[Anonymous]

2 October 2022 at 5:14:05 #828461

Hi all,

My family (2 adults, 10yo) is visiting Switzerland from 20th-26th October. Would appreciate any suggestions on the itinerary plus best rail pass to get. Current itinerary is as follows (Zurich 1 night, Interlaken 4 nights, Geneva 1 night)

20th – Arrive in Zurich

21st – visit Rhine Falls and then go to Interlaken via Luzern (looks like route is semi-closed at during this time for maintenance so may have to go via Bern)

22-24th – mountain excursions including Jungfraujoch, Grindewald, Schilthorn, Harder Klum (22-23 appears to be the last days for many of the mountain trains/gondolas)

25-26th – train to Geneva in afternoon and leave Geneva for Paris on 26th late afternoon

Question: is this feasible itinerary? Is it better to go straight to Luzern and visit there instead of Zurich and Rhine falls? Was planning on getting the Half fare card and the Berner Oberland 4 day pass. Is there a better pass combination I should look into instead?

Thank you for your help!

AD

[Arno]

Reply 1 of 6 • 2 October 2022 at 13:08:31 #947500

Hi AD, thanks for joining MySwissAlps!

Yes, your itinerary looks good to me. Whether or not to visit the Rhine Falls (https://www.myswissalps.com/rhinefalls) on Ocober 21 is up to you. The falls are usually prettier in spring. And it might be a bit much, if you have to make a detour between Lucerne and Interlaken as well. Zurich-Schloss Laufen am Rheinfall takes about 50 minutes, and you’ll have to factor in the time spent at the falls and then the (longer) journey to Interlaken.

Do you plan to actually visit Lucerne (https://www.myswissalps.com/lucerne) too on October 21? In that case I’d personally prefer to head straight for Lucerne and do some sightseeing there. Then travel to Interlaken via Bern. You can do so by regional train via Entlebuch/Langnau in the Emmen valley, which I think is more scenic than the quicker connections via Sursee/Zofingen. You’ll find all options in the timetable: https://www.myswissalps.com/timetable.

When traveling from Interlaken to Geneva, you can consider the GoldenPass route via Zweisimmen and Montreux: https://www.myswissalps.com/goldenpass.

I agree that the combination of a Swiss Half Fare Card (https://www.myswissalps.com/swisshalffarecard) and a Regional-Pass Bernese Oberland (https://www.myswissalps.com/regionalpassberneseoberland) looks feasible. A 3-day Regional-Pass Bernese Oberland might be more economical than a 4-day version, but that depends on your exact plans.

Do note that the 4-day Swiss Travel Pass for October is on sale: see http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass/promotions and http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/swiss-travel-pass-promotion-until-31-oct-2022. You could use this for October 21-24, assuming you won’t be traveling much on the day of your arrival in Zurich. An additional Saver Day Pass could cover the journey to Geneva on October 25: https://www.myswissalps.com/saverdaypass.

Which option is most economical can only be told after calculations: https://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass. But I think you can’t go wrong with either of the options discussed above.

I hope this is helpful. Let us know if you more questions!

[User]

Reply 2 of 6 • 2 October 2022 at 20:50:22 #947501

I agree with Arno. I would go straight to Luzern. The Rhine Falls are low level – not all that spectacular in global terms – and there has been drought this year so river levels are low.

I also agree with the suggestion of Luzern – Emmental – Bern and Interlaken – Golden Pass – Montreux – Geneve

[User]

Reply 3 of 6 • 3 October 2022 at 3:26:02 #947502

Thank you very much!

Will probably pass on staying in Zurich and go straight to Luzern.

I will calculate the differences in costs and get back to you if I have any further questions.

Thanks again!

AD

[User]

Reply 4 of 6 • 12 October 2022 at 7:49:24 #947503

Hello again!

Looks like based off my calculations, it might just be cheaper to have the Half-fare card by itself while in Interlaken. Does my 10 yo daughter need to buy any tickets for the mountain trains to First or Harder Klum if we have the Family Card? The Berner Oberland Pass has a 30f cost for children so if the child tickets are free with the Family Card, might be a slightly cheaper option.

Also we purchased the Half fare card through Klook, they never asked for passport info. I have seen on the forum that the passport number should be on it for it to be valid. Is this true?

Thanks!

AD

[User]

Reply 5 of 6 • 12 October 2022 at 14:26:12 #947504

Hi AD,

you can use a Swiss Travel Pass, Swiss Travel Pass Flex or Swiss Half Fare Card to be able to get the Swiss Family Card for your 10 years old child: http://www.myswissalps.com/swissfamilycard.

You can read about how to fill in the passport number here: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisshalffarecard/howtouse.

Ildiko

[User]

Reply 6 of 6 • 12 October 2022 at 19:36:11 #947505

Hi Ildiko,

Thank you for the information!

AD