Supersaver vs Swiss Travel Pass

Hi there

I'll be in Switzerland for a week, and got the following plan: (the figure inside the bracket is the price for Supersaver train ticket)

Day 1 within Zurich

2 Zurich to Stein am Rhein (CHF25)

3. Stein am Rhein to Bern (CHF40)

4. Bern to Luzern (CHF18)

5. within Luzern (Driving)

6. Luzern to Interlaken (CHF18)

7. within Interlaken

8 Interlaken to Domodossola (CHF35)

I am wondering whether it requires much transportation within the cities I wil visit, or most places can be reached by walk indeed. Otherwise, it seems by adding up the most expensive 3-4 days of the Supersaver cost (4 intercity tickets added up to ~CHF120) is still way cheaper than a 3 or 4-day Swiss Travel Pass which costs CHF240-286.

Cheers

Jeremy

Hi Jeremy, and welcome!

Please note that Supersaver tickets are for one specific train only and non-refundable (see here). If you're fine with that you can do it like you planned if the tickets will become available for your travel date and time.

However, it seems like you did not include any mountain trips in your plans yet. There's not much to see in Interlaken for example. It's just the gateway town to the Jungfrau region. Luzern is a very nice town with interesting museums. But still, if the weather is good during your stay I would not recommend to just stay in town but rather see the mountains or at least do a boat trip. You'll find suggestions through the links. You definitely not need a car anywhere. Actually that's rather uncomfortable in the cities. You can do a lot on foot or else use public transport.

Once you have listed all of your travel plans you can find the best pass or tickets as explained here. A Swiss Travel Pass is cheaper than what you quoted. It's CHF 210/251 for 3/4 day passes. It includes many museums and also boat trips, and the cogwheel train to Mount Rigi near Lucerne, for example. Please see myswissalps.com/ swisstravelpass for how it works, what's included and where to buy.

Hi Arno,

Thanks so much for your prompt reply.

The reason why I will drive on Day 5 from Luzern is that my financee and I will have our prewedding photo-shooting on that day, and our photographer advises us to drive from Luzern to Engelberg as he says there are quite a lot of beautiful spots on the way, so that we can hop off our car whenever and wherever we find it worth stopping. We will also take the Cable car from Engelberg to Trubsee (also for our prewedding photo-shooting), the return journey costs only CHF30 per person which is not too expensive.

As for mountain trips, we are targeting to go to Jungfrau through Grindelwald on Day 7. It seems that we will get an Interlaken Visitor Card for free. Not sure if that will reduce the fares travelling from Interlaken to Jungfrau, compared with the Swiss Travel Pass, that includes Interlaken to Grindelwald for free, and Grindelwald to Jungfrau at half price if I remember correctly :)

Hi Jeremy,

Driving to Engelberg is perfectly fine. Driving in town could be somewhat hectic if you don't know your way around. If the weather is good your will get a great set of photos that I'm sure you will enjoy for years! See here for some pictures of the area.

The Swiss Travel Pass includes traveling to Grindelwald and Wengen for free and 25% off on the rest of the trip to Jungfraujoch. Other mountain trips are indeed 50% off. The details are here: myswissalps.com/ swisstravelpass/ validity.

Hi Arno

Thanks a lot again for your reply. I’ve got a few more questions regarding the Swiss Travel Pass.

1. Can it be used free of charge for the boat/ cruise tour for Lake Thun & Brienz in Interlaken? Say Thun – Interlaken West return (www.bls.ch/e/schifffah rt/fahrplan-preise.php)

2. Can it be used free of charge for those Express trains? Say Luzern - Interlaken Express (Golden Pass Line)?

3. If I buy a non-Flexi pass and use it for transportation on Day 1,2,3 for example, can it be used for the 25% off from Grindelwald to Jungfraujoch or 50% off for other mountain trips on the coming days? Also, can one passholder buy discounted tickets for his peers as well, or everyone must hold the Travel Pass?

Appreciate your advice :)

Jeremy

In addition, I wonder if the Interlaken Guest Card is of any help on the Lake boat tour as well as the journey to Jungfrau?

www.interlaken.ch/en/i nformation-and-journey-to-interlaken/travel-tips-interlaken/guest-card-and-holiday-passes-interlaken.html

Hi Jeremy,

Yes, the Swiss Travel Pass offers free rides on lakes Thun and Brienz and on all trains on the Golden Pass route. Basically, every regular train is for free. Even the special scenic trains are, except for seat reservations that are required for some of them (not the Golden Pass). It's explained in the validity overview Arno mentioned above.

If you get a regular Swiss Travel Pass for continuous days (is that what you mean with "non-Flexi pass?), the pass will offer free traveling and discounts for the amount of days you've picked (3, 4, 8 or 15). So what you can do after your first free travel days depends on the duration you've picked. A 4 day pass will provide yet another day of free traveling, an 8 day pass would cover all of your stay. All travelers need their own pass. Please refer to our "How to use" section as well.

The Interlaken Guest Card won't help you that much. The link you've included allows you to download an overview of its validity network.

For the journey from Luzern to interlaken, what's the difference between Golden Pass compared with a regular SBB train? Do they both run on the same track (in other words can see the same scenery)?

If Golden Pass is much more scenic and covered under Swiss Travel Pass, I assume it will be much better to utilize the Pass on it rather than a regular SBB, isn't it? :)

Cheers

Jeremy

Hi Jeremy,

All direct trains from Luzern to Interlaken are operated by the Zentralbahn, not by the SBB. This route is part of the Golden Pass and it's the most scenic way to get there. It does not matter which train you take.

All trains in Switzerland are covered by the Swiss Travel Pass, regardless of how they're called or which train company is operating them (see the "Where it's valid" section of the page Annika referred to). You can also travel via Bern by SBB or even BLS trains, but the Golden Pass route is the better (more scenic) option I would say.

Enjoy the ride!