[Anonymous]

25 August 2014 at 23:37:54 #806604

Hello! We are visiting the Interlaken area in September. We have researched grocery stores (Coop by Ost station, Migros by West station and an Aldi) but have seen different answers for opening times. Do all stores close Saturday at 5pm and stay closed Sunday.

Also, does anyone know the cost of a train ticket in second class from Zurich airport to Interlaken (leaving airport between 9-10am)? Again, we keep seeing mixed result!

Any help is greatly appreciated!

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[Arno]

Reply 1 of 8 • 27 August 2014 at 5:04:43 #840922

Hi schaefers,

These are pretty much standard opening hours across Switzerland. However, exceptions may apply and you can find opening hours for each store at their website, e.g. coop.ch. The Coop across the Interlaken Ost station is open on Sundays as well.

Ticket prices can be found in the timetable. A single ticket from Zurich airport to Interlaken Ost costs CHF 71. If you see lower or higher prices you may be looking at the website of a reseller, but this is the local price. You may need a rail pass if you plan to do more traveling. See here please.

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[User]

Reply 2 of 8 • 28 August 2014 at 23:22:40 #840923

Thanks Arno. We checked the Coop website. It looks like the large location across from the Ost station is closed on Sunday but a smaller one is open.

We are planning to buy Zurich to Interlaken roundtrip tickets plus the Bernese Oberland pass as we are doing the following:

*Hike to Harder Klum, ride train down

*Ride train round trip to Schynige Platte

*Boat on Lake Brienz, ride to Rothornbahn roundtrip, train back to Interlaken

*Train to Lauterbrunnen, ride to Grutschelp, hike to Murren, ride to Allmendhubel, hike to Gimmelwald, ride to Stechelberg, bus to Trummelbach Falls, walk back to Lauterbrunnen

*Trip to Jungfrau

*Boat to Beatenbucht, ride round trip to Niederhorn, bus to Thun, train back to Interlaken

*Train to Grindelwald, ride to Mannlichen, hike round trip to Kleine Scheidegg, ride to Wengen

*Train to Grindelwald, ride to First, walk round trip to Bachsee

[kim11]

Reply 3 of 8 • 28 August 2014 at 23:34:48 #840924

You probably already know this but the Schilthorn gondola (which you will take down from Gimmelwald to Stechelberg) and the Jungfraujoch train (above Kleine Scheidegg) are discounted 50% with the Regional Pass, they aren’t free.

[User]

Reply 4 of 8 • 28 August 2014 at 23:40:42 #840925

Hi, yes we saw above Kleine Scheidegg was 50% discount but the map for the pass shows a solid line down to Stechelberg so we thought it was fully covered. We will have to look into this! Thanks for the information.

[kim11]

Reply 5 of 8 • 28 August 2014 at 23:44:31 #840926

Yes, that could very well be. It’s hard to tell from the validity map as it’s unclear (to me, anyway) which “dot” is Mürren. For many of the passes it’s only the transport “above” Wengen and Mürren that are discounted (vs. free) so that would make sense.

BTW, the Coop in Wengen is open 8 am – 6 pm on Sundays so if you happen to be swinging through Wengen on a Sunday you could take advantage of that.

[Arno]

Reply 6 of 8 • 30 August 2014 at 6:25:44 #840927

Hello,

If you have a Regional-Pass Bernese Oberland it will cover free traveling from Bern or Lucerne, so you don’t need to buy a ticket all the way to Interlaken. A ticket to Lucerne is the cheapest option and it will get you to the Oberland via the scenic Golden Pass line. The map shows a solid black line from Stechelberg to Mürren (the red dot), so that section of the cable car is free.

If you download the map from our pass page you can zoom in and verify: http://www.myswissalps.com/regionalpassberneseoberland/validity

[User]

Reply 7 of 8 • 1 September 2014 at 23:04:17 #840928

Hi Arno — We arrive in Switzerland on a Saturday and leave the next Saturday. We were originally planning to only buy the 6 day Bernese Oberland pass for Sunday through Friday but now may look into the 8 pass as it is only CHF 40 more. We had some questions.

We want to go from the airport to Interlaken via Lucerne. Do we buy the ticket from the airport to Lucerne at the airport? And then the 8 day pass in Lucerne? Or if we can buy the pass at the airport, what is the process in Lucerne at the station since we have the pass that covers us to Interlaken? How do we know the train is not full?

For return the following Saturday, we fly back to the US from Zurich at 10:10 in the morning and have to leave Interlaken on an early train (around 5:10am). We want to go through Bern to get to the airport since that is quicker. The pass covers us to Bern so what do we do in Bern? Do we exit the train to buy a ticket to the airport or can we buy the ticket ahead of time? We will be in a rush and want to make the process as easy as possible.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

[Arno]

Reply 8 of 8 • 2 September 2014 at 7:19:45 #840929

Hi schaefers,

You don’t need to book trains in advance (see here). You can just board with either a valid ticket or a rail pass. There’s no guarantee that the train isn’t full, but if you board in time it’s usually fine. If it’s full you can stand for a while and take a seat as soon as one becomes available. This is rare though and mostly happens in rush hours around the cities.

Tickets and rail passes can be purchased locally or online. If you buy you pass online (see here) then you don’t need to go to any ticket office in Zurich or Lucerne; just board your train straight away. Regional passes are also available at any staffed station in the concerning region, although I expect Zurich Airport as well. Tickets are available online and at any station, either from a ticketing machine or a staffed desk. You can get them ahead of time, so you don’t need to exit the train in Bern.