Railway Pass

Im planning to travel from

11th Jul paris-interlaken
13th Jul interlaken-engelberg
15th Jul engelberg -zurich
15th zurich-zurich airport

along with my wife and 2 sons (6 and 3 yrs) in 2nd class.

I would like to know the following:

a) should i purchase a pass or point to point tickets. If pass, which pass would be most appropriate. how do i get a family pass.will i have to pay for sons tickets. will they pay offered seats if i dont pay for their tickets.

b) how much would it cost

Hi vacation2010! Prices of the journeys you mention can be found through the online timetable. They're as follows (per person and in 2nd class):

• Paris - Interlaken Ost (through Geneva): CHF 184.60. Connections through Basel (instead of Geneva) are available as well. The costs for the Swiss leg of this trip (Geneva - Interlaken Ost) would be CHF 65.00. The leg Basel - Interlaken Ost costs CHF 55.00;
• Interlaken Ost - Engelberg: CHF 41.00;
• Engelberg - Zurich: CHF 34.00
• Zurich - Zurich Airport: CHF 6.20

For your Swiss trips (including the Swiss part of your inbound trip from Paris) this adds up to a total of CHF 146.20 (assuming that you'll travel through Geneva) per person. Your 3 year old will travel along for free and you can purchase a Junior Card for your 6 year old son, which costs CHF 20.00 and allows him to travel along for free as well. So the total costs for point to point tickets are 2x CHF 146.20 (for the adults) + CHF 20.00 (for the Junior Card) = CHF 312,40.

If these are the only trips you plan to make, the cheapest option would be to purchase point to point tickets. Another option is the Swiss Half Fare Card, which costs CHF 99.00 and offers a 50% discount on all journeys in Switzerland. If you'd plan only a few other trips besides the ones you listed, this would become cost effective. A free Swiss Family Card can be ordered along with your Swiss Half Fare Card, allowing both your sons to travel along for free.

Other rail passes can be found here. I hope this helps!

Thanks for your tips.

Whats the best way to buy point to point tickets as well as Junior Card?

Just to re-confirm my understanding, if I buy a 20 CHF Junior crad my 6 yr old will be able to accomapny me thorught my Swiss travel free of charge?

Will he be abel to occupy a seat?

TIA

You can best purchase your point to point tickets and your Junior Card at a ticket counter on a Swiss railway station. The tickets for the Swiss part of your inbound trip from Paris should in this case be purchased at the first Swiss railway station, which would be either Basel or Geneva. You have to change trains here anyway, so you can arrange for your tickets and Junior Card there. For the remaining journeys you can also get your tickets at the railway station before departing. Ticketing machines (also in English) are available at most stations, just as manned desks.

Yes, the Junior Card will allow your 6 year old son to travel along with you for free and to have his own seat.

Does that mean PARIS->Geneva\Basel ticket can be purchased in Paris?

Yes, you should be able to arrange for your ticket Paris - Switzerland at the railway station of Paris. It may even be possible to purchase tickets for the entire trip, right up to Interlaken Ost, here. I don't think the Junior Card is for sale here though. So if you'd want to get that and use it for the Swiss leg of your inbound trip, you should still use your change of trains in Basel or Geneva to purchase it.

hi,
which train and time did you choose to get 184.60 chf for paris-interlaken?

An example of the CHF 184.60 trip is the train departing from Paris, Gare de Lyon, on Monday June 21 at 09h10, with two changes of trains in Geneva and Bern. The prices of such an international trip may vary though. By the way, you should make reservations for this trip and it can be recommended to do this as early as possible. More information can be found on the seat reservation page.