day.

On route 1.- From Montbovon down to Montreux. The descent through the vineyards above Montreux looking over the lake is a wonderful sight. The train does switchbacks, so you can sit on either side.

On route 2.- The view from Grandvaux over the lake. This requires a bit of explanation.

As you near Lake Geneva, south of Palezieux, and just before you reach the lake, you pass Puidoux, then Puidoux-Gare on the left. Then the train turns to the right for Lausanne and passes through a short tunnel.

As you emerge from the tunnel, you overlook the vineyards, the lake and the Alps. You must sit on the left after Puidoux.The change from countryside to lake view is sudden, an has high impact...best on a sunny day.

The Swiss in the French-speaking region have a joke that people coming from the German -speaking parts of Switzerland are so amazed by the impact and beauty of this scene that they throw their residence cards out the window and move to Canton Vaud or Geneva.

The train proceeds above and through the vineyards to Lausanne. From Lausanne, there is a local train to Palezieux that stops at all the small towns.

When I was working in Geneva, for a day trip I would often go to Lausanne, then catch that local train as far as Grandvaux. I would get off there and take a trail from slightly above and to the west of the station, walking down through the vineyards to Villette, and then to Cully. Then, I would take the lower level (lakeside) train back to Lausanne. Good photos on a clear day. See attached from just above Villette(mine) and another from Panoramio in the Internet and a third from Wiki.

Do a Google search for Grandvaux Switzerland.. Some nice pictures.

Also, I have mentioned before, that there is a "wine train" through the vineyards from Vevey to Puidoux that has great views, especially on a sunny afternoon.

www.montreux-vevey.com/en/CL-ar/Culture_Lavaux_en/a ctivites_lavaux/trainv ignes

Slowpoke

Hi Slowpoke,

There's an SBB office at the EuroAirport, but not a rail station. The Swiss Family Card will be issued along with the online purchase of the Swiss Half Fare Card. If they would somehow not include it in the shipment (I don't assume that by the way), it will be available at that office. The bus to Basel is covered (discounted) by the Swiss Half Fare Card.

love this forum...

love this thread...you are fantastic...

really thanks thanks a lot!!

kind regards

gustavo

<<"love this thread...you are fantastic...really thanks thanks a lot!!">

Gustavo -

Glad to help. Switzerland has been good to me; I am trying to pay back.

Did you see Arnos's post about getting your Family Card at Basel EuroAirport, even though there is no train station there?

Slowpoke

Yes Slowpoke,and this give me peace of mind for buying it here, despite the wrong information of the argentinian office.

really good information..

gustavo

There are quite a lot of small villages and littletowns throughout Switzerland, and they are in every kind of region fromthe Alps, the Italian-speaking Ticino, to the rolling hills of theEmmental farm country, to the Three Lakes region nearNeuchatel/Biel-Bienne/Murten.

<<"There are quite a lot of small villages and little towns throughout Switzerland, .......">>

Certainly true.

;-)

Slowpoke