Swiss advice needed

Hello we are planning to visit Swiss (bernese oberland area) and perhaps innsbruck in austria during mid may to Jun period this year. we need some help on planning what kinda travel rail tickets most cost economical for us (3 adults + 1 9yr child), we most likely would arrive zurich airport to either first to swiss alps (interlaken and up to the higher grounds) for perhaps 1 week, then travel to innsbruck for perhaps 4-5 days before heading back to zurich to return home.

Given this kinda itinerary, which options would be best?
1) swiss + austria pass
2) swiss pass and get individual ticket to innsbruck (but alittle confused because I somehow read that we can travel to some parts of austria with swiss pass? perhaps get reservation ticket??)
3) individual tickets (from zurich to interlaken, then alps (like wengen, murren) , interlaken to innsrbuck and back to zurich)
4) Swiss transfer ticket??

Also next question would be, do you think its a good hiking time for mid may -jun to swiss alps? which place is best to stay perhaps for a week as a base (like a good resort for family), we would liike to visit First and Kleine Schedeigg... not sure if Murren or Wengen or other parts like Grindelwald, perhaps Lauterbrunnen (considering the high travel cost to move around up there) where would be good to stay... our budget is about 150CHF per night for 3 adults 1 child, do u think its good enough for some nice lodge? where can we find them?

Would appreciate your utmost advice

Thanks & God bless
Shirl

Hello Shirl! A Eurail Austria-Switzerland Pass could be worth your money if you plan to travel quite a lot in Austria too. If not, you're better off with one of the Swiss rail passes (as they cover more than the Austria-Switzerland Pass does). You have several options (here's how to calculate which pass is the cheapest solution):

- if the Swiss part of your stay is in May, you can profit from the 4 day Swiss Saver Flexi Pass 2 for 1 offer. It allows 4 days of free traveling, to be used for longer transfers (e.g. Zurich-Interlaken, your resort-Swiss/Austrian border, and some other long trips you may want to make) and discounts for shorter local trips on the remaining days in between the first and last free travel day. You could buy one offer for 2 adults and one regular Swiss Flexi Pass for the 3d adult;
- the Swiss Half Fare Card, offering a 50% discount on almost all trips and often a good solution for a holiday in which short, local trips are your main goal.
In both cases, the 9 year old will travel for free. You'll find links to validity maps on the rail pass pages, showing where the validity ends during your trip to Austria. This depends on your train connection, but in many cases it's Buchs or Feldkirch.

Hotels can be found through the hotel page. A holiday appartment is worth considering too. Tips on cheap accommodation and other tips to save on your travel costs can be found here. Interlaken is a good resort. Wilderswil (still very central), Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald are fine alternatives.

Hi Shirl! One correction on my previous post: if you decide to use the 4 day Swiss Saver Flexi Pass offer, the 3rd adult can profit from it as well, so you don't have to buy one regular Swiss Flexi Pass as I advised before. Just get to the order page (you'll find instructions in our explanation topic), enter 3 adults and follow the further instructions. The 3rd adult will pay the reduced price of CHF 262 instead of the regular Swiss Flexi Pass price.

thanks annika, i would like to know if we can use the Swiss Pass to travel to Innsbruck or we still have to get a individual ticket? I read that Swiss pass covers some Austria rails or routes??

Can you advise where are some of the places which we can go for relaxing hiking walk within the bernese oberland area.

Lastly I would like to clarify regarding the 4 day swiss pass flexi offer (2 for 1) if we travel in before may 31 2012, is our 3rd adult also 50%? is that what you mean?? Do we have to pay for shipping cost for the tickets delivered to singapore?

Can you help to also let me know what is the furthest station we can get up to with Swiss pass , is it Kleine Schedeigg or Wengen or Murren? that will help us lots to decide where to stay. Dont think Interlaken is our choice for now...

Hi shirl. The Swiss Pass is valid up to the Swiss/Austrian border (please refer to the validity map we link to from the Swiss Pass page), so you need an additional ticket for the Austrian leg to Innsbruck. The map I mentioned also shows where free traveling is granted and where discounts apply (if you want to get to the Jungfraujoch, you can travel for free up to Wengen; between Wengen and Jungraujoch a 25% discount applies).

Yes, the 3d person would receive a discount too. But as of this morning, the 2 for 1 promotion is offered by several resellers. They differ slightly in details, such as whether a 3rd person can be added and how much this costs. You can best enter Singapore as your country of residence in the upper right corner of the Swiss Pass page, select the promotion variant of the pass, and then see which resellers you can choose from. If you click 'more information', you'll also see details on shipping costs.

Hikes in the Bernese Oberland are listed here.

thanks Annika, you have been most kind to clarify about the confusion.

is travelling up to Kleine Schedeigg included in Swiss Pass ?

meantime will look up those info you provided!

by the way i dont know why i am not notified via email when you reply me

Cheers!

Hello Shirl,

Travelling up to Kleine Scheidegg is not completely covered by the Swiss Pass, as you can see in the overview of the network on which the Swiss Pass is valid, to be found on the Swiss Pass page. It's free to Wengen or Grindelwald, from there you will get a a 25% discount to Kleine Scheidegg.

As for your other question, if you have filled out an e-mail adress making an account, you should receive a message there, but I'm sure one of the moderators can help you with that.

thank you Olga for your kind info, appreciate it