Help please with rail pass for one month

Hi..asking for your help please.We have been to Switzerland two times and usually stay for a little over a month. The Swiss rail pass was great and reasonably priced. We are planning on going again for June of 2017 and just discovered that the pass is no longer available for the month!! We always took advantage of the free museums and boat travel..what a bonus!! Now my question.

If we purchase the eurorail global pass we could get it for a month and perhaps spend a few days in Italy. It is far less expensive but was wondering if we would still be able to enter museums and the boats in Switzerland for free.

So..which pass to buy..we usually travel on the train at least once a day..thank you

Hi Ruedi, welcome to MySwissAlps!

There still is the one month Swiss Travel Pass Flex Combi. It not the same as the old Swiss Pass which was discontinued in 2014, but it's the best alternative.

The Eurail passes include boats, but no museums and only a few cable cars are discounted. All of our pass pages allow you to download coverage maps so you can compare and do the math. Please see:

• www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses
• www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass

The options for 2017 are not known yet, but I do not expect much changes.

Thank you soo much for your prompt answer. Very much appreciated. regards ruedi

I see that it allows 15 travel days. does this mean that museums etc are not covered if it is not one of your travel days? Wondering now if I would be better off with Eurorail global which seems somewhat less expensive. Yours thoughts please....would you know the average price of admission to most galleries, museums (we have never paid because we had the pass. Last question (for now) why would they get rid of the month pass ..it was amazing. thanks again

Hello Ruedi

We were also disappointed when they stopped offering the month Swiss Pass as we also spend a month in Switzerland. After considering all the options we decided to go for the 15 day Swiss Travel Pass followed by another 15 day STP. It may seem like an extravagant option at first sight but the sheer convenience of not buying tickets except for discounted mountain trips, plus all or almost all museum costs (flexible option for rainy days!) swayed our decision. We still saved lots of money over point to point tickets as we use the transport system extensively - we actually enjoy long train trips etc. and consider them part of the fun when on holiday in Switzerland. We had become accustomed to the convenience of deciding our plans for the day based solely on such things as the weather, our energy levels each day (we are in our 70s now) and not having to work out whether to use a "travel day" and how many we had already used etc. for us it was the best option. Obviously this was a personal choice and might not be your best option but it is worth considering.

Maggie

Thank you so much for your reply Maggie. I agree with everything you have said...and we are considering doing exactly that ...only reservation is the price..but knowing my wife and her joy of waking in the morning and saying "we haven't gone here yet!" and off to the train makes me think we may be spending the extra dollars.

thanks again ruedi

Hi Ruedi,

The Swiss Travel Pass Flex Combi includes 15 days of free traveling and 15 days of discounted traveling. Museums are only free on the free travel days. Please see the page Annika referred to, and click to all the tabs. It explains all this and more.

They got rid of the one month pass because they didn't sell a lot of them. The trend is for people to stay shorter. I don't think it's a good excuse and I think it would have been easy to keep the product even if a few people buy it. But I'm not making the decisions :-(

If you are considering two 15-day Swiss Travel Passes, the current promotions pay off even more. Please see the Promotions tab: www.myswissalps.com/ swisstravelpass/ promotions.

thank you!

Totally agree with Maggie & Arno's post re:promotions @ RailEurope for the Swiss Travel Pass. This will be our first trip to Switzerland, and I am SO excited! Just bought out month of STP yesterday from Byron at Budget European Travel. 800-441-2387.

2 adults [with (4) 15 day consecutive (2nd class) passes], 854 USD for each of us. (Good until July 7 or until the coupons are all sold.)

Lots of knowledgeable conversation comes free when you talk with Byron, who has travelled extensively in Switzerland. He has great info, even if you don't buy anything!