Zurich, Interlaken & Lucerne trip – how many days?

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    23 April 2016 at 7:57:21 #851088

    As I said to register to the wifi you need a working mobile that can accept incoming sms. So if your India sim works, you can register to the wifi and do you work else first buy the sim and get it activated then connect to the wifi.

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    23 April 2016 at 18:10:41 #851089

    Thanks again! I want to know if I can do the following – Take a train from Paris to Geneva. Then travel from there to Interlaken. Can I take the goldenpass train? I understand it leaves from Geneva train station and goes to Montreux and towards Interlaken. Is the train station in Geneva the same from where I can take the Golden Pass Line or do I have to go to another station? Secondly, would this Golden Pass trip from Geneva to Interlaken be covered in the Swiss Rail Pass? If not, are there any other trains from Geneva to Interlaken which are covered in the Swiss Rail Pass? Thank you so much!

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    23 April 2016 at 21:37:55 #851090

    Hi Megha,

    Sorry checking your message a little late (per India)…. Its 11:30pm here.

    1. Ideally you can book a ticket from Paris (Gare de Lyon ; TGV Lyria) to Vallorbe. I just read in another post today, this is the border station between France and Switzerland. Train does not stop here but its the zone where it crosses border… So your Swiss Travel Pass will give you a free ride from there to your destination. But I don’t think you would be able to put that as a destination on TGV’s site. So you are better off with Paris Gare de Lyon to Genevé.

    2. From Genevé, your shortest / quickest route will be : Genevé to Bern & Bern to Interlaken. So you have only one change @ Bern. The Golden Pass is a route and not a specific train but a route from Interlaken to Montreux. The Panoramic coaches run between Zweisimmen to Montreux and the reverse. So I don’t see a real reason why you would want to lengthen your journey with luggage.

    3. The Genevé station is the same from you can change trains for Interlaken. The other station is the Genevé airport station (not for you in this respect).

    4. Golden Pass route is covered by the STP.

    5. Sorry if I did not mention it in my previous posts, you should install the SBB mobile app on your android / iphone as its super handy to check the currently running and available trains/bus between your source and destinations stations. At home, you can use their website http://www.sbb.ch/en to check train options between any two stations. Your best option would be to travel from Genevé to Bern and Bern to Interlaken OST. Remember that Interlaken West is a different station than Interlaken OST (OST station is to go to Jungfrau). So per your hotel reservation go to the correct station.

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    23 April 2016 at 21:40:55 #851091

    And yeah…. when booking the Paris – Swiss train on TGV, use their website en.voyages-sncf.com/en/train-ticket to book tickets. You can pay in Euro or Swiss France or Pounds (from a host of options on top right corner to select between currencies). This way you would be paying only for the train ticket costs. Using other sites (like Rail Europe India – something I used for this route booking) would charge you some additional booking fees as well.

    I can help a bit for your Paris trip as well…. but of course, not through this portal… 😉

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    24 April 2016 at 6:28:45 #851092

    Hi SS, Thanks for your response. I have one general question – If I have the Swiss Travel Pass can I just hop on to any train (tram, bus etc.) covered in the network or do I need to book? Also, for seat reservation do I need to do that in advance / and pay for it? If I decide to take Golden Pass, then is it recommended to reserve seats while using the Swiss Travel Pass?

    Thanks for your offer on Paris, will contact you once I have frozen Swiss plans 🙂

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    24 April 2016 at 6:34:17 #851093

    Also, I noticed that train from Geneva to Bern to Interlaken (1 connection) will take 3 hours and this one will be covered in the Swiss Travel Pass. I can hop on the train without making any prior bookings. Do I need to reserve seats in advance and pay? Golden Pass from Geneva to Interlaken will involve: Geneva to Montreux, Montreux to Zwissmein and then Zwissmein to Interlaken (2 connections) and 4 hours. Moreover, I think I will need to pay to reserve seats for this, is that correct? Thanks!

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    24 April 2016 at 6:43:59 #851094

    Hi Megha,

    Swiss Travel Pass lets you travel for free on all covered networks without any prior bookings. You don’t need any bookings whatsoever on any trains. You can board the correct bus / train / tram going in the direction of your requirement (check the SBB app for bus no, train no etc.) and show the Swiss Travel Pass to the ticket inspector if required. On my dates, many times no one came to check, but that does not mean you don’t carry your pass and passport with you all the time. In last 13 days, only once I was asked to show the passport along with Swiss Travel Pass, never otherwise in Paris, Swiss or Rome was I asked to show the passport.

    You don’t need mandatory reservation on the Golden Pass unless you decide to occupy the VIP seats. But June being a peak season time I am not sure if you do require or not. But in general, you can hop on to the train with your STP and find yourself a seat. April being Spring time I always found enough seats in 2nd class. But during peak times you might find it crowded at times requiring you to stand.

    Genevé to Interlaken via Bern is free with your Swiss Travel Pass. Yes, you can go via the Montreux & Zweisimmen route as well, you don’t need reservations unless otherwise stated (see above).The leg from Montreux to Zweisimmen has the Panoramic Coaches but those run at a specific time only. In other cases the routes itself is the Golden Pass route so you can board any train going in that direction.

    Arno
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    24 April 2016 at 13:06:44 #851095

    Note that the TGV Lyria from Paris to Lausanne passes Vallorbe, so indeed you would only need a ticket to Vallorbe if you have a Swiss Travel Pass. This does not apply for the TGV Lyria from Paris to Geneva. It’s a different route and none of it is covered by the Swiss Travel Pass.

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