Unsure how to purchase tickets to Jungfraujoch

My 20 year old daughter and I are trying to figure out how to get the best train tickets and prices for travel on August 1-3. We probably will do minimal travel on August 1. Unfortunately, we already paid full price for our tickets to get from Munich to Interlaken/Widerswil on July 31. On Aug. 2 we would like to do a day trip from Wilderswil to Lauterbrunnen, and then head up to Jungfraujoch, and then go down through Grindelwald, and back to Wilderswil. If we don't buy our tickets in advance, will they be sold out? How do I buy tickets with stops in theses places? How long should I plan for stops in each place? On Aug. 3 we need to take the train from Wilderswil to Zurich Airport. I have read about the Swiss Half Fare Card. I'm confused about how to go about purchasing such a pass, and using such a pass. Is this the cheapest option?

Hi rachelerae, welcome to MySwissAlps!

I also think the Swiss Half Fare Card is a good idea. Whether it's your best option can be found out by listing all your trips and doing the math as explained here. But the Swiss Half Fare Card is definitely a good option. All details are here: myswissalps.com/ swisshalffarecard.

The easiest way to purchase is to go to www.swissrailways.com/ en. After filling out your address, they will show the delivery options. Pick "Online Ticket" from the bottom of the list. They will e-mail the pass (no delivery fees), so you can print it at home. Once in Switzerland, you can get discounted tickets from the machines or ticket offices.

Tickets allow you to get off the train anywhere you want and continue traveling later that day. How long you stop in each place is up to you. The small villages you mentioned are not really sightseeing places (no monuments, museums, etc.). They're more like a base to start or end hiking.

Please also see myswissalps.com/ jungfraujoch/tickets.

Thanks for the very helpful information. Do I need to be concerned with tickets selling out? Do I need to buy these train tickets in advance?

Please see the last link, it's all explained there. Apart from Kleine Scheidegg - Jungfraujoch, tickets never sell out.

It says if you buy tickets in advance, make sure the date is flexible. How do you buy train tickets with a flexible date? I would only have two dates as an option--Aug. 1 or 2. I'm sure those will both be busy days. Do I risk bad weather and just book the tickets?

Also, I have the option of booking a roundtrip from Interlaken from this link: www.raileurope.com/act ivities/jungfraujoch/i ndex.html

Or I could do a round trip that goes up through Lauterbrunnen and back through Grindelwald. But then I have to figure out what times for each of those trains.

Which would you do? I'm tempted to do the first one, just to make it easier.

Hi rachelerae,

The website you found offers flexible tickets: "Tickets are valid for six months from the date of purchase". So you could buy those, check the weather forecasts when you're there, and validate them for a particular date as soon as the forecast is promising. To be sure, do so the afternoon before you go up, or earlier. If you buy locally I would also recommend to buy the day before.

The tickets are valid for all trains through Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald. You can take any train you want on the day of travel. Please see www.raileurope.com/act ivities/jungfraujoch/i ndex.html for further details.

I bought the Jungfraujoch Top of Europe flexible tickets. I see that the tickets can only be bought at certain stations, which means I cannot reserve my spot online or by phone. We won't arrive to Interlaken until mid-afternoon on July 31. We want to go up Jungfrau on Aug. 1 or 2. Will seats still be available for those dates on the 31st? We leave the country on Aug. 3rd.

Hi again,

This will work fine. You can check the weather forecast on July 31, decide which day you want to go up, and go to any staffed train station to have your tickets validated for that day. If the ride to Jungfraujoch books out at all, which is rare but may happen in August, you should be in time on July 31.