Rail pass or not for 5 days in Grindelwald?

HI,

We have 5 nights in Grindlewald at the beginning of September and was trying to weigh up if it was worth getting a travel pass or not. We did the Jungfrau last year so that it's not a priority, we were thinking of going to First and then some hiking, doing the Manlichen cable car and hiking across to catch the train back but not sure after that. We stayed in Beatenburg last year and our only priority was the Jungfrau in super weather which we achieved so not sure what to do on our other two days. We are travelling by car.

Any advice or ideas would be welcome.

Many thanks. Jacks

Welcome to MySwissAlps, Jacks!

In most cases it's worth buying a rail pass, even if you travel by car and make moderate use of public transportation. Whether that goes for you as well really depends on the specifics or your plans. If you'd only make the two trips you've mentioned, a rail pass is not worth it. But if you plan a few more excursions (and you probably will), here are a few options to look into:

• Swiss Half Fare Card. This is an economical choice in most cases;
• a regional pass like the Regional-Pass Bernese Oberland (recommended if you want to explore a larger area than just the Jungfrau region) or the Jungfrau Railways Pass (for the Jungfrau region only).

You can best decide on what you want to do first, and then calculate whether a rail pass is better than buying regular tickets. There's a whole lot more you can do near Grindelwald: please review the Bernese Oberland activities page for ideas.

I hope this gets you started!

Woth considering...

www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/tips-about-wengen-and-the-jungfrau-region-by-kim

Slowpoke

Hi,

Many thanks for your info, we have been looking at our journey in a bit more detail and are probably going to do the following trips, weather permitting.

The two cable car trips, a trip on the lake, Schilthorn and maybe tempted back to the Jungfrau. we also like cog railway journeys so may do that as well. We have four full days and would prefer to park the car in the hotel and use the buses and trains to get about. Still not sure which is the best option for a rail pass, are we right in thinking that this is all in the Bernese Oberland area?

Much appreciated.

Jacks

Hi Jacks!

This all sounds like a 4 day Regional-Pass Bernese Oberland is the most convenient option. You can leave the car at your hotel and do all further trips by public transportation. The Regional-Pass provides excellent coverage in a large area, and even quite some mountain tops can be reached for free with this pass. You can study its details through the Regional-Pass page and see if this appeals to you.

Retailers are listed in the "Price" section. Since you're from the UK, you can best buy your pass through the SBB UK Webshop. They offer free shipping.

Hi,

Thank you for the help, Still trying to work out whats the best options for us.

So far we have:

1. Grindelwald - Männlichen on the gondola, we were going to walk across to Kleine Scheidegg and get the train back to Grindlewald but I've read some other folks comments on the trip and they say they had to pay for the train back - is that correct?

2. Grindlewald - Thun then the boat getting off to catch the cable car to the Neiderhorn, back on the boat to Interlaken then train to Grindlewald. Is that a trip we can do with which ever pass we buy?

3. Grindlwald - First on the cable car then Bachsee and return

4. Grindlewald - Schithorn going to Interlaken then to Lauterbrunnen then cable to Grutschalp and train to Murren. Cable to the top and I gather we would best coming down a different way. This is one we are unsure of , weather and cost.

Other trips from Grindlewald could be the Oberer Gletscher, the Harder kulm Funicular and the Reichbach funicular. We like hiking, waterfalls, ice caves lakes and snow and photography.

Best buy for travel pass: Swiss travel pass, Regional pass for Bernese Oberland?

Many thank for your time.

Jacks

<<"we were going to walk across to Kleine Scheidegg and get thetrain back to Grindlewald but I've read some other folks comments on thetrip and they say they had to pay for the train back - is that correct?:>>

It probably is, but the question is "how much."

You get a discount with any of the passes, as I understand it. I see $13 CHF in the timetable....with a half fare reduction applied.

That journey, on a clear day, with the Eiger towering over you higher and higher as you approach it, is the best (or among the top 2 or 3 "best") easy walks in Switzerland. Also true without the word easy.

If you do that walk, you will not forget it.

Hi Jacks,

1. It depends on which rail pass you have. Annika linked to the Regional-Pass Bernese Oberland page. If you click "Where it's valid" you can see exactly what's included. The train from Kleine Scheidegg to Grindelwald is included for free.

2. See answer 1 please.

4. Please see the Schilthorn page for all route details. You can come down via Stechelberg.

The Regional-Pass seems like a good choice to me. To check which pass results in the lowest overall spending, you'd have to do a few calculations as explained by Annika on August 20 (see her link).

Hi,

we decided which pass to get only to find when we try to book it says travel to start from 4th Sept. yet the info says we can book from the 1st sept, any reason you know of why we can't book a Swiss Travel Pass now to start on 3/9/15 for 4 days?

Thankyou

Hi Jacks,

It's too late now to buy through www.swisstravelsystem. co.uk, as they need a few days to process and e-mail orders. You can still buy a pass for September 3 through www.swissrailways.com/ en, but you should do so as soon as possible because they also have processing time, so it won't be possible tomorrow or even later today.

I hope this helps you out!