Swiss Travel Pass or Half Price Card or tickets?

Hello Everyone,

My husband and I are arriving in Switzerland on July 20th. We have had a great time planning our trip with all the ideas found on MySwissAlps.com and the forum; however, we are still confused as to whether the 8 day Swiss Travel Pass or Half Price Card is the better option or point to point tickets? Please see itinerary below. Our hotel will be providing two 4-day Murren-Schilthorn Holiday Passes but from what we understand, the pass does not cover transportation in the Mannlichen, Kleine Scheidegg, Grindelwald area. In Lucerne, does the Travel Pass cover the boat ride and trip to Rigi Kulm? It appeared in the spreadsheet that it only covers 25%. We would also welcome any comments or suggestions on our itinerary. Thanks so much!

July 20: Zurich Airport to Murren (our base will be in Murren)

July 21 & 22: Hikes in the Murren-Gimmelwald-Schilthorn area (Most of our hikes will be in the "easy" category")

July 23 & 24: Hikes in the Mannlichen, Kleine Scheidegg, Grindelwald area

July 25: Travel from Murren to Lucerne

July 26: Tour Lucerne, boat ride and trip to Rigi Kulm

July 27: Travel from Lucerne to Zurich Airport

Hi Swissann, and welcome!

I'm happy to hear you found our website useful. The Holiday Pass covers a limited area, but you can use it for some of your trips. Additionally, you will need a Swiss Travel Pass or Swiss Half Fare Card as you thought. The Swiss Travel Pass fully covers the trip to Rigi Kulm. You do not need tickets. In spite of that, you would need to do the math to be sure which option is cheaper. My guess would be that the Swiss Half Fare Card could win this comparison. All details are here:

• myswissalps.com/ swisstravelpass/ validity
• myswissalps.com/ swisshalffarecard/ validity
• myswissalps.com/ train/ticketspasses/ practical/chooserailpa ss

Be sure to order your pass no later than about the 13th so you have time to print it at home. That will save you time on arrival:

• myswissalps.com/ swisstravelpass/ price
• myswissalps.com/ swisshalffarecard/ price

Your itinerary looks fine to me. On the the 25th, you could take a boat from Interlaken to Brienz, then pick up the Golden Pass line to Lucerne from there.

Thanks you so much for your speedy reply with clarification on the Swiss Travel Pass and Swiss Half Fare Card for our trip. Also, I appreciate your suggestion about taking a boat from Interlaken to Brienz and then picking up the Golden Pass line to Lucerne. I'll check it out. One questions about the boat - we will have luggage - is that difficult to take on the boat? Thanks!

You're most welcome! If you can carry your luggage yourself there won't be an issue taking it on the boat. Also you can have it transported: myswissalps.com/train/ practical/luggage.