Swiss Travel Pass vs individual tickets

Hi,

I am travelling to Switzerlan in June and will be staying for 5 nights. We are a family of 3 - husband and 11 yr son with me. Here is my itinerary:

Day 1: Arrive in Lucerne (from Frankfurt)

Day 2: Lucerne-Engelberg-Lucerne (to see Mt Titlis)

Day 3: Lucerne - Interlaken

Day 4: Interlaken-Jungfrauvoch

Day 5: Interlaken - Zurich

I want to check if it is cheaper to buy individual tickets to all places individually or buy the Swiss Travel Pass. Also which is the best option for me Swiss Travel Pass or Half fare pass. Also what's the best way to cover my son - do we take a Junior pass or a family pass.

Thanks

Hi Geetika,

The instructions on how to check which pass is the cheapest can be found here. I think in this case a Swiss Half Fare Card will be best. You can order along a free Swiss Family Card for your son in either case; no need to buy a Junior travelcard.

Thanks Arno. This is really helpful. I did my reseach on the links provided by you and i agree that Swiss Half Fare card and Family card will be best for my requirement. I just have a few clarifications:

1. With the half fare card i would need to buy individual tickets at each station. Is that correct? Can i buy tickets in advance or would need to purchase them on the day of travel?

2.Can i buy tickets for different stations from another station. For e.g can i buy a ticket from Lucerne to Interlaken at the Engelberg station?

3. Do the ticket machines accept cash or just credit/debit cards? For cash, do they have a limit for the value of ticket or denomination of notes?

4. For credit cards, do international cards work?

TIA.

Hi Tia,

Indeed, you need to buy tickets for each trip with the Swiss Half Fare Card. Buying on the day of travel makes sense so that you're flexible to change your plans if necessary. But you can get them all at once from one station if you prefer. Most larger stations have staffed service desks to help you with that, or you can use the ticketing machines explained here. You may find slightly different versions of the machines throughout the country.