Point to point ticket prices to compare to passes

Im wondering if you can simplify my research by giving me some rough prices of point to point train journeys for our trip to Switzerland in April. Once armed with these prices we will do a comparison to the passes & work out the best way to go. I'm finding it all a bit confusing even using the links.

Lucerne trip to Pilatus return in April ( does this incl lake trip & if not Lake trip also)

Zermatt trip to Gornergrat Bahn return. (we will be on a coach trip here & an opt on free day)

Lucerne to Lauterrunnen via scenic express train (? Price for panoramic & price for not panoramic)

Excursions from Lauterbrunnen -

Which below would you combine also for a good day out in 1 go.

-To Briez via train then Lake & return via train

- Juangfrau return

- Schilthorn return

-Gimmelwald return

-Murren return

- Grindelwald return

- Train & boat trip Lake Thun return

Lauterbrunnen to Interlarken

Lauterbrunnen to Stresa via Domodossola ( how do I buy this train ticket all the way from Interlarken to Stresa with a pass. Do I have to actually get out at Domodossola to buy the Italian part of my trip or can it be bought in Switzerland to all the way through to Stresa?)

I hope you don't mind I'm just finding it all quite confusing. By these trips I've mentioned would you think the 1/2 fare card or full pass or single fares is the way to go for my husband & myself. Thankyou so much.

Hi Travellyn!

You can extract prices from the timetable. Our timetable page explains how to do so. Do mind to avoid typos when entering your destinations in the timetable, otherwise your location may not be recognized. For example: Lauterbrunnen (not Lauterrunnen), Jungfraujoch (not Juangfrau). Apart from that, prices are often listed at the attractions' websites. We link to them from our own pages, like our Pilatus page, Gornergrat page, etcetera. There's an Excel sheet you can use, to be downloaded from our "How to choose" page. It contains links and tips to help you find the right prices and make a proper comparison. In case you're not familiar with Excel, there's textual explanation too.

It's a bit hard to advise a rail pass based on the information you provided. The duration of your stay and the order of your plans matter too. From the information in your previous topic, an 8 day Swiss Travel Pass seemed to make sense. But you'd have to calculate your full itinerary to make sure.

Does this get you started?

Hi Travelyn -

In addition to what Annika said, please note that the prices in the timetable assume that you have a half-fare card, because most Swiss do.

Slowpoke

Ok thanks for that info we'll try again & see how we go. Can you tell me just to help simplify what I'm looking for - in mid/late April from Lucerne what would be the suggested route to Mt Pilatus & back to Lucerne ( & so what I would put in the searches to get prices for each leg to give me a total costing) & also can you help me with my question about buying a train ticket with a Swiss pass that crosses across into another country. Do I have to get off in that spot ie Domodossola to buy the next part to continue onto Stresa. Or can I purchase a ticket at Interlarken that only requires payment for the Italian part of the journey if we have a swiss pass or reduced fare for swiss part of journey + all of Italian part if have a 1/2 fare card. Thankyou.

Hi Travellyn!

In April, the cogwheel track from Alpnachstad to Pilatus won't be operational yet. So you should use the cable car from Kriens up and down. It's explained at our Pilatus page.

You'd best pick your rail pass first, as that defines what to do with your international journey to Domodossola. In general, this is how it works: a rail pass for Switzerland will either fully cover the journey Interlaken-Domodossola, meaning you don't need a ticket for this leg (like the Swiss Travel Pass) or provide a 50% discount, meaning you need a 50% discounted ticket for Interlaken-Domodossola (like the Swiss Half Fare Card). Additionally, you need a regular full fare ticket from Domodossola to Stresa. You can buy this ticket in advance, either online or at a rail station. If you do so, you can just stay seated and you don't have to get out in Domodossola.

Hi Annika & slowpoke, I just wanted to follow up seen as though you're good enough to provide info for me & let you know what we've decided. After doing a lot of research & using your spreadsheet & rough prices we think our best option will be the 4 day Flexi pass with a 1/2 fare card added. Now we just have to work out which days we travel will give us the best value out of the full pass :) also I had a quick look at Pilatus site & being April & limited to our route up, will we be able to incorporate a boat trip on lake to get to our place of heading up? Ide like to do a trip on the lake at some stage so should this be a seperate trip to somewhere else? Thank you

Hi Travellyn,

Good to hear you're making progress! Please make sure to read all the details about how to use the Swiss Travel Pass Flex Combi. The Pilatus trip can not be combined with a boat trip in April because the cogwheel train from Alpnachstad (the destination of the boat) does not operate until May. A trip to Mount Rigi can be combined with a boat trip and would be entirely free with the pass. Of course a separate boat trip can be done at any time.

<<"also I had a quick look at Pilatus site & being April & limited to our route up, will we be able to incorporate a boat trip on lake to get to our place of heading up? Ide like to do a trip on the lake at some stage so should this be a seperate trip to somewhere else? Thank you">>

This may help your considerations:

http://map.search.ch/?x=1176m&y=15760m&z=8

Use the "Points of Interest" menu and select Traffic. If you zoom in enough, you can see abbreviated time tables at each icon by a station on the map.

Zoom in on Alpnachstad, and you can see the train tracks up the mountain to Pilatus ( not running in April>)

As you can see, it is on a branch of the lake, and many lake boats do not go into that branch.

At Alpnachstad, regular trains, the lake boats and the highway all come together at the Pilatus cograil base station. Too bad that you cannot take that route up in April. You'll have to come back when the cograil is running. ;-)

I have attached a couple of very old pictures showing that location.

Here is a lake boat schedule. Use it with the above map.-

Look for seasonal schedule changes on this website:

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

Slowpoke

Hi Annika & slowpoke, thanks again you are a wealth of information. In view of the fact that we won't get the full round trip experience to Pilatus would you recommend as an overall experience from Lucerne incl views from the top is Mount Titilus maybe a better option for us instead from Lucerne as an excursion? Bearing in mind the following days we will be spending 4 nights in Lauterbrunnen & do several mountain trips from there( weather dependant) & also Gornergrat from Zermatt the week previously. We will have an opportunity on our organised part of our tour to do Mt Stanserhorn which I think includes a boat trip on lake Lucerne doesn't it? I know we can't do all of them so would be good to do the best on offer for time of year there(April) as an overall experience & variety of scenery too. Thanks so so much I really value your opinions.

Hi Travellyn,

Pilatus will be fun with just the cable car as well, and Titlis won't be a round trip either: it's also the same cable car up and down. Still wonderful though. If you're going to visit some of the higher peaks while in Lauterbrunnen, Mount Rigi, as suggested by Annika, might be a very good option. It's a bit lower, so a more gentle landscape, and easy to be combined with a boat trip and a short hike. And it's free. Please see the links for what you like best.

I don't know whether your day trip to the Stanserhorn includes a boat trip. It could include a boat ride to Stansstad, but that's not something everyone does. Note that the Stanserhor cable car is currently closed but will operate from April 9.

I hope this helps!

Thanks Arno appreciate your reply. Switzerland has so much to offer that it's so hard to decide on visiting 1 spot over another.

Yes it's sure hard, but the good thing is that all these places are wonderful. All you need is good weather. You can always come back for more :-)

If you can post a trip report once you're back that would be great.

Hi Arno, I've been doing a lot of reading about Rigi & I agree that sounds like a really great excursion to do. Especially with having the swiss pass & so it's all inclusive for the transport. We would do the boat trip across to Vitznau, cogwheel train to Rigi Kulm then to return would you choose the option of - cogwheel train down to Arth Goldau & train back to Lucerne or Rigi Kaltbad to Weggis on the Cablewy & boat from Weggis to Lucerne? I'm thinking the 2 nd option home is going to be considerably slower but does it offer more 'wow' moments or you think the train to Arth Goldau does as I read it has many waterfalls along the way. The other thing I would appreciate your opinion of is that I read about a horse/carriage ride avail in Kaltbad. Being in mid April .. Is this going to be in snow in this area & is it something we would need to prebook before maybe the day prior as we may play it by ear with weather which day we go to Rigi. Do you know what the cost is for a ride ?

I will be sure to do a trip report when I return. After about 2 1/2 weeks travelling around Switzerland I should have some worthwhile info to share.. 😃thanks again for helping with my planning.

Hi Travellyn -

A look at a map will help you visualize those choices on the Rigi.

map.search.ch/?x=14424m&y=20120m&z=64

The cable car (Luftseilbahn, LSB) down from Kaltbad to Weggis has its bottom station a few hundred meters above the Schiffstation (Ship dock)

In the past, the only bus service from the Talstation was a bus to take children from up on the mountain to school in the morning and back in the afternoon, via the cable car. That seems to show up on some timetable schedules as "KB9" which I believe may stand for Kinder Bus ( children bus) #9. It has an infrequent schedule, as far as I can tell.

So, you generally have to walk that short stretch. 10 -15 minutes, downhill all the way.

However, the LSB is usually shut down for annual maintenance in late April.

Check the time table (linked by Annika in her first post) , using Rigi Kaltbad as the beginning station, and Weggis, Seilbahn and also, Weggis, Schiffstation as the end station. I did on March 20 and April 20 chosen as random dates, and the LSB is operating on March 20, but not operating on April 20,.2016.

So, you will probably not be able to use that route, since you will be there in late April. Check the time table for your preferred date.

If you did use it on another date, you , indeed could ride a boat back to Luzern, covering much the same route as the boat to Vitznau. There is also bus service along the lake shore to Brunnen and the Küssnacht-am-Rigi train station. It also connects at Vitznau.

The train ride down to Arth-Goldau is a nice ride, but is less scenic than the ride to/from Vitznau.

The bottom station is about 200 meters from the main rail station at Arth Goldau, and is awkward with heavy luggage ( stairs) as i recall.

Rigi is not such a high mountain, so the snow may be gone in late April. I tried to find annual temperature records on the internet, but for some reason, i could not find them for the Rigi. Altitude is important.

Perhaps Arno or Annika can suggest another web site for average weather on the Rigi in late April.

Slowpoke

Hi slowpoke thanks again for your great detailed answer. I've had a look for 23/4 & got a result for transport from Rigi Kaltbad to Weggis Schiffstation. Not sure if it's the LSB but at least something is running. I think we'll just wing it on the day, it looks like a great day out no matter... Unless it's wet of course:) regards Lyn

Hi Travellyn -

It is likely to be the cograil back down to Vitznau, the same way you came up.

I checked 23/4, and expanded the routing with the "+" that is to the left of each trip., and that is what I see.

So, when you get down to Vitznau, you have choices, and don't have to take the bus to Weggis Schiffstation. Without checking the time table, I suspect that you can catch the same boat, one stop earlier, if you get on at Vitznau.

It will be faster if you go down to Arth-Goldau, and you will not repeat any of the journey that brought you there.

Too bad that you cannot catch the LSB...it is a great and scenic experience.

Slowpoke

Hi slowpoke I really do appreciate your advice & really look forward to our trip to your beautiful country. It's not long now & all of your suggestions have been invaluable with our planning. It's funny I actually havn't been receiving any daily updates of threads running since earlier this week, which I have found other interesting & useful info from. I'm worried I've warn out my welcome on here haha- hopefully not. Anyway Thankyou once again I know a lot of my planning is thanks to this site. Regards from Australia.

<<"Hi slowpoke I really do appreciate your advice & really look forward to our trip to your beautiful country.">>

Thanks. I live in the USA and do my best to remember all of my trips to Switzerland.

Have a great trip.

Slowpoke

Wow slowpoke I honestly thought you were a local with all of that knowledge. Thanks again

Hi Travellyn,

Thanks for letting us know about the forum e-mail issue (I received your e-mail about it as well). It's an issue on our end and you should have received a forum e-mail by now. If not, please check you spam folder and be sure to white list the domain "myswissalps.com" in your e-mail program. I'm planning a website update soon and expect it will also fix this issue. If you notice problems again, please do let us know. Sorry for the inconvenience!