Totally confused on what Swiss rail pass to buy

  • sreraku
    Participant
    68 posts
    1 March 2018 at 17:05:55 #814568

    Experts

    I went through pages and pages on myswissalps which has an excellent collection of information on how to move around from place to place (including walking directions). Kudos to this team and community.

    Now, here is the confusion part.

    I downloaded the xl sheet, trying to input the info I could collect by going to sbb’s website and inputting each leg and its price.

    1) How do I know whether each leg will be discounted or not?

    2) golden round trip from lucerne – I want to do the boat trip one way but SBB gives me option with bus only. How do I get the prices I require for the round trip? (link to viator is a package and I dont know if they take travel pass or half card)

    3) Same goes with my Jangfrau trip. What do I do here?

    4) The last few days I will be travelling to Paris. Now, I saw the prices from SBB and euro rail, they are expensive. But, I saw eurail pass. I dont have any clue on whether thats useful to get discounts for switzerland internal routes.

    Appreciate any help for each of the above points please.

    Thanks

    sreraku

  • Effortlessly learn from the questions and answers in the forum. Receive a daily e-mail with new discussions.

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    1 March 2018 at 17:20:11 #877495

    Hi sreraku,

    1. You need to look at the Swiss Travel Pass validity page (and map) to see if the route is covered or just discounted. Most city to city routes are fully covered. The trips into the mountains, like Jungfraujoch are discounted only.
    2. On the SBB timetable page, hit advanced search and de-select all options but ships. In this case though it is free from Lucerne to Alpnachstad. It is noted on the Swiss Travel Pass validity page (link #1).
    3. Link #1 will show you that the trip to Jungfraujoch is free up until Grindelwald or Wengen (whichever route you take). After that you get a 25% discount to the top of the mountain.
    4. You do get some discounts in Switzerland with a Eurail Pass – see the validity page here for a list. The coverage in the mountains is not nearly as good as the Swiss Travel Pass… so a discount on the route to Paris may or may not make up for that (depending on how many expensive mountain trips you take for example). If the trip to Paris is the only train trip you take in France it almost certainly won’t make sense economically to buy a Eurail Select Pass for France and Switzerland rather than just a Swiss Travel Pass.

    Hope that helps? 🙂

    Let us know if you have more questions!

    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    1 March 2018 at 20:19:13 #877496

    Lucas has given you some good pointers.

    If you tell us what your itinerary looks like it would be easier to tailor some advice on what might work best for you.

    sreraku
    Participant
    68 posts
    2 March 2018 at 0:39:27 #877497

    Thanks Lucas.

    2. you mentioned hit advanced search, deselect everything except ship and then search. I did it but it doesnt give me any results for the boat ride from Luzern towards the Pilatus route.

    I see from the map all the reductions. Thanks for that.

    Rockoyster

    As I was mentioning in my other thread about the routes for Jungfrau(I posted only my lauterbrunnen trip there), here is the full trip

    Oct 12 – land in zurich (14:00) and stay in wellenberg. so I will be using the train from airport. Now, for the evening, we want to just stroll. Please let me know if you have any specific recommendations for the evening or night.

    Oct 13 – We want to do the Rhine falls, old town. I found Black Forest and Rhine Falls Day Trip from Zurich by Viator. How is this? Now question is, do they accept the Half card or pass for the travel or is it just a package price?

    Oct 14 – 15.

    What are the options for luggage as the checkin is at 3pm at the hotel and we will be in Lucerne by 10am on Oct 14th. Here we want to do Pilatus Golden round trip (one way with ship atleast).

    We also want to do the Glasi museum, either Mt Rigi or Mt Titlis. Appreciate your inputs here.

    Oct 16-18(half day)

    We want to reach LauterBrunnen or Montreux(depending on your recommendation) by 10am the 16th. Again where do we keep the luggage as we want to use the day for a trip. I will be staying in LauterBrunnen for 2 nights.

    Männlichen – Kleine Scheidegg-Jungfraujoch, Schilthorn is on our cards. Whats the suggestion here please? ie which one to do on 16th and which one to do on 17th if the below doesnt work?

    We will have time till 12pm on 18th. Can we do either schilthorn or Jungfraujoch early in the morning and come back by 12? so that on 16th I can go to montreux, finish some chocolate, cheese factory tour.

    Oct 18(1:30 pm) – leave to paris.

    Again appreciate your patience and all the help.

    Thanks

    sreraku

    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    2 March 2018 at 1:50:57 #877498

    Hello sreraku,

    I’m really not familiar with Zurich or Wellenberg. I expect Lucas can help there.

    You won’t be able to take advantage of a Swiss Travel Pass or Half-fare Card on the Viator tour. I would recommend you go to Rhine Falls under your own steam. I found the Black Forest a let down after Switzerland.

    Luggage options? Most hotels will let you drop off your bags prior to check-in time. In many cases you may find they already have a room available for you even if the official check-in is 3.00pm.

    Glasi Museum is at Hergiswil which is one of the stops on the boat-ride Lucerne to Alpnachstad. See attached.

    Rigi and Mt Titlis are quite different. It’s a personal choice. I have never been to Titlis but preferred Pilatus to Rigi.

    I can’t really follow what you are trying to do 16-18th but whatever it is I’d say you are trying to jam too much in. Where are you planning to leave for Paris from at 1.30pm?

    sreraku
    Participant
    68 posts
    2 March 2018 at 3:32:19 #877499

    Thanks for the suggestion about Rhine falls. So Black forest is not something you recommend is it?

    Which one is better and faster ? Rigi or Titlis?

    I leave early in the morning from Luzern on 16th. I am thinking like this

    1) Ship the luggage to Lauterbrunnen if there is a choice.

    2) We go to Montreux and watch the chocolate, cheese factories

    3) Reach Lauterbrunnen in the evening from Montreux and checkin to the hotel

    17th

    Do the Jungfraujoch trip as it might take a full day

    18th

    1) Do early morning Schilthorn trip and be back by 12pm.

    2) Take train from Lauterbrunnen to Paris at 1:30

    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    2 March 2018 at 4:36:21 #877500

    Hi sreraku,

    I’m sure the Black Forest appeals to many people. Compared to the Alps though I just didn’t find it all that scenic. Sure there are some quaint towns but I’d concentrate on Switzerland given your limited time there. Have a look at this report http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/stein-am-rhein-easy-day-trip-from-zurich from Lucas for an option to extend the Rhine Falls trip.

    Another option is to go from Rhine Falls then on to Schaffhausen where you can pick up Rhine River Cruise boat to Konstanz or Kreuzlingen. It goes past Stein am Rhein so you you could do both if you mixed a match rail and boat. For example you could go by train from Rhein Falls to Stein an Rhein, look around there , then continue on boat (or train) to Konstanz. Konstanz is only 1 hour from Zurich. See http://www.myswitzerland.com/ en-au/lower-lake-untersee-and-rhine.html

    I now understand your plan for 16 to 18th. If luggage delivery doesn’t work for you you can always leave luggage at Interlaken Ost and pick up on the way back.

    Have a look at this thread http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/train-route-from-lauterbrennen-to-gruyeres to get some ideas of how to make the Chocolate/Cheese factories doable in a day. To me going to Montreux and back seems like a waste of an opportunity to soak up the Jungfrau region atmosphere.

    Are you going to Paris via Basel? If you went from Lauterbrunnen to Montreux via Golden Pass Line on 18th you could then continue on to Paris via Lausanne or Geneva. You’d miss the factories but save a lot of time going round in a big circle.

    Anyway, I’m just throwing up ideas. You get to make the tough choices. 😎

    sreraku
    Participant
    68 posts
    2 March 2018 at 5:34:51 #877501

    Thanks for your suggestions rockoyster. Stein am Rhein seems to a good place to go to. I will probably take that.

    I was thinking that it might be packed. I guess I will leave chocolate/cheese factories for another time.

    From LauterBrunnen, I was planning on going to interlaken and from there to Paris.

    I leave early in the morning from Luzern on 16th.

    1) Ship the luggage to Lauterbrunnen.

    2) Go to Lauterbrunnen, do the Schilthorn for 1/2 day. Comeback, checkin to the hotel and relax going around the town

    17th

    Do the Jungfraujoch trip as it might take a full day

    18th

    I can go to Paris from Lauternbrunnen->Interlaken->Basel->paris (about 6hrs).

    Or do you recommend to take golden pass (about 3 hrs) and then take montreux->paris via Geneva(5 hrs)?

    I really appreciate for answering my trivial questions.

    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    2 March 2018 at 5:42:56 #877502

    If you take the Golden Pass Line via Zweisimmen (the most scenic part of the route) it will take nearer 4 hours to Montreux.

    It’s not worth going to Montreux via the faster route I would have thought.

    Can’t remember if I ever told you about this . . . .

    If you are at 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 Schilthorn if you have time. In between Stechelberg and Lauterbrunnen the bus stops at the Trummelbach Falls. Well worth a look.

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    2 March 2018 at 6:32:00 #877503

    Hi Sreraku,

    I think Rockoyster has you all set?

    I’ll chime in on Zurich and Wellenberg. I have not been to Wellenberg though – it is a small community 3/4 of the way down Lake Zurich (from Zurich).

    It is about 45 minutes by bus and train to get into Zurich – what brought you out there may I ask? Friends or relatives?

    Personally, rather than train in and out on the same day I’d head from the airport to the main train station in Zurich, check your bags there and then explore the town and enjoy dinner before grabbing your bags and heading out to Wellenberg.

    If you want general ideas of what to do in Zurich click here. There are also two walking tours we suggest there (do it yourself) one in town and one on the mountain just above town as well.

    PS I thought the Black Forest is great (if you rent a car) and stop in the small towns for coffee and Black Forest cake! Great scenery but not worth it on a short trip to Switzerland – next time!

    sreraku
    Participant
    68 posts
    2 March 2018 at 18:50:01 #877504

    Thanks Rokoyster and Lucas.

    Rockoyster,

    Thanks for the suggestion, I will take the scenic route through Montreux.

    The second suggestion, you already gave me in the other forum 🙂 So here is how it will look

    Oct 16th

    Reach Lauterbrunnen by 10am, Head to schilthorn as described above by you. Comeback by evening and relax roaming around the place

    Oct 17th

    Jungfraujoch with the small hike

    Oct 18th start early, go to montreux on golden pass -> geneva->paris

    Lucas

    Yes Rockoyster. you, slowpoke have helped immensely to get my trip set. Everyone in the forum has helped me with their experiences or suggestions.

    Sorry for the confusion. I meant, I am staying at wellenberg hotel not the town 🙂 Now that you bring up the black forest again, I depend on you guys’ suggestion as this is my first time and dont know much about the places 😀

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    3 March 2018 at 9:56:12 #877505

    Ah the hotel! That makes more sense. 🙂

    I’d skip the Black Forest on this trip but if you find yourself in southern Germany another day I would take trip in there by car.

    sreraku
    Participant
    68 posts
    5 March 2018 at 16:40:38 #877506

    Thanks Lucas and Rockoyster. I now have perfect trip planned. 2 months from now, I will start booking the train tickets (180 days). I will be looking at trip reports, questions on forums mean while. If there is anything that I cant figure out here or from internet, I will ask a question again 🙂

    Thanks once again for the tremendous help.

    sreraku

    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    5 March 2018 at 20:32:45 #877507

    Enjoy! 😎

  • The thread ‘Totally confused on what Swiss rail pass to buy’ is closed to new replies.

About MySwissAlps

We’re passionate tourists and locals. We share tips about how to plan a trip to Switzerland. MySwissAlps was founded in 2002.

Get a free account for a worry-free trip

  • Join our 10730 members and ask us questions in the forum
  • Access to member-only promotions
  • Detailed maps and weather forecasts

Planning your first Switzerland adventure?

Get a jump-start with Annika’s 20-minute e-mail course, “Switzerland for beginners”. Subscribe to our newsletter to unlock the course.