MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial Rail pass math for best Jungfrau region pass
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Firstly hello to everyone. This is my first post on this forum and I have to say that the wealth of knowledge on myswissalps is unbelievable. So thank you for that.
That said, I have been going through all the information on here and can’t seem to get past the task of figuring out whether or not a pass makes sense for my trip. I went through the rail pass calculation excel sheet and looks like at best I can break even. Just want to run my itinerary by someone on here who has more experience with this. We will be driving into Lauterbrunnen late evening on day zero so I am not going to count as a day.I’ll have a total of 2.5 days in Lauterbrunnen. That is 2 full days and then half a day on the third day before we leave Lauterbrunnen to drive 2 hrs south to our hotel in France. we are a family of 4 adults and 2 small children (under 6).
Below is what I calculated for a single person for point to point tickets at full rate. I am looking to see if any pass makes sense. If it is close to breaking even, I’d rather not buy a pass as that gives us the flexibility of not sticking to doing everything listed below or if things take longer than planned.
Day 1 – Lauterbrunnen – Murren (return) CHF 23.00
Day 1 – Mürren – Allmendhubel (return) – No Price available
Day 1 – Murren – Schilthorn (return) – CHF 83.00
Day 2- Interlaken Ost – Montreux via Golden Pass line (return) – CHF 26.00
Day 2.5 – Lauterbrunnen – Interlaken Ost (return) – CHF 13.00
Day 2.5 – Lauterbrunnen – Schynige Platte (return) – CHF 76.00
TOTAL = CHF 221
Thanks again and look forward to what you think.
Cheers.
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Hello M3 and welcome to MySwissAlps,
I haven’t checked all your prices but the full fare from Interlaken Ost to Montreux via Zweisimmen is CHF53 one way.
The round trip to Allmendhubel is CHF14 (see schilthorn.ch/cmsfiles /tariffs_schilthorn_ab juni_2018_english.pdf).
It is quite possible that for such a short visit and wit kids under 6 a Swiss Travel Pass or a Swiss Half Fare Card may not save you much. You’ve done the hard work with the spreadsheet. Just make sure you have all the prices correct and that you include the correct discounts as per Swiss Travel Pass Vailidity Map which you will find here http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/validity.
@rockoyster. Thanks. I was wondering myself why Interlaken Ost to Montreux via Zweisimmen was so cheap. I was on the golden pass website and when i select both trains it shows me 5 CHF for Interlaken to Zweisimmen and 8 CHF for Zweisimmen to Montreux. That is a total of 13 CHF one way. What am I doing wrong? (see attached) Here is the website I used……
http://www.goldenpassline.ch/ en/reservation-procedure-for-the-goldenpass-line/
My other question is if the Jungfrau Pass may work for me even though I don’t plan to visit Jungfrau. Based on what i have seen, all commute in the Grindenwald and Interlaken region is free and the Schynige Platte Cog Wheel is included free as well. Thoughts?
Thanks.
Attachments:Hi M3,
Those prices are for reservation fees only on the Golden Pass. Ticket costs are extra. Reservations are optional and we only recommend making them in the summer season between Zweisimmen and Montreux (panoramic trains).
You can find ticket costs (and schedules) with the Swiss railways timetable here: https://www.myswissalp s.com/timetable
Yes, the Jungfrau Travel Pass can still work well even without visiting Jungfraujoch (it is a regional pass, not just for the Jungfraujoch). You can see exactly what is and isn’t covered by this pass here: https://www.myswissalp s.com/jungfrautravelpa ss/validity
Lucas, attached is the RAIL pass calculation for my final Itinerary for the time in Switzerland. Based on this I am thinking of going with the half-card. Can you please confirm if this is the correct choice? Looking at the coverage map for the Swiss Pass, it wasn’t clear what all is discounted 25% for the Swiss Pass so I assumed all mountain rides are 25% discounted in the Junfrau region.
I would really appreciate it if you could give it a look over. The regular full fare pricing is correct. I just want to confirm I am applying the correct discount.
Thanks a lot.
With the Swiss Travel Pass everything on you itinerary is free apart from Wilderswil to Schynigge Platte (50%) and Grindelwald – Klein’s Scheidegg – Wengen (25%). If you took the cable cars across Grindelwald -Mannlichen – Wengen then that is 50% discount. Schilthorn is entirely free for 2018 only.
Oops, Harder Kulm is 50% discount.
I can’t figure out you plan on day 0 or what happens when you get to Montreux. Have you abandoned the car idea?
@rockoyster. Thanks. Take a look at the coverage map for the Swiss Pass. The complete Jungfrau area has the dotted lines which would normally be 50% but then they have marked it with the legend #1 which exclusively calls out a 25% discount. Am I reading the map wrong?
Thanks again.
You are indeed reading it wrong. The 1 in a circle note applies only to the red dotted lines south of Wengen/Grindelwald. Trust me on this one. 🤓
@rockoyster. Thank you. You are right indeed. So Murren is entirely free even though it uses a cable car for the first half of the route?
@rockoyster. Missed adding your question about Montreux. Yes, I decided to change my plan because the train started to make more sense for the Swiss portion of the trip.
Arrive in Zurich and take the train to Colmar via Basel
2 full days in Colmar
Swirzerland Portion:
Day 0 – Arrive in Basel from Colmar (by train)
Day 0 – Train from Basel to Lauterbrunnen
Day 1 and 2 – See the sights in the Jungfrau area as noted in the other post
Day 3 – Leave Lauterbrunnen for Montreux via the Golden Pass Line
Day 3 – Pick up reserved rental car in Montreux and carry on the rest of the trip – 10 days through Italy and Germany.
Reason I switched the plan was because after using the excel sheet I realized that by not using the rental minivan for 5 days I essentially save $550 – $600 which I could use towards the pass (4 adults) and use the discount benefits that comes with buying the pass.
Bad news is Allmendhubel is 50% discount with STP. Good news is return trip is CHF14 full-fare return. 😎
Also just noticed you are factoring in cost of 3 day Pass but calculating savings for 4 days.
Good catch. I totally missed that. I updated the sheet (attached) to reflect that. Looking at the results (attached), there is not much separating all 3 passes but since we are 4 adults, the ~ CHF20 savings equated to CHF80 so might make sense skipping the Jungfrau 3 day pass. Between the Swiss Half Fare and Swiss Travel, I would go with the Swiss Travel to avoid the hassle of buying tickets. You agree with my assessment? See attached.
And thanks again for all the help.
Attachments:@rockoyster Shoot. I caught another mistake on my last sheet.The 1st line was incorrect. Looking at he results now (attached), I know for a fact a Pass makes sense. Since there are 4 of us, the savings of one pass over the other gets multiplied by 4. The Jungfrau 3 day pass seems to be making the most sense. You agree or would you still recommend the Swiss Travel Pass?
PS: I don’t see an edit function on this forum. I would rather correct my post rather than adding more posts to keep the thread clean.
Attachments:
You still have a mistake. You didn’t discount the Montreux trip for the half-fare card option. Also the additional cost of a 4-day STP is less (just) than the Montreux fare.
Personally I would hang the expense and go with the 4-day STP. It is very convenient and offers great flexibility if your plans change at all.
You can still edit posts up to one hour after you create them. You can’t delete attachments though.
Corrected. 4 day STP it is then.
By the way, looking at my itinerary for the 2 days, does it seem doable or too aggressive?
Thanks.
I think your itinerary is quite doable.
Not sure if you know but you can get up and down to Mürren either via Grutschalp or Stechelberg. Go down to Stechelberg via Gimmelwald. Try to get at the front of the car as you leave Gimmelwald (assuming you don’t have a fear of heights that is).
Between Stechelberg and Lauterbrunnen the bus stops at Trummelbach Falls. Well worth a look.
Awesome. Thanks for the tips. Just saw it on the map. That is brilliant. Go up one way to Murren, come dine another, stop at the Trummelbach falls on way back to Lauterbrunnen. I am actually staying right next to the Stubbach falls. Thanks a lot.
Cheers.
Looks like you are all sorted M3, happy travels!
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