[Removed user]

8 December 2017 at 1:14:49 #813794

My husband and I are planning four to five days in Switzerland.

our first question-what is best way to travel from gimmelwald to Zurich airport in September?

we would like to catch a three o’clock flight to Ljubljana.

do we have time to take the scenic route through Lucerne?

how many times will be need to make transfers?

Is there one train pass best suited for our travel as we will also be arriving at Zurich airport and travelling to mereigen(Reuti)spending a day or two- taking cable cars to high peaks and then going to gimmelwald for two days. Please recommend the best train pass and train routes. Thanks!

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[rockoyster]

8 December 2017 at 3:26:11 #872721

Hi Mathilda and Welcome to MySwissAlps,

The Swiss Railway Timetable (http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable) will show you the fastest route from Gimmelwald to Zurich Airport. That will be via Bern. See attached for transfers involved. If you want to go via Lucerne than it will take you an hour longer.

Which particular “high-peaks” did you plan to visit from Meiringen(Reuti)? Check out the Validity Map (http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/validity) for the Swiss Travel Pass to get an idea of what cablecars (shown with black dotted lines) are discounted with the STP or Swiss Half-Fare Card.

The only way to select a pass is to work out the full-fares (using the timetable) and compare that to total cost of the pass plus discounted fares. See http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass

Attachments:

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[Removed user]

8 December 2017 at 3:29:16 #872722

Hi Mathilda, and welcome to MySwissAlps!

>> our first question-what is best way to travel from gimmelwald to Zurich airport in September? … how many times will be need to make transfers?

• Cable car from Gimmelwald to Stechelberg

• Bus from Stechelberg to Lauterbrunnen

• Train from Lauterbrunnen to Interlaken Ost

• Train from Interlaken Ost to Zürich Airport, with changes at either Bern or Luzern (depending on route chosen)

I would avoid any connections requiring an additional change at Zürich Hauptbahnhof (main station), as that will slow you down a bit.

>> we would like to catch a three o’clock flight to Ljubljana. do we have time to take the scenic route through Lucerne?

Yes, if you leave early enough. The trip from Gimmelwald to Zürich Flughafen (airport) via Luzern would take about 4.25 hours, plus any time you wanted to spend in Luzern. I don’t know how early you have to be at the airport for a flight to another Schengen country, but it’s probably less than 2 hours. You would need to check with your airline.

You can plan this trip (and any others you intend to make within Switzerland) using the Swiss Timetable:

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

>> Is there one train pass best suited for our travel as we will also be arriving at Zurich airport and travelling to mereigen(Reuti)spending a day or two- taking cable cars to high peaks and then going to gimmelwald for two days. Please recommend the best train pass and train routes.

There is only one way to know for sure: add up the full-fare cost of all trips you intend to do by train, bus, cable car and boat and compare the total cost with the cost of doing the same trips with a Swiss Travel Pass or Swiss Half Fare Card.

There is information and a spreadsheet here to help you:

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

If you can’t be bothered doing the sums, you could simply get a Swiss Travel Pass for 4 days and point-to-point tickets for the 1st or last day, whichever is cheapest. (That is, if you decide on the extra day).

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 indicate railway tunnels, and are on routes that are free with the Swiss Travel Pass.

http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/swiss-travel-system-changes-in-2018

Alpenrose

[Removed user]

8 December 2017 at 3:30:07 #872723

Beat me to it 😉

[rockoyster]

8 December 2017 at 3:38:17 #872724

Only in speed. Can’t hold a candle to you for thoroughness though. Your recent response on the Brig and Chur post (http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/visiting-brig-and-chur-making-the-most-of-it) was a tour de force. 🤓

[rockoyster]

8 December 2017 at 5:02:41 #872725

Hello again Mathilda,

This might be useful to know which lifts are operating in September in the Meiringen-Hasliberg area http://www.meiringen-hasliberg.ch/cmsfiles/ Operation%20time_summe r_2018_1.pdf.

[Removed user]

8 December 2017 at 13:31:51 #872726

Thanks so much. I will check out all your links.