Swiss Rail Passes when renting a car

We will be in Switzerland for 11 days. We do plan to rent a car and so will not be traveling from city to city by train. However, we would like to go up to Mt Pilatus; we will be in Zermatt for 2 days and hiking; and will be in the Lauterbrunnen area for 6 days and hiking on a daily basis. We also plan to go to the Jungfrau and the Schilthorn, weather permitting. We are a family of 5 adults and one child, age 8. Can you advise on the best rail pass? Thank you.

Thanks for joining us Swtraveler! The pass you need is a Swiss Half Fare Card: myswissalps.com/swisshalfarecard.

Are you aware that you will be visiting areas where you can't use a car? Zermatt is car free, so you will have to park the car in Täsch for the 2 days. Lauterbrunnen can be reached by car, but most of the area is car free as well, so again the car would be in the car park for most of the time.

Yes. I am aware that Zermatt is a carfree zone and that most of the places that we visit from Lauterbrunnen are carfree. I know that we will be riding cablecars/trains/cogwheels, etc very often and so wanted to know which pass would be the best. I will do some research on your suggestion as to the Swiss Half Fare Card and ask further questions. Thank you for your suggestion so far.

Great, you're welcome! For very frequent cable car rides you may want to look into the Jungfrau Railways Pass and the Zermatt Panoramic Pass.

If I buy a Swiss Half Fare Ticket, where can I find a listing of exactly what it covers? On what exactly do I get 50% off? Is it better to buy this ticket in the US or in Switzerland? We do have an 8 year old traveling with us and, as I understand, he can travel for free on a family card. Is he still free if we buy our tickets in Switzerland or is there a 20 Euro fee to add him?

Hi Swtraveler,

You'd best go to the first link I provided, click 'Where it's valid', and download the map. Likewise, you can click 'Price' to see the purchase options.

There is no fee for the 8 year old. He's travels along for free everywhere, if you order along the free Swiss Family Card.