Zurich-Wengen-Munich rail tickets/passes

Hello, I am taking my two grandchildren ages 14 and 17 to Europe this summer. We plan on leaving Zurich to Wengen on July 22 for 6 days. Then to Munich on the 28th. There is so much information re: the Swiss travel passes and I have been researching for months to figure out what is best. At present I think the Jungfrau Area pass for 6 days looks promising. Can you answer me these few questions please:

1. What other ticket/pass do I need to buy to get from Zurich to Wengen? At present I calculated a 5 day Jungfrau pass at $714 but do I need to add in the cost of getting from Zurich to the Jungfrau area and then single pricing for the cable cars etc?.

2. Would a Swiss Travel Pass be more economical? At present I think I calculated an 8 day pass for $788.

3. Does it make more sense to just purchase the Swiss Travel Pass because the cable cars etc in Lauterbrunnen are half price with this pass.?

What ticket do I then buy to get us to Munich on the 28th? I assumed I would take train back to Zurich then another to Munich. Is this an SBB ticket or a German Rail ticket.

Any help would be appreciated as I have a pile of papers that I cannot make sense of.

Hi munichmaria,

If you are sure you will only travel in the limited area of the Jungfrau Travel Pass (see here), you can combine that pass and a Swiss Transfer Ticket to get from Zurich to Wengen and Wengen to the Swiss/German border on your way to Munich.

If you prefer the option to also do some day trips out of the region, the Swiss Travel Pass indeed makes sense. As of this year it also covers the Schynige Platte cogwheel train from Wilderswil for free. You may want to compare the Swiss Travel Pass to the Swiss Transfer Ticket Combi: same thing as the Swiss Transfer Ticket, but it also offers a 50% discount on day trips during your stay.

Personally I would prefer the last two options, and the Swiss Travel Pass is the most convenient one of these two as it includes quite a lot for free (boats too), so you don't need to buy tickets and can simply board. Please see here for how to compare passes price wise. The Swiss Travel Pass covers the ride until the German border (Basel, Zurich or St. Margrethen, depending on which route you choose). Tickets for the German leg of the journey can be purchased from any of the websites listed here.

The 17 year old can buy the cheaper Youth version of the Swiss Travel Pass. You can get a Grandchild travelcard for the 14 year old: www.sbb.ch/en/travelca rds-and-tickets/railpasses/tra velling-with-children-and-grandchildren.html.