Swiss Pass recommendation for 11 days in May

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    17 January 2017 at 10:51:17 #810594

    Hi there

    This is my 2nd time visiting Switzerland; however my 1st trip was a very short one and was quite a long time ago and this time I am back with friends and for a slightly longer period.

    As we are on a tight budget, we were hoping to get some enlightenment on whether to use individual tickets, or Swiss Rail pass (and which Swiss pass would most suit us).

    At the moment our itinerary has been set as follows:

    28th Apr 2017 – Arrive Geneva, spend 1 day in the city

    29th Apr 2017 – Depart Geneva to go to Zermatt (we will be staying there for 2 nights)

    1st May 2017 – Take the Glacier Express route to St Moritz and spend one night in St Moritz

    2nd May 2017 – Depart St Moritz to go to Appenzell (we will be staying there for 3 nights).

    5th May 2017 – Depart Appenzell to go to Zurich and spend one night there.

    6th May 2017 – Depart Zurich to go to Lauterbrunnen. (Lauterbrunnen will be our base for 3 nights)

    7th May 2017 – Lauterbrunnen to Kandersteg and return.

    9th May 2017 – Lauterbrunnen to Geneva Airport.

    I checked for some offers on the internet and found “swiss travel system” website which mentioned about 1 for 1 Swiss pass. However it was dated 4 years ago and expiry date in 2012. May I ask if there’s still such promotion going on?

    Also, I understand that the passes are only available for 3,4,8 and 15 days. Since my trip is 11 days, 8 days pass wouldn’t be sufficient for me whilst 15 days is too much.

    Lastly, I intend to take the Glacier express route however personally I prefer the regional train (not due to save cost on the reservation fee). I remember I took regional train few years back on the Bernina Route and I loved it. But this time when I checked SBB website, it seems like if I take the normal regional train, the route is different from Glacier express train. May I know if Regional train will travel the exact same station as Glacier Express?

    Any valuable advise will be deeply appreciated and thanked for as we are really desperate to save as much as possible on our budget trip 🙂

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    17 January 2017 at 16:39:11 #858144

    Hi Angelvonne,

    This looks like a nice trip and well thought out. I will attempt to answer your specific questions below:

    • We have a list of current prices and promotions on the Swiss Travel Pass here.
    • Here is a link on how to choose the correct travel pass for you – with spreadsheet to help with calculations.
    • Take a look here for information on other Swiss rail passes – perhaps the a flex pass would suit you better although it can get pricey. It’s a shame you can’t buy any number of days you want for the Swiss Travel Pass I know!
      • you may want to buy a longer Swiss Travel Pass even though you are not here that long. It isn’t too much more in price and the extras you get may well be worth it!
      • Alternatively you may want to work out the cost of the trips and look at buying the Swiss Half Fare Card to give you a reduction on each route you travel on.
      • Lastly, think about buying individual tickets on either the first 3 days or last 3 days and use the standard 8 day Swiss Travel Pass for the others?
    • As far as I’m aware the regional train travels the same route – as long as you travel via Andermatt. The Swiss timetable here shows the same price but 4 connections rather than 0 with the Glacier Express train…..

    Regards,
    Lucas

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