Visiting Montreux? Get a swiss pass?

Hi All

I am going to Montreux and are wondering if it is worth me purchasing a swiss pass if the youth hostel I am staying at issues the Riveria card. My plan during my visit is

1. Visit Rochers de Naye - I know that the swiss pass only covers to Caux if I am right and then it would be a fare from there looking on SBB that would be CHF 14.40 each if I am right. However thinking of hiking from here. I will not need a ticket back down as we are going to hike back.

2. If time permits on the same day we will walk along the promenade to Chilion Castle and visit - I know that admission is free with the Swiss Pass otherwise for the 4 of us it would cost CHF 6.25 each on production of the riveria card. Total CHF 25

3. We would then like to take a boat cruise from Chilion Castle hopefully over to Lausanne and continue back to Montreux getting off the boat at Vevey in order to walk along the promenade to Visit Charlie Chaplin and also see the fork in the water and the Freddie Mercury monument .

The reason I am asking about the Swiss Pass is that initially we land in Geneva and then travel to Gruyeres and stay overnight the next day down to Montreux from Montreux going to Luzern and from there onto the Rhinefalls. From there we are going onto Salzburg for the week.

The Swiss Pass allows for ease of just getting on the train but I am wondering if we would be better getting another type of pass instead as the Riveria Card would cover our biggest expenditure day possibly.

Hi twiggy321, thanks for joining us!

You're right, the Riviera Card provides pretty good coverage for the eastern Lake Geneva region. However, you'll also be making trips outside of its coverage area and full fare tickets for those transfers will be pretty expensive, especially if you plan to make side trips to (scenic) attractions from Lucerne. This could be a reason to consider a rail pass that covers the entire country, such as the Swiss Travel Pass. Since you mention staying in a youth hostel, you may qualify for the cheaper Youth variant.

The Swiss Half Fare Card as an addition to your Riviera Card is another option, although it doesn't offer the ease of free ticketless traveling.

I can't tell for sure, as it's not quite clear to me how long your total stay will take and what your finalized itinerary exactly looks like. You've been doing some calculations already, but I advise you make a full calculation including all those details using these guidelines.

Just a note: I don't know what time of the year you'll be visiting, but mind that hiking to or from Rochers-de-Naye is pretty demanding and will only be possible in summer.