Swiss half pass

Welcome icejade! The Golden Round Trip takes at least half a day, and the last descents from Pilatus are about 17.00 pm. So whether this is doable, depends on your arrival time in Lucerne. You can best check the Swiss timetable and the Pilatus timetables to see what suits you. Please notice that the leg Alpnachstad-Pilatus will open by mid May only; the exact date depends on the amount of snow at the top. This means that the Golden Round Trip may not yet be possible during your stay. If this is the case, or ifit takes too much time, you can also visit the Pilatus by cable car from Kriens (near Lucerne) only.

Yes, the Swiss Half Fare Card is definitely worth buying. Mountain trips are rather expensive; for example, just the trip to the Jungfraujoch is nearly expensive enough to justify the use of a Swiss Half Fare Card. You may also look into a 3 day Swiss Saver Flexi Pass, as this grants unlimited traveling throughout the country. You'd only need discounted tickets between Alpnachstad/Kriens-Pilatus and Grindelwald/Wengen-Jungfraujoch; the rest of your trips will be for free and you won't have to buy additional tickets. Whether this is cheaper will also depend on your plans for the last day in Zurich. Purchase options for both passes are listed at the right hand of the Swiss Half Fare Card and Swiss Saver Flexi Pass pages. Just fill out your country of residence and further data for an overview.

Hello icejade,

Purchase options of the Swiss Half Fare Card are listed on the page that Annika provided. The half priced ticket can be purchased here. Ang change suggested by the timetable is doable. Short connection times are usually for easy cross platform changes. Platform information is also provided through the online timetable and in many cases, through the station and train intercom systems, so it's fairly easy.

You're not allowed to pay after arrival. Even worse, you'll be fined if traveling without a valid ticket.