Rail pass help needed - Zurich, Jungfrau, Lucerne

Hi...I need help on what type of rail pass do I need...the swiss half fare card or the swiss pass. My itinerary is as follows:

Day 1: arrive in Zurich then travel to Wengen

Day 2: Day trip to Jungfraujoch

Day 3: Visit Thun, Trift bridge and Trümmelbach Falls

Day 4: travel back to Zurich

Day 5: day trip to Lucerne from Zurich

Day 6: depart Zurich via airport

Hi Ciotime-

Welcome to the forum.

It might help to know how many will be in your party and what their ages are.

There are some age related discounts on rail travel....

Slowpoke

There's just 2 adults on this trip...me and my wife who are both in our 40's. Also Ive read that its better not to purchase the tickets to Jungfrau ahead of time because the weather can be unpredictable...is this correct? We will be in Switzerland first week of May. Thanks.

<Also Ive read that its better not to purchase the tickets to Jungfrau ahead of time because the weather can be unpredictable...is this correct? We will be in Switzerland first week of May.">>

Absolutely correct. All of the manned train stations and the various tourist offices will have up to date advice on the weather "up top." It is good to schedule a couple of days in the area as you have done...the weather can change rapidly.

May is still winter above 2000 meters., but skiing is thinning out, so many ski lifts may run sporadically in May and will resume for "Summer" service in mid to early June. May is usually very nice at lower altitudes.

The cograil to Jungfrau and Jungfraujoch runs all year round.

www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

If you spend time in Switzerland, especially during the changing seasons, you learn to pay attention to altitude.

The forum moderators, Arno and Annika are the experts on rail passes. I always leave those details up to them.

However, this may help you get started:

www.myswissalps.com/sw issrailpasses

A couple of good maps are:

map.search.ch/

and, for more in depth information, try:

map.geo.admin.ch/?topic=swisstopo&lang=e n&bgLayer=ch.swisstopo .pixelkarte-farbe&X=163050.00&Y=63 8250.00&zoom=4&layers= ch.swisstopo.swissalti 3d-reliefschattierung&lay ers_opacity=0.6&layers _visibility=false

or, the home page at :

www.swisstopo.admin.ch /internet/swisstopo/en /home.html

and explore the menus.

It looks like you have a nice trip planned.

Unless your departure from Zürich is very early in the day, you may also consider staying in Luzern, and taking one of the two per hour trains to Zürich Airport.. One hour trip. 45 minutes to Zürich, at least twice per hour.

However, a day trip from Zürich works well, too.

Slowpoke

Hi ciotime,

You've already narrowed it down to the two passes that make most sense. One important detail though: the Swiss Pass does not exist anymore. It was discontinued in 2014, so you need to look at the Swiss Travel Pass, which is the product that replaced it: myswissalps.com/ swisstravelpass. Did you like the videos about both passes?

I would recommend the 8-day Swiss Travel Pass for your itinerary. It's for sure the most convenient pass. Theoretically you could take the 4 day pass for day 1 to 4 and a separate ticket to Lucerne. But that ticket is more expensive than the extra amount for an 8 day pass, so that's the better option. You can do the math to check whether the Swiss Half Fare Card would work out cheaper overall. How to do so is explained here: myswissalps.com/train/ ticketspasses/practica l/chooserailpass.

Ive read somewhere that the Thirft bridge is only open from June to October? Or is it the cable car that goes there? So does this mean you cant go there in May?

The bridge is accessible through a cable car which starts operating early June: www.grimselwelt.ch/gri msel-experience/transport-lifts/trift-aerial-cable-car/. If there's no snow in May they may open sooner, but the chances of that are extremely small as May isn't high season and it's not an area with a lot of tourists. Anyway, if it's closed you can't reach the bridge. It's a 3 hour walk from the cable car top station, so it would be a very strenuous and long hike without the cable car; if the trails would even be accessible.

Thanks Arno...so I guess I shouldn't bother going to the bridge then?

The best you can do is ask a local tourist office when you're there. It will probably be closed as planned, but it doesn't hurt to ask. If it's closed, then indeed don't bother going there.

Thanks for the info Arno...also does it really take about 3 hours by train from Zurich to Wengen by train? Is train the fastest way?

Hi ciotime!

You can only reach Wengen by train. Zurich-Wengen is about 2h50. You can best check the timetable, as suggested above.

Thanks!!!