Swiss pass 5 days

We ( family with kids)are planning to visit Switzerland in August, we are planning to take the train to and from Paris, tentatively from Aug 2 and returning on Aug 6.I am thinking of getting a Swiss pass , but i cant get one for 5 days,so we will be taking a 4 day pass.We r planning to do Lucerne, Interlaken and Zermat if possible. I would love to take kids for a chocolate visit which i heard is around Broc.Is it preferable to start from Lucerne and end in Zermatt or the reverse route?Can i use the pass for museum visits on the day which i dont travel( assuming i am taking a 4 day pass)?Does taking the bus/ boat count as a day of travel?

i think i am going with the Swiss pass and not the Eurorail pass.Any advice will be appreciated.

Hi wtravel,

Thank you for joining us here. The Swiss Pass is called Swiss Travel Pass now (Swiss Pass is a different product, see here). There's indeed no 5-day version. You can buy regular tickets from Paris to Lucerne, to use your 4-day pass from the next day. If you end your stay in Zermatt, the pass covers the trip to Basel, so you only need tickets from Basel to Paris. Please see the below pages for ticket and pass information. You can order all of it together:

• myswissalps.com/traint ickets/france
• myswissalps.com/swisst ravelpass

A Swiss Travel Pass is for consecutive days. Every day is a travel day, whether you actually travel or not. You can use it for museum visits every day.

Eurail passes only pay off if you travel a lot in multiple countries; but you only do one return trip in France.

Personally I would not stay in 3 towns in 5 days. That doesn't allow much flexibility weather wise. You could stay in Lucerne, then travel via Interlaken to Zermatt, for example. Perhaps with a side trip to Kleine Scheidegg if you want to see the Jungfrau region too and don't mind a very long day. There is a chocolate factory in Broc, but it's not near the towns you stay in. You may want to consider the Swiss Museum of Transport (great for children anyway), which also has the "Swiss Chocolate Adventure". It's not a factory, more like a theme park. But much easier to get to if you stay in Lucerne.

Thanks for the advice, if I chose one location to stay which would be better,Lucerne or Grindelwald?

Would it better to take a Swiss transfer and a 3 day pass over a 4 day pass?

Would I be able to manage a trip to Bern, is it doable?

Hi wtravel,

Lucerne has more bad weather options, Grindelwald is amidst mountains and feels more like a small Alpine town. You can best check our Lucerne and Grindelwald pages to see what appeals to you most. There are manually selected hotels listed there too, and local attractions and hiking trails.

Which pass is best can only be determined once your itinerary is final. Then do the math as explained here.

Bern can easily be reached from both towns.

Thanks Arno.

Interlaken to Grindelwald , is this free with the Swiitzerland France pass. The schedule comes up on the SBB website, but some websites say it is a private railway.

Thanks,

Thanks

ance Travel pass

Hi wtravel,

It's discounted by 25%. What's included in that pass can be found through myswissalps.com/ eurailfranceswitzerlan dpass/ validity. All public transport is included in the SBB timetable, not just SBB trains.

One quick question,if I have a flex ticket, and a buy a discounted train ticket Eg a trip from Interlaken to Grindelwald , and do no other trips, will that be counted as a day of travel?

Hi wtravel,

I assume you mean a Swiss Travel Pass Flex Combi pass. Is that right? If you write down a date on the pass, that will be a travel day, regardless whether you travel just a bit or the whole day. You don't need tickets for trains, boats and buses on such a day. If you don't write down a date, it won't be a travel day, but a day in between travel days. Then you're allowed to buy discounted tickets.

You can not buy discounted tickets if you have a Swiss Travel Pass Flex (without the Combi). That pass just includes travel days, and there are no discounts on the days in between. It's all explained on the page I linked to (click to "How to use").