[Removed user]

29 January 2017 at 3:56:03 #810689

Dear guys, thanks for your wonderful service oriented forum. I’m new in here. I’m planning to visit Switzerland with my family of 2 adults and 2 children aged 12 and 5. I’ve made my international travel and stay bookings. I’ll be based in Zurich from 12th to 18th May this year. My idea so far. I’ll buy a Swiss travel pass, flexi for 4 days in a month. 12th is rest day after the flight.

13th, I’m thinking of Zurich> Lauterbrunnen > Trummelbach falls> Lauterbrunnen > Jungfraujoch> Grindelwald> Zurich (pass usage day).

14th im thinking of Zurich > Zermatt > Matterhorn or Gornergrat> Zurich (Pass usage day). Im lost on this idea. I don’t know how to go about this. Kindly help. Is it possible to include Glacier 3000 on this day?

15th guided tour to Rhine falls and Black Forest (pass non usage day)

16th guided tour on chocolate, cheese tour. I’m open to ideas on this(non pass usage day)

17th Zurich > Mt. Titlis > Mt. Pilatus > Zurich (pass usage day)

18th early morning train from Zurich to Geneva. City tour package in Geneva. Afternoon, board the train to Paris( Pass Usage day)

• I and my family understand that this may be hectic. But we are looking to maximise sight seeing
• since we come from India, we haven’t seen snow and we’ll be very happy if we can come in direct contact with snow
• kindly tell me the extra costs that I’ll incur after the family pass and discounts, if any that I can avail.
• Thanks so much again

Regards

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[Annika]

29 January 2017 at 11:24:32 #858538

Hi DrGerald, thanks for joining us!

Let’s take a look at your plans. First of all, I’m not sure if the 4 day Swiss Travel Pass Flex is your best option. It can only be decided once your plans are finalized, but here’s a consideration. You’ll have to pay for regular tickets on May 14 and 16. Costs can add up quickly, depending on your exact travel plans. A 4 day Swiss Travel Pass Flex costs CHF 298 per person. An 8 day Swiss Travel Pass, which would be valid on all days of your stay, costs CHF 376. This CHF 78 difference can easily be exceeded on the non-free travel days, as non-dicounted ticket prices are pretty high. Our timetable page explains how to find such costs. If you’re able to keep costs for both days under CHF 78, the Swiss Travel Pass Flex is a good choice. If you’re in doubt, the 8 day Swiss Travel Pass is the better solution. It also provides more flexibility to adapt your plans.

Now, as for your itinerary: yes, I’m afraid it’s pretty hectic. Zurich isn’t close to the mountains, so staying there results in additional traveling time. Did you use the timetable to check durations for each of your plans? If you do, you’ll notice that some of them will result in very long day trips with lots of hours spent on train traveling. Especially a day trip to Zermatt is hardly doable from Zurich. I’d rather focus on Zurich and its surroundings, or visit Lucerne an extra day and travel up to Rigi and/or make a boat trip.

Our Zurich activities page provides suggestions for day trips to the Black Forest and culinary/chocolate tours. You may like these for example:

• Rhine Falls and Black Forest
• Cheese and chocolate tour to Appenzell

Does this get you started?

[Removed user]

30 January 2017 at 4:34:42 #858539

Hi Annika, Thanks for your super quick reply.

• There are 2 reasons why I chose Zurich as my base. First is that we usually don’t travel light. We thought it would be better if we just settle in one place without having to run around with luggage in railway stations. Second is I got a decent deal in a Zurich hotel and since the check in check out timings create a confusion, I thought we might lose out on valuable sight seeing time.
• With regards to the pass, I had planned to do just like your suggestion of doing Rhine falls and Black Forest on one day and cheese and chocolate tour on another. That’s why I preferred the flexi 4 day pass.
• Thought I’ll keep the option of Zermatt or Glacier 3000 open.

i did a check on the train timings. It’s about 4 hours one way to Zermatt. Test of the places are on a 2.5 hour radius which we are willing to accept if that maximises our sightseeing places!

Thanks and regards

[Arno]

30 January 2017 at 9:27:57 #858540

Hi Dr Gerald,

Sounds like you have it all planned out and are ready for it! As for the Swiss Travel Pass Flex, please see here for how to buy it. As you can see it’s slightly cheaper to buy online.

Enjoy your trip!

[Removed user]

2 February 2017 at 4:35:53 #858541

Hi! Arno. Haven’t planned my trip. Far from it. It’s just that I am clear on what I want from the trip. My priorities are maximum snow seeing and contact with snow, to stay put in one base without running around with baggages. So far, my flight and stay are only ready. I was hoping for inputs on the following

• Cost of Jungfraujoch tour after Swiss family pass for 2 adults and 2 children aged 12 and 5
• cost for Mt. Titlis
• Cost for Mt. Pilatus
• Cost for Zermatt and Klein Matterhorn or Gornergrat. I don’t know which one to take. Need your valuable advice on this

Cheese and chocolate tour apparently covers cheese factory but only chocolate outlet and not factory. Is there a tour that covers chocolate factory tour too?

Thanks for your time and advice

Regards

[Arno]

2 February 2017 at 7:26:47 #858542

Hi Dr Gerald,

With one base I would recommend to not follow a fixed itinerary. Just have a wish list and decide on a daily basis what you would like to do the next day. The weather is a factor for mountain visits, and being flexible helps a lot.

In Zermatt I’d recommend the Gornergrat (again, only worth it with good weather). All of our activity pages offer links to prices on the Tickets tab. The Swiss Travel Pass Flex page explains what’s included and discounted if you have that pass, and there is a coverage map too.

Do you mean the cheese factory in Gruyères and the chocolate factory in Broc? You can visit these on your own. Just go there by train (free with your pass). Entrance is free with your pass too. The chocolate factory also includes a part of the actual factory (not the main production site, but it’s interesting anyway).