8 days July. Swiss Pass or Bernese Oberland Pass?

Hello,

Many thanks to the curators of MySwissAlps. This is simply best travel-related site I have ever seen. My family of 4 (2 adults, 1 child 13 yrs, 1 child 17 yrs) will be in Switzerland June 30 - July 7. We arrive in Zurich, will visit friends for 2 days in nearby Area and then spend 6 days in Wengen/Bernese Oberland. We fly out of Geneva. We are planning various hikes each day in the Oberland (weather-dependent), and will want to go up to Schilthorn in order to hike down, and maybe Jungfaujoch. My question is:

Would we do better to rent a car (quoted for the week at CH 250) for travel from Zurich to Lauterbrunnen, park it for the 6 days while we hike around Wengen, and then use again from Lauterbrunnen to Geneva, and pay for individual cable cars/cogwheels in the Oberland, or skip the car and buy rail passes? If rail passes, then would the Swisspass or the Bernese Oberland Pass make most sense?

Apologies if this kind of question is answered elsewhere on the site. It's a bit dizzying with all options available!

Thanks,

Steve

Hi Steve,

Thank you for your kind words about our website! I hope I can meet your high expectations ;-)

I wouldn't recommend a car for your itinerary. As you know you won't be able to use it much, or at all, while in the Jungfrau region. So you'd pay CHF 250 + CHF 75 on parking + fuel, just for the transfer to and from Lauterbrunnen. And you'd still be without a pass so required to pay full prices for cableways, mountain trains, etc. I'd recommend to double check if the car would be big enough for 4 people plus luggage. Economy sized cars usually aren't. Here's some additional information: myswissalps.com/ carversustrain.

I'd suggest to consider these two options:

• A Regional-Pass Bernese Oberland for everyone (only CHF 30 for the 13 year old), plus regular tickets for part of the trip to and from Lauterbrunnen (see the map for what's included in the pass).
• 8-day Swiss Travel Passes for the adults, the cheaper Youth version of that pass for the 17-year old and the free Swiss Family Card for the 13 year old. You can use it around Zurich as well, and many museums are also included. Again see the map for what's included.

To be sure about which option is cheaper you would need to do the math. Note that there's also a Jungfrau Travel Pass, but it covers a much smaller area so you'd be less flexible in case of bad weather. You do not need a SwissPass, that's a product for Swiss residents.

I hope the above links allow you to make a choice!