[USA2Swiss]

27 March 2023 at 2:27:00 #829424

Hello everyone,

We are planning a 15-day trip for our family (2 adults and 2 kids, 8 and 11 yo) in July-August. We’re traveling from the Pacific Northwest USA to Geneva round trip from 7/23-8/5/23. We know it will be very busy this time of year, but this is the time that fits with our Summer vacation. We’re an active family and fit hikers/bikers.

Here is our rough itinerary:

7/23: Flight to Geneva (arrive at 18:00), train to Lausanne

7/24: Lausanne activities

7/25: AM Train to Bern, Bern activities

7/26: PM Train to Grindenwald

7/27: Grindenwald/Eiger Express/Jungfraujoch

7/28: Grindenwald/Bike to Lauterbrunnen/Murren/Trummelbach Falls (Train return to Grindenwald)

7/29: AM train to Como, Italy

7/30: Lake Como activities

7/31: Train to Milan, hire car rental

8/1-8/3: Cinque Terre area beach house

8/4: Return car rental in Milan, train from Milan to Spiez, then Golden Pass from Spiez to Montreux, then train to Geneva

8/5: Train to Geneva airport, fly out from Geneva (11:50)

A few questions:

1) Do you think this is a reasonable itinerary (not too many places?)… we decided not to visit Lucerne or Zermatt due to the limited time. Is the final day of travel from CInque Terre with returning car, multiple train changes in order to do Golden Pass too much for one day? Would really appreciate any suggestions about our planned itinerary!

2) The cost for the 15-day consecutive Swiss Pass is similar to hiring a car in Geneva for the entire trip even with the kids being free, and would not include the car hire in Italy. But we were still thinking of doing the 15-day consecutive Swiss Pass because it includes many museum entries, discount for Jungfrujoch, local trains etc, the trains in Switzerland look fantastic, and having a car can sometimes be a burden. I suspect the cost would end up being similar overall. The flex Swiss Pass might also work but I am concerned that it wouldn’t be much less costly because we would need to use travel days in order to visit the museums. Does this make sense or do you think the Flex pass would still make more sense? I saw that the 8-day consecutive pass has an upcoming offer in which there are an additional 2 days included, however I don’t think this would benefit us because we will be in Italy during those 2 days and then will still need Swiss train travel on the final 2 days.

Thank you for your advice!

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[Anna]

27 March 2023 at 7:21:58 #952651

Hi USA2Swiss,
Welcome to the forum and thanks for joining MySwissAlps.
Based on your plans, this is a reasonable itinerary.

1. From Grindelwald to Como, a sensible route to follow would be: Grindelwald – Interlaken Ost – Lucerne – Lugano – Como. From Interlaken Ost to Lucerne, you can take the Lucerne-Interlaken Express which travels along one section of the Golden Pass. It is a scenic route and you can read the details here: http://www.myswissalps.com/goldenpass/gettingthere

2. The Swiss Travel Pass is only valid in Switzerland. It will be of no use in Italy. So instead of a 15-day Swiss Travel Pass, perhaps a 4 or 6-day pass to cover the first leg of your trip in Switzerland. There is Swiss Travel Pass promotion in Spring which you might be interested in: http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/the-swiss-travel-pass-spring-2023-promotion. From Lugano to Como, you can just get a point-to-point ticket: http://www.myswissalps.com/traintickets/italy. For the final 2 days, I would also get a point-point ticket from Milan to Domodossola, then perhaps a Saver Day Pass for the journey to Spiez and on the Golden Pass to Montreux/Geneva.

I hope this gives you some viable options for your trip.

Best regards,
Anna

[USA2Swiss]

28 March 2023 at 1:41:44 #952652

Dear Anna,

Thanks very much for your wisdom! The Golden Pass from Interlaken Ost to Lucerne appears to be an ideal option for that portion of the trip to Como.

The reason I suggested a 15-day Swiss Pass even though we will not be in Switzerland for a 5-day portion of the trip is that the price difference with the shorter Swiss Pass is relatively small ($1368 USD for 8-day versus $1500 USD for 15-day), and any savings appears to be negated with the addition of the Saver Day Pass or point-to-point train fares for the return trip to Geneva at the end of our trip.

For example, if we purchased the 8-day 1st class Swiss Pass for 2 adults, the cost is $1372 USD (we would not be able to take advantage of the extra 2 day promotion since the initial part of our trip in Switzerland is 7 days). If we then purchase the Saver Day Pass for the return trip from Milan to Geneva on 8/4, the cost for a one-day Saver Pass for 2 adults and 2 kids per happyrail.com is $500 USD (total of Swiss Pass + Saver Day Pass = nearly $1900 USD). Whereas the 15-day Swiss Pass is less ($1500 USD). Without the Saver Pass, it looks like the fare for a 1st class train from Milan to Geneva for 2 adults and 2 children is $542 USD on the SBB.ch website (so also around $1900 USD total). So unless I am missing something (which is very possible), the cheapest option seems to be the 15-day Swiss Pass, even though we would not be using it for the 5 days we are in Italy and not traveling in Switzerland (7/30-8/3).

It seems like the 8-day flex pass would also be an option (use it for 7 consecutive days at the start and then 1 day at the end), though this does not save much ($1444 USD for 8-day Flex versus $1500 USD for 15-day Swiss Pass). Do you think this is a sensible option?

Thank you again for your advice.

[Anna]

28 March 2023 at 8:34:47 #952653

Hi USA2Swiss,

Thanks for sharing your calculations. It does seem that getting the 15-day Swiss Travel Pass might be more cost effective. I would imagine you can get cheaper Saver Day Passes (https://www.myswissalps.com/saverdaypass) for 2 adults if you book early and Junior Travelcards (https://www.myswissalps.com/juniortravelcard) for the kids, but the total still cost more than the pass. The 8-day Swiss Travel Pass Flex is substantially cheaper so I would choose that to save money.

Options to purchase are available from the following links:

• Swiss Travel Pass: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass/price
• Swiss Travel Pass Flex: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpassflex/price

Anna

[USA2Swiss]

2 April 2023 at 23:35:41 #952654

Thank you so much for your advice!