Need help to determing which Swiss pass to buy

Hello,

We are family of five, 2 adults, 3 teens. We will be flying into Zurich June 19 then immediately taking a train to Paris. From Paris we are flying to Rome and then taking a train back up through Italy to get back to Switzerland. We plan to spend two nights in the Bernese Oberland area, specifically Wengen or Murren. I have looked a lot of websites and am still having a hard time figuring out what rail pass to purchase. We will be taking a train from Milan to Wengen on June 28 and leaving Wengen by train on June 30 to return to Zurich. We have a reservation at a hotel near the airport there for June 30; we depart July 1 to return to the states.Would the Swiss pass be the best option? It shows a price of $488 E for three days. The train price from Milan to Wengen is showing $377 Swiss francs, and we would need to purchase tickets to go from Wengen back to Zurich, which is a similar price.

My question, though, is: We would need to purchase tickets from Milan to Switzerland that would not be covered by the Swiss pass. What city would we buy a point to point ticket to before the Swiss Pass takes effect? Are there other fees I am not aware of? Would we need to reserve any seats on the Swiss trains?Also, does the Swiss pass cover city trains in Zurich?

Thank you for your help,

Elizabeth

Hi Elizabeth,

Thank you for joining us! Let me first point you to a few useful pages:

• What's covered in the Swiss Travel Pass: myswissalps.com/ swisstravelpass/ validity
• About seat reservations: myswissalps.com/ train/reservations
• How to choose a pass: myswissalps.com/train/ ticketspasses/ practical/ chooserailpass

I don't think you need a Swiss Travel Pass though, assuming you'll be making short local trips while in the Bernese Oberland. A Swiss Transfer Ticket Combi would be a good option: it includes the trip from Domodossola (the Swiss border) to Wengen or Mürren, and from there to Zurich. You'll get a 50% discount on train and cable car tickets during your stay. Children up to 15 travel along for free with the free Swiss Family Card you can order along. The ticket is only available online (see here).In your case you can obtain them through www.raileurope.com/ rail-tickets-passes/swiss-transfer-ticket/index.html (print at home tickets or shipping in a few days) or www.raileurope-world.com/pass/swiss-transfer-ticket (shipping takes up to 8 business days).

Additionally you need tickets from Milan to Domodossola. Both websites I mentioned sell these too. Seat reservations are included. More information about these tickets can be found on myswissalps.com/ traintickets/italy.