Regarding finding right Train pass

Hi

I am planning to visit Zurich during summer holidays enroute to India for 2 full days. Can you please guide which train pass should I buy? what are the best places to cover during 2 days. i want to see Interlaken lake, mount titlis and another top of the world mountain along with small town trips around Lucerne. Please advise for the right train pass for 2 adutls and 2 kids 8 and 12 years.

thanks

Shailja

Hi Shailja, and welcome to MySwissAlps! For a such a short stay, a Swiss Half Fare Card is generally the best option. You would need two for both adults. If you order along a free Swiss Family Card, both children will travel along for free on all trips, including mountain top visits.

Please note that you should plan carefully, if you only have two days for your plans. Will your overnight stays be in Zurich? In that case you may want to limit yourself to exploring just Zurich and the Lake Lucerne region. You can make boat trips there, visit the Titlis and maybe Pilatus or Rigi too. You could spend one day in the Interlaken region too, but that's quite far off; it takes 2 hours to get there from Zurich by train. The timetable will help you plan your trips.

Hi Annika

thanks again for your prompt reply. Really appreciate your help and your suggestions. Yes 2 days are less but want to make the most of it. We will take Swiss half fare card. We plan to visit Interlaken and visit places around Lucerne region. Is it ok to book hotel in Interlaken and take train from airport to hotel the day we land. This will help us visit places around this area. We also want to go to top mountain.

Can you guide if we can book train Swiss fair card online and book in advance? I heard that it gets crowded in summer.

Thanks

Shailja

Hi Shailja,

The Swiss Half Fare Card page Annika linked to shows all the points of sale if you click to the Price tab. In your case (the USA), the websites raileurope.com/activities/swiss-half-fare-card/index.html and raileurope-world.com/pass/swiss-half-fare-card are the best sites to purchase from.

Seat reservations are not required and hardly anyone uses them in Switzerland, except for the panoramic trains. Please see here for details.

Hotels in Interlaken can be found here: myswissalps.com/ interlaken/hotels.

Dear Arno

thanks for the update on Swiss half fare card. I am clear on this and will be buying using the website.

here is my itinery

Day 1. Take a train from Zurich airport (arrival 6 PM from US) to Luzern and stay for a night there.

Day 2 -2. plan to spend time in Lake Luzern area and visit Titlis via boat ride and Pilatus if time permitting.

Day 2 -. take train to go Interlaken same evening and spend night there.

Day 3 - Plan to go to the highest mountain Jungfraujoch . and come back same night to Zurich near airport as we have flight next day a 12 PM on 4th day. DO you think this looks feasible specially for Interlaken area.

thanks

Shailja

Hi Shailja,

All of this is doable; the major factor is the weather as you don't have time to shift trips to other days if the weather is not suitable to visit a peak. So be sure to have some alternative activities available. There are museums in Lucerne, and from Interlaken you could visit Bern, for example.

By the way, there is no boat to Mount Titlis, but Mount Pilatus can be combined with a boat trip.

Thanks a lot Arno for your guidance. Is it ok to take 2 hour train drive to Interlaken for night stay after landing in Zurich airport around 6 pm? Or should we stay at Lucerne the first day on arrival since it is closer?

Hopefully this will be helpful to book the hotels accordingly.

thanks

shailja

Hi Shailja,

Around that time you can still travel to Interlaken, no problem. It takes about 2.5 hours.

Hi Arno

thanks for all your suggestions. We are planning to buy Swiss Travel pass for family instead of Swiss half fare card. Is that Ok?

Also can you please suggest good reasonable hotels in Lucerne and Interlaken area.

thanks

Shailja

Hi Shailja,

Sure, that's fine, and more convenient. You can find the Swiss Travel Pass on raileurope.com/rail-tickets-passes/swiss-pass/index.html (they offer a 20% discount if you travel before June 30 and 1st class) and raileurope-world.com/pass/swiss-pass.

The hotels we selected for Lucerne and Interlaken can be found on the below pages. There are hotels in all price ranges.

• myswissalps.com/lucerne/hotels
• myswissalps.com/interlaken/hotels

Hi Arno/Annika

One more question for you regarding hotel stay. Since I plan to stay one night in Lucerne and one night in Interlaken, I was wondering what would happen to luggage since we dont wish to carry for our train journey during the day. WE will be checking out on Sunday from Lucerne and spend the day in Lucerne and take the train to Interlaken same evening. Do the hotels allow to keep the luggage for the day before we take train to interlaken in evening. Please advise. Also if not, then we might stay in Zurich and then commute every day in order to avoid this hassle.

Please guide before we book the hotels. Sorry again to bother.

Shailja

Hi Shailja,

Most hotels will store your luggage for a day. Also there are lockers at the station, please see here. The Lucerne rail station has a left luggage office as well.