[Removed user]

3 December 2018 at 1:34:37 #819088

Hi guys,

Thanks for you help before.

I am taking an 8 days travel pass which also provides Jungfraujoch – Reservation. I have few questions in relation to booking.

1) Can you please let me know which of the following trips below will need the reservation. Does Rhine falls, Boat trip etc needs reservation?

I have highlighted the one which will need reservation.

2) Are cable carts at places like Pilatus, Stanserhorn, Jungfraujoch etc available through out the day or is there any timetable for this? I ask this as I recently came to know that there is only 1 Glacier Express in winters

3) Can I buy the tickets at the spot because in case I am running late or I change my mind or the weather goes bad I still have an option?

4) Do i need to carry a print out or a soft copy in the Phone be valid?

5) Do you think I am missing something spectacular in the days below?

Sunday, 16 December 2018 – Bern – Arrive at Bern in late afternoon

Boat trip Lake Thun via Swiss Travel Card

Monday, 17 December 2018 Bern – Visit Main Spot Pilatus – Via Swiss Travel card – Paid 50%

Visit Main Spot Stanserhorn – via Swiss Travel Card

Might Explorer Olten & Luzern If time is available

Tuesday, 18 December 2018 Bern – Rhine Falls – via Swiss Travel Card

Boat trip Lake Zurich via Swiss Travel Card

Wednesday, 19 December 2018 Bern – Glacier Express Type Free from Zermatt to Chur

Thursday, 20 December 2018 Interlaken – Travel from Bern to Interlaken

Explore Interlaken

Complete free Lauterbrunnen to Grütschalp (cable car), Mürren (cogwheel train), Gimmelwald (cable car), Stechelberg (cable car), Lauterbrunnen (bus).

Friday, 21 December 2018 Interlaken – Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe Via Swiss Travel card – Paid 25%

Saturday, 22 December 2018 Geneva – Interlaken to Geneva, Explore Geneva

Sunday, 23 December 2018 Paris – From Geneva to Paris – Train tickets already booked

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

[rockoyster]

3 December 2018 at 2:53:34 #899855

Hello Ankit and Welcome to MySwissAlps,

1) Can you please let me know which of the following trips below will need the reservation. Does Rhine falls, Boat trip etc needs reservation?

The only trip you have listed which requires a reservations is the Glacier Express. Reservation is an additional charge over and above the Swiss Travel Pass. I presume you are catching the GEX at Brig? Otherwise you will need to leave Bern at around 6:00am if you plan to start the GEX at Zermatt. If you have left it too late to make reservations you can always follow the same route on regular trains. In any event it is going to be a long round trip from Bern and back.

2) Are cable carts at places like Pilatus, Stanserhorn, Jungfraujoch etc available through out the day or is there any timetable for this?

They run throughout the day. All cable cars are included in the SBB Timetable (http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable).

3) Can I buy the tickets at the spot because in case I am running late or I change my mind or the weather goes bad I still have an option?

Yes. It’s best to buy when you know the weather is going to be favourable.

4) Do i need to carry a print out or a soft copy in the Phone be valid?

Yes you do need to carry a print out – some inspectors may ask to see that. Others will be happy with the phone version.

5) Do you think I am missing something spectacular in the days below?

If you get as far as Mürren and the weather is good then go to Schilthorn which is free with the Swiss Travel Pass in 2018. If the weather is good, your time will be better spent doing that than “exploring Interlaken”.

[Removed user]

3 December 2018 at 5:51:04 #899856

Thanks for your advice rockoyster.

1) Can you please let me know which of the following trips below will need the reservation. Does Rhine falls, Boat trip etc needs reservation?

The only trip you have listed which requires a reservations is the Glacier Express. Reservation is an additional charge over and above the Swiss Travel Pass. I presume you are catching the GEX at Brig? Otherwise you will need to leave Bern at around 6:00am if you plan to start the GEX at Zermatt. If you have left it too late to make reservations you can always follow the same route on regular trains. In any event it is going to be a long round trip from Bern and back.

You are correct, I plan to leave Bern at 6:00 AM as I note that there is only 1 train at 8:42 am at Zermatt. I did some calculation and the total time of travel on that day comes around 9 to 10 hours.

My plan is to travel from Bern to Zermatt, then take the Glacier train and travel all the way to Chur and then from there take direct train from Chur to Bern.

This is would be longest amount of travel for me in anyday in swiss.

Thanks for the advice.

[Arno]

3 December 2018 at 7:05:01 #899857

Hi Ankit,

You don’t need reservations apart from the Glacier Express. Rockoyster suggests that you board the same Glacier Express in Brig instead of Zermatt. That will save you at least two hours because you won’t be doing the leg Brig to Zermatt twice. Also you’ll prevent the first couple of hours traveling in darkness which severely limits the views 🙂 I think it’s worth it to consider this on such a long day.

[Removed user]

4 December 2018 at 0:07:30 #899858

rather than the Glacier Express, I recommend you restrict yourself to a day trip Bern – Zermatt

facts about the Glacier Express:

As I have stated in response to previous forum threads it is not really logical or practical to travel on the Glacier Express from a base further north (such as Bern) just to be on the Glacier Express.

The Glacier Express runs roughly on an East – West axis in the southern part of Switzerland, so trying to access it from further north is falling into the trap of being lured by the hyperbolic marketing of the Glacier Express.

In practice the Glacier Express is just an ‘exclusive’ set of trains on a normal railway route with plenty of other normal – non supplement , reservation-free trains on it.

If you are already holidaying in the Swiss Alps you won’t necessarily see anything more spectacular from the Glacier Express that what you have already seen on other jaunts.

To understand the above, it is worth taking a moment to understand the Glacier Express and its history:

It was created (as one train each way daily) with the notion that well-healed travellers taking long holidays in Switzerland in the ‘Belle Epoque’ era (1930s) would stay in Zermatt and then also go and stay in the other fashionable resort of the time, St Moritz. The train was named (mainly) after the Rhone Glacier which has now melted so much that you don’t see it from the train and in any case the train runs under the Rhone Glacier in a base tunnel which replaced the Furka mountain section in 1982.

Although the whole journey is in the mountains, a lot of it is in valleys – where you get some good views of bubbling rivers but not all the time – there are some mundane sections.

[Removed user]

4 December 2018 at 1:01:20 #899859

Thanks for the Advice Arno – Changed my Plans from Zermatt to Chur to Brig to Chur

[Removed user]

4 December 2018 at 1:03:36 #899860

Thanks for Letting me know. I might reconsider my decision based on your answer.