Would the Jungfrau Railway Pass work best for us?

Hello Ijane! Most of your suppositions are right. I would indeed advice you not to use a Swiss (Saver) Pass, as it will be too expensive for the plans you have and a 25% instead of 50% discount applies to the trains running between Grindelwald, Wengen, Kleine Scheidegg and Jungfraujoch. A 15 day Regional-Pass Bernese Oberland would be too expensive as well, but have you noticed that there's a 7 day variant, including 3 days of free travel, as well? Details can be found on the Regional-Pass Bernese Oberland page. This 7 day-pass may be a good option for you. Your 3 free travel days could be used for the days on which you want to make the longest and most expensive journeys. A 50% discount would apply on the remaining days, on which you could make shorter trips.

I'm not sure if a Jungfrau Railways Pass is best for you. Most trains and cable cars in the Jungfrau area are included, but the cable car to Schilthorn is not. So full fare would apply here, instead of a 50% discount. Especially if you definitely want to go up to Schilthorn, this may turn out to be too expensive. Whether a Regional-Pass is better for you than a Jungfrau Railways Pass, depends on your travel plans. If you want to stay within the immediate area of Grindelwald only, a Jungfrau Railways Pass might suffice. But for exploring a larger area, the Regioanl Pass would be better.

In my opinion, a Swiss Half Fare Card is worth considering. It will cut 50% off your trip from Zurich Airport to Grindelwald and back again. And in many occasions in which a rather short stay and a few local trips are involved, the Swiss Half Fare Card turns out to be the most economical way of travelling. Another advantage is that the area of validity is much larger than with the regional passes. If weather conditions aren't that fine, it allows you to travel to another part of the country where conditions may be better. This may also be a reason not to pick the Jungfrau Railways Pass, as it doesn't leave room for getting out of the Jungfrau area if weather there isn't that good. But if you decide on exploring the cable cars and trains around Grindelwald only, regardless of the weather, you could settle for such a regional pass.

I hope these considerations will help you out a bit. If you have an exact overview of your travel plans, you can try to make calculations to find out which pass is most economical. In the end only calculations will give you a definitive answer. Tips on this can be found in our rail FAQ.

Hello Swissvisitor! You can plan your trips using the Swiss timetable, which includes trains, buses and boats. Please refer to the specific timetables for the Golden Pass train, the Chocolate train, the cable car to Titlis (which leaves from Engelberg) and the cog train from Alpnachstad and/or cable car from Kriens to Pilatus as well. As you see, most trips can be done within one day from Interlaken, although it may be wise to start traveling early in the morning.

As for the combination of the Golden Pass line and the Chocolate train: this can't be combined from Interlaken on one day. The Chocolate train is a true excursion, which starts at 9.12 am from Montreux and ends about 18 pm. Although it's possible to get from Interlaken to Montreux before 9.12 by regular train via Bern and Lausanne, you won't make it in time in a panoramic Golden Pass train which leaves only a few times a day.

As for a rail pass: your stay is relatively short and includes only a few longer train trips. This means that you'll be best off with a Swiss Half Fare Card. This can be purchased online in advance or at larger local railway stations (such as Bern, Basel or Interlaken) during opening hours.

Hello SwissVisitor!

1. The Swiss Half Fare Card will offer a 50% discount on trips to the Jungfraujoch and Titlis. The Swiss Pass is another type of pass. This indeed offers a 25% discount on the last leg to the Jungfraujoch. You can study the synoptic map linked to at the Swiss Half Fare Card page: it will give an exact overview of the area of validity of the pass;
2. If I were you, I'd travel by public transportation in Switzerland as much as possible, as this is a great way of travelling and enjoying the wonderful views at the same time. The Swiss public transport system works very well and trains are comfortable. It can hardly be calculated whether trips by car would be more economical;
3. A price list for boat trips on lake Thun can be found on the BLS website. Prices for regular train journeys can be found through the Swiss timetable. Fill out your journey, choose one of the connections the system lists and then click 'Fare/Buy'. A trip from Interlaken to Engelberg costs CHF 41.00;
4. Yes, it's possible to visit Pilatus and Titlis on the same day and get back to Interlaken again, although you won't have that much time to spend on both viewing points. Please check the timetables I linked to in my previous post to find out if a relatively short stay on Pilatus and Titlis suffices for you.

Day trips around Interlaken, including some bad weather tips, can be found in the Bernese Oberland section. Some examples for poor weather conditions are the Trümmelbachfälle, the St. Beatushöhlen and the Aareschlucht.