MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial Rail pass: Paris, Wengen, Jungfraujoch, Rome?
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Hello, I have booked a 3-night stay inWengen from May 10-May 13, 2019. I was hoping to get some advice on travel.
We are traveling by train from Paris, France directly to Wengen on May 10th. After doing some research, it seems the route is Bern to Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen to Wengen. We would also most likely do the cogwheel train up to Jungfraujoch on either May 11 or May 12 (weather permitting). We will then have one other free day to go hiking or do some other activity. Once we depart Wengen, we will head by train to Rome, Italy. The route here is most likely Spiez to Brig to Milan to Rome.
Knowing all of this train travel that we are doing, do you think it is wise for us to purchase a 3-Day Swiss Travel Pass? Will having this pass allow us to travel from Bern to Wengen and then Wengen to Milan without purchasing any additional train tickets? Should I get the main Swiss Pass or the Regional Swiss Pass?
Do you have any other suggestions/advice for us?
Thank you very much and we look forward to visiting Switzerland in May.
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Hello BlueThunder and Welcome to MySwissAlps
There are many things to do in the Jungfrau region. See http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfrauregion/activitie s. From Lauterbrunnen a very nice circuit to do is to Grütschalp (cable car), Mürren (train), Gimmelwald (cable car), Stechelberg (cable car), Lauterbrunnen (bus). From Mürren you can easily visit Schiltorn and Allmendhubel if you have time. In between Stechelberg and Lauterbrunnen the bus stops at the Trummelbach Falls. Well worth a look. All these places are searcheable on the MySwissAlps website.
Early May is still pretty cool at altitude so many of the higher up hiking trails may be inaccessible.
Picking a pass for a short duration stay can be problematic. The Swiss Travel Pass (http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass) will get you from Basel to Wengen on your way from Paris and from Wengen to Domodossola on your way to Milan. Outside the Swiss border you will need tickets and reservations for the French and Italian trains. See http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/france and http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/italy. You could consider the Regional Pass Bernese Oberland or the Jungfrau Travel Pass. See http://www.myswissalps.com/re gionalpasses.
Be sure to check the Where it is Valid tab on each page.
The Swiss Half Fare Card (http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isshalffarecard) is another option.
Once you have your itinerary nailed down you should read “How to choose the best travel pass” (http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass), download the handy spreadsheet calculator and do the math. Sorry – there is no simple answer as everyone’s plans are different.
Happy travels. 😎
Hi BlueThunder and welcome again to MySwissAlps!
You have a very comprehensive answer from Rockoyster, I would just like to emphasise that it will be best to build your detailed itinerary and then compare the options between passes to work out what is cheaper.
The Swiss Travel Pass http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass is very convenient as it means ticketless travel and it tends to work well when you are travelling a lot across Switzerland and every day during your stay. However for certain mountain top visits you will still need to purchase a ticket for the last leg of the trip, e.g. Jungfraujoch http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfraujoch
Some additional links for planning your visit:
- Weather and forecast: http://www.myswissalps.com/we ather
- Hiking suggestions: http://www.myswissalps.com/hi king (searchable by location and difficulty level)
Hope this helps in your planning and have a wonderful trip!
Maria.
Rockoyster, thank you very much for your advice on visiting neighboring towns like Murren and Gimmelwald. I very much want to do this, in addition to visiting Jungfraujoch. Do you think it is worth visiting Schilthorn in addition to Jungfraujoch, or is one sufficient?
Maria, when you say that I will still have to purchase a ticket for the last leg of the trip up to Jungfraujoch, I assume you mean the Kleine-Scheidegg to Top of Europe leg, correct? And that will cost me around CHF 91 with the Half Fare card, correct?
Thank you both for your help!
Hi Blue,
Do you have a Swiss Half-fare Card or a Swiss Travel Pass? Schilthorn is free with Swiss Travel Pass – that makes it a pretty irresistible deal if the weather is favourable. You get a completely different perspective from Schilthorn compared to Jungfraujoch. The downside for the Swiss Travel Pass is that it only attracts a 25% discount from Wengen or Grindelwald to Jungfraujoch. You will find the Jungfraujoch Price List at bit.ly/2J5H92u.
If you have a Swiss Half-fare Card then you will need to buy a half-fare ticket for any journey you do in Switzerland.
Hi Blue Thunder,
To see the validity and available discounts with the two mentioned rail passes use below links.
– http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/validity
– http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isshalffarecard/validi tyYou will find really helpful maps there, too.
The leg Maria is talking about that you would have to pay, assuming you have a Swiss Travel Pass is either Wengen – Jungfraujoch or Grindelwald – Jungraujoch, each for which you get a 25% discount in this scenario. Hope this answers your question.
Should you want to do the math in the spreadsheet Rockoyster mentioned earlier in the thread use the timetable links (also very handy for time management) to find out about prices. The default settings in the SBB page show Half Fare Card prices.
Regarding Schilthorn and Jungfraujoch, it is hard to say if you would enjoy both, this can be so individual. For inspiration about the Schilthorn go here:
– http://www.myswissalps.com/sc hilthornBest,
Steph
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