Please confirm my rail pass calcs

Hello All,

First thank you so much for all this info. i have been reading and calculating and this information is invaluable!

When I started my speadsheet I thought my answer would be clear, but now I am a bit confused and want to know if I am thinking properly.

Our trip will start in Lucerne (where we are dropping the rental car after a week in Germany).

Here is my itinerary

Day 1 - Lucerne arrival

Day 2 Lucerne - Mt Pilatus or Titlus. Any recommendation considering we are getting 3 nights in Murren?

Day 3 travel on Golden Pass line Lucerne to Montreux (reservations already made for panoramic car)

Day 4 return travel on Golden Pass line to Murren (reservation already made for panoramic car)

Day 5 Murren I have given myself 3 days to visit Jungfrau, Schilthorn and do various hikes and other sightseeing

Day 6 Murren

Day 7 Murren

Day 8 travel to Zurich

Day 9 early flight home

I have priced out all the train,tram tickets that I know I need and have a couple of questions on how to figure the 50% ones. It is all 50% from Murren on up? How about the trains to Kleine Scheidegg? If indeed it is all 50% i believe I am about breaking even with the Swiss Travel Pass. I would still get it for the convenience and I also know there will be more trips added that I am not calculating.

Any thoughts or ideas are welcome!

Thanks so much,

Ellen

Hi Ellen,

I'm glad you find our website useful! It looks like you are comparing the Swiss Travel Pass to a few other passes. I am not sure which passes you included in your comparison, but if you did not find much differences price wise, I would definitely pick the Swiss Travel Pass. Especially since you expect to add more trips. Unlike other passes it includes free rides to Mount Rigi near Lucerne and Schynige Platte in the Jungfrau Region. Trains to Wengen are free, from there to Kleine Scheidegg is 25% off. Other cable cars/cogwheel trains are basically 50% off.

Please find all details on the map: myswissalps.com / swisstravelpass/ validity

And please find retailers here: myswissalps.com / swisstravelpass/price

Hi Ellen-

The link about rail passes here in My Swiss Alps has an expandable *.PDF map that lets you see what each pass covers...free, discounted, etc.

www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/validity

In the Jungfrau region, an STP covers the trains or cable cars as far as Mürren or Wengen, and, on the other side, as far as Grindelwald. These are population centers and as such are accessed by public transport (or by private rail services subsidized by the government(s)).

Above Mürren, above and beyond Wengen or Grindelwald to Kleine Scheidegg, or from Mürren up to Schilthorn, the STP provides a discount, if I recall correctly. I think it is 50%. Those are privately run excursion lines, which also are called mountain railways.

Please note that in the timetable, the fares that first appear for regular train trips (etc.) on public transportation are already discounted by 50%, because essentially all Swiss have 50% discount card.

If you work your way further into the menus, as if you were actually going to buy a ticket, there will appear a place where you tell the computer what kind of pass you have, if any. At that point, the actual fare is calculated. Rule of thumb- if you have no rail pass of any kind, double the fares that first show in the timetable on regular (non-excursion) routes. I know that is not simple or clear, but that is how the system works.

Check the validity map I mentioned, or wait for Arno or Annika to jump in. That will show the no-fare and discounted fare lines.

I'm sorry that I cannot be more clear, but I never use those passes ( I have a Half Fare Card) so i don't keep up on the details.

Slowpoke

Thanks everyone!

I saw the map after I posted and now I feel I am doing it correctly and have the right info.

Slowpoke, I was getting all my fares from the sbb site and I put in "no reductions" in the drop down menu. I think that gave me the full fare for comparison sake.

Swiss Travel Pass seems like the right choice for us.

Do you have any opinion on us visiting Mt Pilatus vs Titlus given the rest of my itinerary?

Thanks again for the help, I have been reading posts for months now!

Ellen

Hi Ellen -

<<"I saw the map after I posted and now I feel I am doing it correctly and have the right info.

Slowpoke, I was getting all my fares from the sbb site and I put in "no reductions" in the drop down menu. I think that gave me the full fare for comparison sake.">>

Good to see that you have figured it out. The SBB site is full of good stuff,but you have to dig in a bit.

Did you know that you can get a map of your route, with the start and finished expandable, so you can see the neighborhoods near the station?

<<"Do you have any opinion on us visiting Mt Pilatus vs Titlus given the rest of my itinerary?">>

When are you going? (It is "Titlis," by the way).

Slowpoke

I didn't know about the map. I will look. And I downloaded the app too.

We will be in Switzerland the first week of October.

Ellen

Hi Ellen-

<<"I didn't know about the map. I will look. And I downloaded the app too. ">

The map is available in the footnotes, after you select a journey ( in the desktop version.)

Don't know if it is there in the Smartphone version.

<<"We will be in Switzerland the first week of October.">>

Good timing.

I like September, but early October is quite nice, too. By late October, low season is creeping in, in the Alps.

In the countryside at lower altitudes, October is nice because of harvest season for the farms, and game season ( if you care) on the restaurant menus, but no snow yet.

Titlis and Pilatus are both Alpine experiences. I don't know how to chose between them. Titlis has more stuff to do and see, Pilatus is close to Luzern and the cograil is unique. Views of the lake are nice, too.

The Rigi is different...lower, less "harsh."

www.myswissalps.com/pi latus

www.myswissalps.com/ti tlis

You might want o consider the lake boat ride to Vitznau, cograil up to Rigi Kulm ( the top; the English word "culmination" is related). Return the same way or by other options. Nice time of year for that trip.

www.myswissalps.com/ri gi

The views of the lake are nice. Some attached are from unique times and different angles, other than the train up on the Rigi.

Slowpoke

Thanks for the pictures!

I think I'll have to spend the day lakeside!

Ellen

Why not on the lake.

If you have an STP, lake boats are covered.

There are many ways to ride on part of the lake, including returns by train.

www.lakelucerne.ch/en/ timetable-fares/timetable/

There is a map available near the bottom of the home page.

Slowpoke