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Hi
We are travelling from India to Swiss, from April 23rd – 26th. Are there any discounts / offers on the Swiss Travel Pass available right now? Or would there be any coming up in April?
Also, our original plan was to do day trips to Jungfrau and the First. But if the weather is bad we may not make it to Jungfrau, and will just have to do local trips to near by villages of Interlaken. If that’s the case, would the Swiss pass really be effective and worth buying?
Finally, we land in Zurich airport and are taking a hotel near Interlaken West station. I checked the timetable in SBB site and there do not seem to be any direct trains to Interlaken West. Is my understanding correct? Also, how often are the trains available between Interlaken OST and Interlaken West? Are buses also easily available to commute between these both stations?
Thanks!
Thanks in advance!
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Hi Baatasaari,
You can find any relevant promotions for the Swiss Travel Pass on our Swiss Travel Pass Promotions page: https://www.myswissalp s.com/swisstravelpass/ promotions
To know for sure about the best rail pass you should make your plans and do the math to compare. Then do a 2nd itinerary to see how it works if you don’t go to the mountains. I’m sure you’ll get to a few mountains though and it would be worthwhile. See the validity areas of the Swiss Travel Pass here.
Yes, there are definitely direct trains (3 minutes) and buses (15-20 minutes) between stations in Interlaken. What dates were you searching?
You will most likely have to change trains at least at Bern and also possibly at Zurich depending on the connection you choose. Zurich is a very large and busy station so avoid that change if you can without delaying your travel too much.
Lucas
We will be landing at Zurich and will be based in Interlaken. Apart from Jungfrau, what are the other mountain tops near Interlaken that we can visit – we are looking for snow capped mountain tops with great views. We also have The First in our itinerary. But want a backup plan for Jungfrau just incase the weather is bad.
We plan to buy the Swiss travel pass – so I understand our travel from Interlaken to Grindelwald will be covered in that. What about the next leg of the journey? Will it be covered in the pass ? Also, are there any other tickets or entry fees that we will have to buy for entering or at the top of Jungfrau?Just want to understand how much will be the expense after having a Swiss travel pass for the top of Europe trip.
Have a look at the Validity Map Lucas linked to above.
With Swiss Travel Pass most of the travel in the Jungfrau Region, and certainly to Grindelwald, is free. For Jungfraujoch itself you get 25% discount from Grindelwald or Wengen.
Schilthorn (http://www.myswissalps.com/sc hilthorn) is a more economical option (free with STP).
Lauterbrunnen a very nice circuit to do is to Grütschalp (cable car), Mürren (cogwheel train), Gimmelwald (cable car), Stechelberg (cable car), Lauterbrunnen (bus). From Mürren you can easily visit Schiltorn and stop off at Birg for the Thrill Walk on the way up or down.
Given your time of travel you might want to read this thread http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/gondolarail-access-to-mountains-in-aprilmay-2018.
For alternatives in the Bernese Oberland region you can see the activity options here – but make sure the ones you want to visit are open (use the timetable and Rockoyster’s link above to confirm before travel).
Lucas
Jungfrau being well above sealevel, would it be very difficult to deal with? Do many tourists face breathlessness or similar altitude sickness? We will be reaching Interlaken on 23rd and plan to visit Jungfrau on 24th or 25th , based on the visibility and weather. Would it be challenging to acclimatize?
Just incase , we reach the top and not able to adjust, would it be possible to come down immediately? We don’t have any physical illness as such, but just being prepared for it is no harm.
Hi Baatasaari,
Some people suffer a mild altitude sickness. Even if they are healthy with no medical conditions. Most people deal with it just fine. Unfortunately you won’t know until you go up. If you have a problem just descend. When you reach the top, move slowly and breathe slowly and deeply.
Thanks Chantal. Hopefully we should be good 🙂
Can you help me understand if there are any one-day passes available? We will be in Switzerland only for 4 days, but am unable to decide if we would really need the Swiss Travel pass or not. I have done the math but it all depends on if we are really making to Jungfrau or not, based on the weather conditions. So, just incase we don’t take the Travel Pass, want to check what else may be a good pay-off. (The Jungfrau region pass will not be an option for us though its apt, as we will be in Swiss, end of April.)
There is a Saver Day Pass (http://www.myswissalps.com/on edaytravelpass/details) but it is a bit limited in the mountains. See attached map. None of the dotted lines are covered unless you also have a Swiss Half Fare Card.
I would say the Swiss Travel Pass is still your best bet. If the weather is not good enough to visit Jungfraujoch you could always do a day trip to Montruex via Zweisimmen on the Golden Pass Line (http://www.myswissalps.com/go ldenpass).
A day trip to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn is another option with an STP.
Attachments:I see that travel from Interlaken to Matterhorn is nearly 4hrs one way. Is that correct? This will be too long for a day trip then.
What other options can we have as a backup for Jungfrau? I am having Schilthorn as one for now. But if the weather is bad for Jungfrau, would that be the case for Schilthorn as wel, as they are in the same belt?
It depends where you are based. Matterhorn is more like 4 hours return from Interlaken if you pick the right train.
You are correct – if weather doesn’t suit for Jungfraujoch then it probably won’t suit for Schilthorn. The advantage of Schilthorn is that it is free with STP.
Rockoyster
We will be based out of Interlaken. So, are you saying the journey to and from Matterhorn is 4hrs in total? Would this be free with STP? Also, does STP cover the Golden Line Pass?
Can you also help me understand how to decide if the weather is good for a Top of Europe trip? What indicates that the visibility will be good or bad? I am unable to get weather reports for Jungfrau, they just show Interlaken in most of the reports. Does showers in Interlaken indicated bad weather at Jungfrau/Schilthorn? Appreciate if you can help me understand this and also provide any links to look at. Thanks in advance.
Yes both those trips are covered by the STP. Zermatt is 2 hours 6 minutes from Interlaken by fastest train. Have you used the Swiss Train Timetable (http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable) to determine the length of trips?
You can check Jungfrauoch weather at bit.ly/2GmILXS and live webcams at bit.ly/2pORTKs. But the best thing to do is probably to ask at your hotel what they think the weather will do.
Hi there,
While our original plan was to stay in Interlaken, we are now also considering to stay at Wilderswil. There seems to be a better accomdation option available there. With that being said, want to understand the commuting ease from Wilderswil. Is this place well connected on the railway and with bus service? Is the frequence as good as it would be for Interlaken?
Majority of our travel will only be betweeen Interlaken – Lauterbrunnen – Jungfrau – Gindelwald. We will only have to travel from Zurich airport on arrival and then to Basel for flying back on the last day. Otherwise rest of the travel will all be within the Bernese / Jungfrau region.
Please suggest.
Wilderswil is on the train line between Interlaken Ost and Lauterbrunnen. There are also buses to Interlaken. Use the SBB timetable to figure out frequency of transport.
>> we are now also considering to stay at Wilderswil.
You might find my post of Mar 31, 2018 – 2:58 AM has some useful information:
http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/how-to-make-the-best-out-of-our-one-week-plan
(Scroll to bottom of page).
The attached diagram of routes in the Jungfrau Region might also help you to visualise the location of Wilderswil.
Alpenrose
Attachments:Hi there
I am trying to book my Swiss Travel Pass online through Rail Europe, and have few questions –
1.are there any current valid coupons for the Swiss travel pass? I can’t find any over the internet when google.
2. How does the pass get delivered. I am in India and travelling this weekend. In MySwissAlps, its mentioned that a email delivery option is available through Rail Europe, but when booking, I have gone till the billing page, but haven’t seen it specifically asking for the delivery option. Can someone please confirm how I get this emailed to me.
3. Once the pass is emailed, do I need to get activate it or get stamped somewhere? Also, if not an email can I buy the pass when I arrive at Zurich airport with immediate activation? Where do we have the stalls for this?
Hi Baatasaari,
1.An up to date overview can always be found here: http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/promotio ns. At the moment there is no promotion.
2. It gets delivered via e-mail. Sometimes it’s the only option and sometimes you’ll have to choose it instead of physical shipping. E-mail delivery is most convenient and cheapest. The purchase options can be found here: http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/price
3. Once you have printed the pass there is nothing else you need to do. You can board your first train immediately. You can buy it at the airport train station, but I would not recommend that. Buying online saves time on arrival, you’ll have a backup to print again if needed, and it can be slightly cheaper depending on where you buy (see the above link).
Thank you Arno for the swift reply.
It gets delivered via e-mail. Sometimes it’s the only option and sometimes you’ll have to choose it instead of physical shipping. E-mail delivery is most convenient and cheapest. The purchase options can be found here: http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/price
I have infact used the same link and was buying it from raileurope. But when submitting the form, even until the Payment step, it doesnot explicitly ask to select the delivery option. I see the below greyed out and unable to select -“Print at Home Most rail passes cannot be printed at home, they need to be physically delivered to you. “
The only other place where to asks for the email address is in the “Billing Information” section. But it does not mention that the pass will be emailed to this id. So am confused!!! 🙁
Hi Baatasaari,
Ok, in that case you ended up on the Indian Rail Europe website at http://www.raileurope.co.in/p ass/swiss-travel-pass-82. They will get delivered via e-mail but they are indeed not very clear. You’ll see that they ask for a billing address only, not a shipping address. And delivery costs are zero. Also it says “Print at home”, but then the other comment that you mentioned in indeed confusing. I don’t know why they do so. I’ll ask them for a hopefully clearer purchase procedure in the future.
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