[Removed user]

24 April 2018 at 14:32:11 #815503

Hello there

we are a couple with 2 kids(12 / 8 yrs).travelling to Switzerland in second week of may2018. Our itinerary is for 5 days.

out of which we want to mk few day trips .

Day -1 A round trip from Zurich to Lucerne to Engelberg and mt Titlis.

Day -2 Around trip from Zurich to Grindelwald

day 3 Around trip from Zurich to Bern.

we also would like to take the city boat rides where ever possible and hop on some museums if time allows

i was planning to take 3 day Swiss pass . Is it a good idea ? Is my day trips included in the pass? Also how to get a Swiss family card?

Thank you.

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[Removed user]

24 April 2018 at 16:15:59 #883087

Hi Sri, and welcome to MySwissAlps!

>> we are a couple with 2 kids(12 / 8 yrs).travelling to Switzerland in second week of may2018. Our itinerary is for 5 days … i was planning to take 3 day Swiss pass . Is it a good idea ? Also how to get a Swiss family card?

A 3-day Swiss Travel Pass each for both parents and a Swiss Family Card to cover free travel for the two children would certainly be a convenient choice. Whether or not it is also the most economical choice can’t be known for sure without doing the sums, i.e. planning your itinerary in detail, including all trips by train, bus, boat and cable car. Then looking up the full-fare cost of all these planned trips and comparing the total cost of separate tickets with the cost of doing the same trips with the Swiss Travel Pass, Swiss Half Fare Card etc.

You can find fares in the Swiss Timetable.

http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

(Use the timetable on the right with the red SBB logo)

It is important to be aware that the fare shown for any trip in the Swiss Timetable defaults to half fare, as most Swiss residents will have a Half-Fare travelcard which entitles them to this discount. Your calculations need to be based on full fares, which are double the default fare that comes up.

There is information and a spreadsheet here to help you:

http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass

You order the free Swiss Family Card at the same time you order your Swiss Travel Passes.

What are your plans for Days 4 and 5, which won’t be covered by a 3-day Swiss Travel Pass (if that is what you decide to get)?

>> Is my day trips included in the pass? Day -1 A round trip from Zurich to Lucerne to Engelberg and mt Titlis.

• Zürich to Engelberg is free with the Swiss Travel Pass.

• The gondola from Engelberg to Titlis is discounted by 50%

>> Day -2 Around trip from Zurich to Grindelwald

• Zürich to Grindelwald is free with the Swiss Travel Pass.

• If you wanted to go beyond Grindelwald on the train (e.g. to Kleine Scheidegg or the Jungfraujoch), you would get a 25% discount.

• The Swiss Travel Pass would also get you a 50% discount on the gondola from Grindelwald to First.

>> day 3 Around trip from Zurich to Bern.

The Swiss Travel Pass will provide free travel from Zürich to Bern, as well as free travel on the public transport within Bern and Zürich.

>> we also would like to take the city boat rides where ever possible and hop on some museums if time allows

• Most boat rides are free with the Swiss Travel Pass. This includes boats on the Zürichsee (Lake Zürich), the Vierwaldstättersee (Lake Lucerne); and the Brienzersee and Thunersee (Lakes Brienz and Thun near Interlaken).

• Most museums are free with the Swiss Travel Pass.

You can download a map from the link below, showing what is covered by the Swiss Travel Pass in 2018.

As explained in the legend on the map:

• Red lines are trains, yellow lines are buses, black lines are cable cars, white lines are boats

• Solid lines are free, dotted lines are discounted.

• Discounts are mostly 50%, but only 25% for transport where you see the number “1” inside circle near the dotted line.

• There are a few grey lines on the map as well, which indicate transport that is not covered by the Swiss Travel Pass.

• Dashed red lines on the map are railway tunnels, all of which are on routes that are free with the Swiss Travel Pass.

http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/validity

By the way, have you considered staying in Luzern or the Jungfrau Region instead of Zürich? Zürích is not particularly well located given the places you want to visit during your stay.

Alpenrose

[Removed user]

26 April 2018 at 8:31:34 #883088

Hello Alpenrose

Thank you for a detailed , prompt reply. Appreciate it !!! Reading you reply made it clear to take a 3 day Swiss rail pass.

i would appreciate you opinion on 2 things

firstly the other 2 days in Zurich we r planning to go to the Aathal Dinosaur Museum and Technorama. Would it be better to take the public transport in Zurich for these two days? We would be staying at hotel Wellenberg -Niederdorf. If so what kind of pass would be the best i heard there are zones inside Zurich travel?

second could I buy the Swiss rail pass just a day in advance when I am in Zurich or book it from home and print it or request to be mailed to the hotel ?

thank you

[Removed user]

27 April 2018 at 1:45:29 #883089

Hi Sri,

>> firstly the other 2 days in Zurich we r planning to go to the Aathal Dinosaur Museum and Technorama. Would it be better to take the public transport in Zurich for these two days? We would be staying at hotel Wellenberg -Niederdorf. If so what kind of pass would be the best i heard there are zones inside Zurich travel?

To travel from Zürich Hauptbahnhof (main station) to either of those places requires a ticket for 6 zones.

There is information on the various ticket options here:

http://www.zvv.ch/zvv/en/trav elcards-and-tickets/tickets.html

You can plan your route using information from the websites of both attractions, and the ZVV timetable:

online.fahrplan.zvv.ch /bin/query.exe/en

Using the symbols on the right hand side of the map on the ZVV site, you can turn on the information about fare zones. Please note that Zone 110 in Central Zürich and Zone 120 in Winterthur both count as two zones for the purposes of calculating for how many zones you must buy a ticket.

>> second could I buy the Swiss rail pass just a day in advance when I am in Zurich or book it from home and print it or request to be mailed to the hotel ?

You could do any of those things. If you buy online & print it at home, you can print an extra copy in case of loss or damage. If you buy it in Zürich, or get it mailed to your hotel, if you lose it you will have to buy a new one.

Alpenrose