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Ticket type: Public transport pass
Season:
all year
Valid for max. 31 days
Included area: SwitzerlandWhat’s included in the Swiss Travel Pass Flex?
The pass is available for 1st or 2nd class traveling. You’ll get:
- free unlimited traveling for 3, 4, 6, 8, or 15 days within a 1-month period;
- free trips by train, bus, boat, and city transport;
- 50% discounts on cable cars, cogwheel trains, and funiculars to the mountains (sometimes 25% or 100%: find details here);
- free entrance to over 500 museums;
- free travel for children with the Swiss Family Card.
These benefits only apply on the travel days you select. So there are no benefits before your first travel day, between your travel days, or after your last travel day.
➤ The prices of the Swiss Travel Pass Flex – 2026
| Looking for 1st class, youth prices, or prices in EUR/GBP/USD? | Duration | Price 2nd class (2026) | Price 1st class (2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Check prices for 3 days (swissrailways.com) | 3 days in a month | CHF 289 | CHF 461 |
| Check prices for 4 days (swissrailways.com) | 4 days in a month | CHF 349 | CHF 555 |
| Check prices for 6 days (swissrailways.com) | 6 days in a month | CHF 424 | CHF 674 |
| Check prices for 8 days (swissrailways.com) | 8 days in a month | CHF 459 | CHF 729 |
| Check prices for 15 days (swissrailways.com) | 15 days in a month | CHF 519 | CHF 819 |
Discounts
- Swiss Travel Pass Flex Youth: 30% off the pass price for youths/students up to and including 24.
- Swiss Family Card: children, stepchildren, and foster children from 6 up to and including 15 travel for free (even on routes where the parents just get a discount), if accompanied by at least one parent with a Swiss Travel Pass Flex. You can get the Swiss Family Card free of charge while ordering a Swiss Travel Pass Flex. Children who travel on their own get a 50% discount on the pass. Please find more options here.
- Children up to 5 travel along for free. They don’t need a pass.
- There are group discounts.
- There are no reduced fares for seniors.
Discounts on scenic trains with the Swiss Travel Pass Flex
| Scenic train | Discount |
|---|---|
| Bernina Express guide & prices | Free:
Seat reservations: no discount. |
| Centovalli Railway guide & prices | Free:
Seat reservations: no discount. |
| Chocolate Train guide & prices | Discount 35%:
|
| Glacier Express guide & prices | Free:
Seat reservations: no discount. |
| GoldenPass guide & prices | Free:
Seat reservations and surcharge for Prestige class in GoldenPass Express: no discount. |
| Gotthard Panorama Express guide & prices | Free:
Seat reservations: no discount. |
| Lötschberg Mountain Railway guide & prices | Free:
Seat reservations: no discount. |
| Voralpen-Express guide & prices | Free:
|
Discounted mountain excursions with the Swiss Travel Pass Flex
| Mountain | Discount |
|---|---|
| Bettmerhorn guide & prices | No discount:
Betten to Bettmeralp (cableway): 50% discounted. |
| Brienzer Rothorn guide & prices | Discount 50%:
|
| Bürgenstock guide & prices | Discount 50%:
Lucerne to Kehrsiten-Bürgenstock (boat): free. Stansstad to Bürgenstock (bus): free. Hammetschwand lift: no discount. |
| Cardada-Cimetta guide & prices | Discount 50%:
Locarno to Orselina (funicular): 25% discount. |
| Corvatsch guide & prices | No discount:
|
| Eggishorn guide & prices | Discount 50%:
|
| Glacier 3000 guide & prices | Discount 50%:
|
| Gornergrat guide & prices | Discount 50%:
|
| Grindelwald-First guide & prices | Discount 50%:
Adventure activities: discount varies |
| Harder Kulm guide & prices | Discount 50%:
|
| Jungfraujoch guide & prices | Discount 25%:
To Wengen and Grindelwald (train): free. |
| Männlichen guide & prices | Discount 50%:
|
| Matterhorn Glacier Paradise guide & prices | Discount 50%:
|
| Mittelallalin guide & prices | Discount 50%:
|
| Monte Brè guide & prices | Discount 50%:
|
| Monte Generoso guide & prices | Discount 50%:
|
| Monte San Salvatore guide & prices | Discount 50%:
|
| Monte Tamaro guide & prices | Discount 50%:
|
| Niesen guide & prices | Discount 50%:
|
| Parsenn-Weissfluhgipfel guide & prices | No discount:
|
| Pfingstegg guide & prices | Discount 50%:
|
| Pilatus guide & prices | Discount 50%:
Lucerne to Alpnachstad (train or boat): free. Lucerne to Kriens (bus): free. |
| Rigi guide & prices | Free:
|
| Rochers-de-Naye guide & prices | Discount 50%:
Montreux to Haut-de-Caux (train): free. |
| Schilthorn guide & prices | Discount 50%:
Stechelberg to Mürren (cableway): free. Lauterbrunnen to Mürren (cableway + train): free. Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg (bus): free. |
| Schynige Platte guide & prices | Discount 50%:
|
| Stanserhorn guide & prices | Free:
|
| Stoos guide & prices | Free:
Stoos to Fronalpstock and Klingenstock (chairlifts): no discount. |
| Sunnegga-Rothorn guide & prices | Discount 50%:
|
| Titlis guide & prices | Discount 50%:
|
Other discounted activities with the Swiss Travel Pass Flex
| Activity | Discount |
|---|---|
| Boat Basel guide & prices | No discount:
|
| Boat Lake Brienz guide & prices | Free:
|
| Boat Lake Geneva guide & prices | Free:
|
| Boat Lake Lucerne guide & prices | Free:
|
| Boat Lake Lugano guide & prices | Free:
|
| Boat Lake Maggiore guide & prices | Free:
|
| Boat Lake Thun guide & prices | Free:
|
| Boat Lake Zurich guide & prices | Free:
|
| Castles of Bellinzona guide & prices | Free:
Mini train: no discount. |
| Chillon Castle guide & prices | Free:
|
| Gruyères guide & prices | Free:
|
| La Maison du Gruyère guide & prices | Free:
|
| Maison Cailler guide & prices | Free:
|
| Rhine Falls guide & prices | No discount:
To Schloss Laufen am Rheinfall and Neuhausen Rheinfall (train): free. |
| Säntis | Discount 50%:
|
| Swiss Museum of Transport guide & prices | Discount 50%:
|
| Swissminiatur guide & prices | Discount 30%:
|
Free public transport routes with the Swiss Travel Pass Flex
I’ve listed some of the most popular included routes.
| Route | Discount |
|---|---|
| Austria to Switzerland guide & prices | No discount:
|
| Basel to Zurich guide & prices | Free:
|
| France to Switzerland guide & prices | No discount:
|
| Geneva to Zermatt guide & prices | Free:
|
| Germany to Switzerland guide & prices | No discount:
|
| Interlaken to Zurich guide & prices | Free:
|
| Italy to Switzerland guide & prices | No discount:
|
| Lauterbrunnen to Mürren guide & prices | Free:
|
| Lauterbrunnen to Wengen guide & prices | Free:
|
| Zurich to Lucerne guide & prices | Free:
|
| Zurich to Zermatt guide & prices | Free:
|
➤ Swiss Travel Pass Flex coverage map
The map shows where you can travel for free or with a discount.
The basic Swiss Travel Pass Flex validity rules
- Trains and buses to villages are free.
- Trips into the mountains (by cable car, funicular, cogwheel train, et cetera) are discounted.
- City transport (trams, buses) is free in over 90 towns.
- Boats are free, except for special cruises like dinner cruises.
- Seat reservations are not included (and rarely required).
- The Swiss Travel Pass Flex is for Switzerland only. A few train and bus routes crossing the border allow free travel too. Examples are EuroAirport (France) to Basel, Brig to Domodossola (Italy), Domodossola to Locarno (Centovalli line), and buses in Liechtenstein.
Details: Grindelwald buses, non-indicated discounts, discontinued discounts
- Bus routes around Grindelwald: free traveling applies on all bus lines within the village. You will get a 50% discount on tickets for the other lines, like Grindelwald to Bussalp, Grosse Scheidegg, and Schwarzwaldalp.
- Some discounts are not on the map:
- Cable car from Saanenmöser to Saanerslochgrat: 50% discount.
- Cable car from Kandersteg to Allmenalp: about 20% discount.
- Cable car from Küssnacht am Rigi to Seebodenalp: 50% discount.
How the map works
- Free and discounted traveling is explained in the upper left corner of the map. Solid and dashed lines are free. Dotted lines are discounted.
- Traveling with the Swiss Travel Pass applies to all trains that operate on the indicated lines and that are listed in the timetables. The train type (InterCity, local, panoramic) and the operating company do not matter. The Glacier Express, Bernina Express, GoldenPass, and other panoramic trains are thus included, except for seat reservations.
- There are too many bus routes to fit on the map. In principle, all public bus services in and to towns are free of charge.
How does the Swiss Travel Pass Flex work?
You’ll pick your travel days online, and you can do so shortly in advance. On a free travel day, you can travel as much as you like on trains, boats, buses, and trams without tickets. You do need a discounted ticket for cableways and most other mountain transport. Many museums can be entered for free.
There are no benefits on the remaining days.
What you’ll receive when ordering a Swiss Travel Pass Flex
You won’t receive an actual pass. You will only get a purchase receipt with the number of free travel days you chose, the dates between which it’s valid, the class you bought your pass for, the price, and a reference number. You need this number to get day tickets for each day you want to travel.
How to select your Swiss Travel Pass Flex travel days
This is how you pick a travel day:
- Go to the website https://activateyourpass.com.
- Fill out your reference number, first name, last name, and birth date, exactly as on your purchase receipt. Alternatively, if your receipt has a QR code, you can scan it to open the website and automatically fill out all information.
- Select one or more travel dates from the calendar.
- Click “Activate tickets”.
- Select one of the following options to get your day ticket with a QR code for the train staff:
- Mobile ticket: shows the ticket but does not store it anywhere. You can keep your browser open, but it may fail to show the ticket if you’re offline when the train staff needs to check it. I always take a screenshot to show when I’m offline. If you do that, do make sure that the QR code is zoomed in, and that your name, birth date, and travel date are visible too.
- PDF ticket: downloads your ticket. I recommend this because it works even if you’re offline: you can store the PDF document on your phone (or tablet). I initially didn’t see this option on my phone, but when I zoomed out, it appeared!
- Wallet: adds the ticket to a wallet app, if supported by your phone. This also works when offline.
Obtain your day ticket before you start traveling, not when you’re already on board. You can cancel a day ticket until the day before it is valid. I recommend obtaining your day tickets in the evening or the morning before traveling. That way, you minimize the chance that your travel plans change.
If you do not have internet access while traveling, get your day ticket before you leave your accommodation, so you can log on via the Wifi there.
How Swiss Travel Pass Flex travel days work
- You’ll be asked for a start date when you purchase the pass. I always select the first day I expect to travel. But, you can choose any start date you want. It doesn’t have to be the first day of a calendar month. It can also be a date before the day you expect to make your first trip.
- The Swiss Travel Pass Flex is valid for a maximum of 1 month, from the selected start date. Say that you picked July 15 as your start date: the pass will expire on August 14 at the latest. Within this month, you can select your travel days.
- The validity of the pass expires once you’ve used your last free travel day. If your last travel day is on August 3 in the above example, you can no longer use the Swiss Travel Pass Flex after this date.
- The start time of a travel day is not relevant. There’s no difference between July 15 at 08:00 and July 15 at 19:00. July 15 still counts as a full travel day, and the pass is basically valid from 0:00 that day.
- Travel days end at 5:00 AM of the following day, so that allows you to complete late-night trips, even after midnight. In the above example, the validity of the pass ends on August 15, 5:00 AM, if you would choose August 14 as the last travel day.
- Within the validity month, you can choose consecutive or non-consecutive travel days: whatever fits your plans. If you have a 4-day pass that is valid from July 15, you could use the travel days on July 15, July 18, August 2, and August 14, for example. But you could also choose consecutive days like August 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Traveling and benefits on other days
If you want to travel on any of the days before, after, or in between the travel days, you will have to purchase a regular ticket. You won’t get discounts, free travel, or free museum access on such days. The Swiss Family Card is not valid either, so children would need a ticket too, or a Junior Travelcard.
For affordable trips on your non-travel days, an additional Swiss Half Fare Card can be worth it.
Seat reservations
You don’t need seat reservations for 99% of all trains and buses in Switzerland. You can simply board with your Swiss Travel Pass Flex.
Exceptions are some international trains and a few panoramic trains like the Glacier Express and Bernina Express. If you need or want seat reservations, you have to arrange for them separately. Seat reservations are not included in the pass.
What to present on board the train, bus, or boat
Once you’re on board, you will need to present your day ticket to ticket controllers upon request. The controller may want to check your passport as well, to make sure you’re the owner of the presented ticket.
Additional tickets
There are two types of trips:
- Trips on routes that allow free traveling. On a travel day, you can board any train, bus, boat, et cetera on such routes. You do not need a ticket.
- Trips on routes that allow discounted traveling. This applies to transportation into the mountains. You need to arrange for a discounted ticket. You can do so online or at the ticket office of the cable car.
A few cableways are free with a Swiss Travel Pass Flex. If you can’t scan your day ticket to enter the cableway or funicular, ask the personnel upon showing your pass. They’ll get you a free ticket to open the turnstiles.
Pros and cons of the Swiss Travel Pass Flex
I think that the Swiss Travel Pass Flex is not as flexible as it seems: the pass is invalid on the days you don’t select, so you need to buy separate tickets even for short trips on such days. And it requires planning to decide which days should be free travel days.
The costs of trips on non-travel days add up quickly. Also, the pass itself is relatively expensive. It works for some itineraries, but be sure to do the math before you decide. In many cases, the Swiss Travel Pass is the better choice.
The Swiss Travel Pass Flex is worth considering if you stay for 16 days or longer. In that case, you may want to buy a Swiss Half Fare Card too, in order to get a discount on days you do not use the Swiss Travel Pass Flex.
My experience with the Swiss Travel Pass Flex
Annika and I use the Swiss Travel Pass Flex occasionally when we’re in Switzerland. We travel by public transport nearly every day, so the Swiss Travel Pass is easier for us. We only pick the Swiss Travel Pass Flex if we plan just a few days of long train, bus, or boat journeys.
We always have a wish list with plans, but no fixed schedule. So we make decisions about the free travel days only a day ahead of time. We consult weather forecasts, consider how many free travel days are left, and try to estimate which days are best for which trips. Next, we get our day tickets online. This is doable in my opinion. The process takes about 5 minutes.
On the remaining days, we buy full-fare tickets. To keep costs low, we limit ourselves to short, local trips.
Most other tourists also prefer the Swiss Travel Pass over the Swiss Travel Pass Flex. Please see the train pass buying statistics.
Free day trips with the Swiss Travel Pass Flex
The map and the above overview of discounts allow you to find all benefits you’re entitled to. Some of our personal free favorites are:
- the Rigi cogwheel train;
- the trip up to Stanserhorn;
- the Swiss open-air museum in Ballenberg;
- entrance to La Maison du Gruyère (cheese factory);
- entrance to Maison Cailler (chocolate factory);
- entrance to Chillon Castle.
Swiss Travel Pass Flex frequently asked questions
-
Is SwissPass the same as Swiss Travel Pass Flex?
No, the Swiss Travel Pass Flex is for tourists, while the SwissPass is a completely different product for Swiss residents.
The Swiss Travel Pass Flex was called “Swiss Flexi Pass” until 2014, and the Swiss Travel Pass was called “Swiss Pass”. Nowadays, the SwissPass is a digital product mainly used by Swiss residents, and it has nothing to do with your Swiss Travel Pass Flex. Find more details here.
I recommend keeping things simple: buy your Swiss Travel Pass Flex from any of the websites listed on this page. These websites are geared toward tourists. The pass allows you to select your travel days from the moment you receive it. There is nothing else you need to do.
-
Do I need a SwissPass account for my Swiss Travel Pass Flex?
No, you don’t have to add your Swiss Travel Pass Flex to a SwissPass account or any other account. Simply keep the day tickets on your phone. You don’t need anything else.
-
Is the GA Travelcard the same as the Swiss Travel Pass Flex?
No, the Swiss Travel Pass Flex is for tourists, while the GA Travelcard is a similar product for Swiss residents. There are more differences. The Swiss Travel Pass Flex is much easier to purchase, for example. And the GA Travelcard doesn’t include free entrance to museums, but the Swiss Travel Pass Flex does.
Find more details about the GA Travelcard here.
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Who can buy the Swiss Travel Pass Flex?
The Swiss Travel Pass Flex can be purchased by everyone, except for residents of Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
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What if I want to travel 1st class with a 2nd class Swiss Travel Pass Flex?
If you have a 2nd class pass, you can still choose to travel 1st class on occasional trips. You can buy an upgrade ticket. It costs half of the difference between the 2nd and 1st class fare for the route you wish to travel.
-
Is the Swiss Travel Pass Flex Youth different from the Swiss Travel Pass Flex for adults?
The Swiss Travel Pass Flex Youth basically is a Swiss Travel Pass Flex. There is no difference other than the price: the Swiss Travel Pass Flex Youth is a discounted pass for anyone up to and including 24 years.
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What if I travel where the Swiss Travel Pass Flex is not valid?
You will have to buy a regular ticket for the part of the trip that is not covered.
A trip that is not completely covered by the Swiss Travel Pass Flex is a common scenario if you travel to another country than Switzerland. You can check the map to find which part of your trip is covered.
Example: you travel from Milan to Interlaken. As you can see on the map, Domodossola – Interlaken is covered by the Swiss Travel Pass Flex. So you need to buy a ticket Milan – Domodossola. You don’t need to get off the train in Domodossola. You have paid for the entire trip with the ticket and pass, so you can stay seated.
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Does the Swiss Travel Pass Flex include more than travel?
Yes: on your selected travel days, you will get free entrance to museums and discounts on day trips.
Your Swiss Travel Pass Flex works as a Swiss Museum Pass too. Normally this is a separate product for which you’d have to pay. You can enjoy hundreds of museums for free on your travel days.
There are tickets for events and other day trips that include both transportation and admission. You will get a discount because the transportation is already included in the travel day of your Swiss Travel Pass Flex.
Essentially the Swiss Travel Pass Flex works much like the GA Travelcard for Swiss residents. That means that in most cases where the GA entitles to a discount, the Swiss Travel Pass Flex will entitle to that same discount.
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Is there a Swiss Travel Pass for one day?
No, there isn’t. For one day of travel, a Saver Day Pass could be an alternative.
➤ Where to buy the Swiss Travel Pass Flex: my recommendations
Note that you’ll only receive a Swiss Travel Pass Flex purchase receipt, not an actual pass. With your receipt, you can select your travel days online.
Swiss Travel Pass Flex promotions
Find the latest promotions and discounts offered by the various pass vendors below.
Get a group discount on the Swiss Travel Pass or Swiss Travel Pass Flex.
- www.swissrailways.com: official SBB tourist webshop
- www.museumspass.ch: find included museums
All tickets and passes
Find your cheapest ticket or pass
Swiss Travel Pass
Swiss Half Fare Card
Jungfrau Travel Pass
Free with the Swiss Travel Pass in the Bernese Oberland
Free with the Swiss Travel Pass in Lucerne
