MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial Switzerland in September – 3 week planning help
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Hi Kay,
I have a few suggestions for improvement . . . . .
. . . . . just kidding.
Enjoy. 😎
Hi Kay,
Flex gives you 15 days travel in 30 days. Several days you will be hiking and won’t need transport.
Of course now your itinerary is settled you can do the math. You should read “How to chose the best travel pass” (http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass).
As well as the Swiss Travel Pass there are many reigonal passes (http://www.myswissalps.com/re gionalpasses) which can work depending on where you are based and how much travel you plan.
But the longer duration STP( Flex) you buy the lower the daily rate.
<<“Hello All, Here is my last, final itinerary:”>>
I like it. I hope Rockoyster will accept it. 😉
<<“There is enough left undone to warrant a trip back ; )”>>
Only one trip back?
Slowpoke
Hi Rockoyster-
<<“Flex gives you 15 days travel in 30 days. Several days you will be hiking and won’t need transport.”>
One of the joys of alpine hiking in Switzerland is that you can ride a cableway up to the top, or public transport to the trailhead, walk a while or not, eat lunch with a view at a mountain restaurant, or something simpler, walk somewhere further as desired, and ride some form of public transport back to the starting point.
The critical part is getting up and down the 1000 or more meters that are often required, without killing yourself or ruining your knees. The devices which permit it require payment for services. Using enough of them can add up to a significant extra cost. The different passes, as you know, offer different discounts (or none) on some of the mountain transport . It can add up, so the spreadsheet suggests including those costs, such as the ride up to Jungfrau or Schilthorn. Enough of some of the expensive trips can add up to a sum that can justify using a pass instead of buying a regular ticket.
I have not developed expertise on the various passes,because my travel patterns have stabilized. I travel every day that I am in Switzerland. I try to be there for at least two weeks at a time. I have a resident’s Halb-tax, and often rent a car for part time use. Travel in the back country is almost always possible by train and bus, but the schedule limits flexibility for poking around looking for pllces to take pictures. I just use those ( Car and Halb-tax, that is a Half-fare card) and forget about figuring out the different cost patterns.
Slowpoke.
Slowpoke, I was wondering about transportation on hiking days as I can easily imagine the scenarios you outline. Also I do think I can take advantage of a “local pass” for instance when we are in the Upper Engdadine. In any event I have not yet done the math.
Also glad you like this version of the itinerary.
Kay
Hi Kay,
As Slowpoke points out you may need transport even when hiking.
Whether it makes sense to use a day from your travel pass depends on how much travel. With a Flex Pass there is nothing to stop you filling in the gaps with say a Jungfrau Pass while staying in Wengen.
The whole pass thing is a bit of a balancing act. The point of the Flex is that you can use it on the days you choose as opposed to 15 (or however many) consecutive days for the regular Swiss Travel Pass. For me the value of the convenience was important.
I didn’t do the whole spreadsheet thing. I just worked out how much I would save on the 5 most expensive trips/excursions and then considered how much I would have to travel per day to break even on the cost of the pass. As it turned out we saved well over CHF700 against regular fares.
Given your Paris connections don’t ignore the Eurail 2-country Select Pass augmented with some form of Swiss pass.
Hi Kay,
I am pleased to see that you are already thinking that this trip will not be enough. You should plan on coming back several times, as there is so much diversity packed into such a tiny country. I hope that on a future trip you will get over to the three lakes (Bienne, Morat, and Neuchâtel) area.
Hi Kay,
Something to help stretch a Flex pass? Just spotted this on a post from Alpenrose666.
http://www.engadin.stmoritz.c h/sommer/en/bergbahnen -inclusive/
Post is here http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/exploring-places-along-the-bernina-pass
Rockoyster, thanks for bringing this to my attention. I have been away from my computer for a couple of days. I am aware of this local pass but had not yet sussed it out. Just briefly looking at the link posted it appears to be very useful to me.
Kay
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