9 days in Switzerland and France in May/June

Hi danielray and Welcome to MySwissAlps,

Go for Montreux then you can take Golden Pass Line (http://www.myswissalps.com/go ldenpass) comfortably to Wengen. Annecy looks very nice but we a promote Switzerland here. 😎

A day trip to Zermatt is doable from Wengen. Use the Swiss Train Timetable (http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable) to plan your travel. Pick a good weather day. If you go via fastest route via Visp consider at least in one direction between go through to Brig and return to Spiez via Kandersteg. You will then travel on the Regio-Express Lötschberger train over the traditional, more than 100 year old mountain route, giving you a wonderful view along the impressive peaks and down into the Rhone Valley.

From Lauterbrunnen a very nice circuit to do is to Grütschalp (cable car), Mürren (cogwheel train), Gimmelwald (cable car), Stechelberg (cable car), Lauterbrunnen (bus). From Mürren you can easily visit Schiltorn (free with STP this year) if you have time, and the Allmendhubel Funicular as well. In between Stechelberg and Lauterbrunnen the bus stops at the Trummelbach Falls. Well worth a look. Also the Lauterbrunnen valley is perhaps easy walking for your wife.

Hello Daniel,

I am NOT an expert on the various rail passes that are available for travel in Switzerland. I see that you are looking at a nine day visit. Aside from a possible side-trip to Annecy (which is a beautiful place and well worth the visit), most of your train travel consists of a trip from Geneva to Zurich, via Berne, Thoune, and Lucerne, with a side trip to Wengen where you are booked at an AirBnB for 5 nights. Do you know what the cost of a single train ticket would be for Geneva – Berne – Wengen – Lucerne – Zurich ? And how would this cost compare to the cost of an eight day rail pass ? If the cost of either is about the same, that’s fine, and I would go with the pass, as it would then allow for any other rail travel I might decide to do, but if there is a big difference I would consider buying the single tickets (times four of course), especially since you are planing on spending five days in the Wengen area. My first attachment is a map of Switzerland, showing (with a blue line) the path from Geneva to Zurich via Berne, Thoune, Lauterbrunnen, then Lucerne and finally to Zurich (the red arrow shows the location of Annecy). The total distance of this trip is in the neighbourhood of 370 kilometres. I say this (“in the neighbourhood”) because there could be a slight difference between the distance by road and that by rail.

I clicked on a site where one can buy Swiss rail passes and found that for eight days the cost for 2 adults, 1 youth, and 1 child (under 16) the total cost quoted is US$ 1196. See second attachment.

Then I went to the CFF/SBB site and found that the cost for a single ticket for Geneva – Berne – Lauterbrunnen – and then to Zurich via Berne (not Lucerne) is only CHF 69.60 per adult. See third attachment. Since single rail tickets in Switzerland are based on kilometres travelled, I assume that going to Zurich via Lucerne instead of via Berne will not add to this cost, and might even reduce it ! I am not even sure if the CHF 69.60 fare even applies to your younger son.

My point is that I think there is a HUGE difference between going with a single ticket with multiple stops and going with a rail pass. If there is a problem with the validity period of the single ticket, then I would suggest buying single tickets for each segment. As ticket prices are based on kilometres, I figure the total cost will work out pretty well the same. Have I missed something ? I invite the train experts to comment.

Hi Rockoyster,

Thank you for the clarification. I redid the calculation, this time via Lucerne, and the amount now showing is CHF 68.70 (see attachment). I see that this is the halb-tax rate and also the rate for those under 16. So the total cost of the journey for our four friends will be 3 x (68.70 x 2) plus 68.70 for the younger son which works out to a total of CHF 480.90. This is a still less than half of the US$1196 cost of the passes. So yes, one must also consider the cost of any other travel being contemplated (boats, PTT buses, cable cars) and which of these are free or at a reduced cost if one has a pass (and would be regular priced if one did not have a pass). When I was a student, I got my money’s worth of my generalabonnement many times over as I was everywhere (train, bus, boat) but I was just thinking that possibly for Daniel and his family, since they are staying in Wengen for five nights and with a focus on hikes and bike rides, the extra cost of the passes would not be justified. For all we know, the BnB has said they will provide bikes, but even if they don’t, I’m fairly sure that bike rentals are not covered by the train pass (although that would be a good idea).

I guess what I’m saying is that “How to chose the best travel pass” should tell travelers than in some cases, perhaps no pass is the best idea.

Hi Rockoyster,

You wrote << If people follow the guide they may well reach the conclusion that “point to point tickets” are the best solution for them. Everyone’s itinerary, travel plans, budget and desire for convenience over cost are unique. >> Exactly ! I would like to see that first sentence right up front and centre in the guide. As you know, Switzerland is not inexpensive and some people are concerned about economy (others are not) and we can sometimes see this in the questions they ask in this forum.

All true. On our last trip we had 3 travel days and a lot of regional travel. The cheapest option turned out to be Swiss half fare card with 3 point to point tickets , and Jungfrau pass. Second cheapest was STP flex with Jungfrau pass. By far the most expensive was the STP by itself Mark