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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? 
- You'll get free unlimited traveling for 3, 4, 6, 8, or 15 days within a one-month period.
- Trains, buses, boats, and city transport are free.
- Cable cars, cogwheel trains, and funiculars to the mountains are discounted by 50%, and sometimes by 25% or 100% (find details and exceptions here).
- There's free entrance to over 500 museums.
- The Swiss Travel Pass Flex is available for 1st or 2nd class traveling.
- Children travel along for free with the Swiss Family Card.
Pros and cons of the Swiss Travel Pass Flex
We 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 would need separate tickets even for short trips on such days. Also, the pass 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 your consideration if you stay for 16 days or longer. In that case, you may want to buy an additional Swiss Half Fare Card, in order to get a discount on days you do not use the Swiss Travel Pass Flex.
The prices of the Swiss Travel Pass Flex
| Duration | Price 2nd class (2024) | Price 2nd class (2025) | More information (youth discounts, 1st class, prices in EUR/GBP/USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 days in a month | CHF 279 | expected in summer 2024 | getyourguide.com |
| 4 days in a month | CHF 339 | expected in summer 2024 | getyourguide.com |
| 6 days in a month | CHF 405 | expected in summer 2024 | getyourguide.com |
| 8 days in a month | CHF 439 | expected in summer 2024 | getyourguide.com |
| 15 days in a month | CHF 479 | expected in summer 2024 | getyourguide.com |
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.
Where to buy the Swiss Travel Pass Flex
You'll find recommended points of sale below. You will receive the Swiss Travel Pass Flex via e-mail. You can select your travel days online.
Offered by GetYourGuide: www.getyourguide.com
- Easy, online, free cancellation in most cases
- Best Price Matching: GetYourGuide will pay the difference if you find a lower price.
- Extra Support: if you buy here, MySwissAlps can also assist if you have questions about your order.
Offered by HappyRail: www.happyrail.com
- Excellent prices in all currencies. No additional fees.
- Extra Support: if you buy here, MySwissAlps can also assist if you have questions about your order.
- Experienced team of train travel experts
Offered by Official SBB shop: switzerlandtravelcentre.com
- Official webshop of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), operated by Switzerland Travel Centre (STC)
- Instant delivery through e-mail in 5 minutes
- Free cancellation until 1 day before travel, if you choose the FLEX OPTION. No questions asked.
- Extra Support: MySwissAlps can answer most questions regarding your order as well.
Swiss Travel Pass Flex promotions
Find the latest promotions and discounts offered by the various pass vendors below.
Get a 5% discount on the Swiss Travel Pass Flex with promo code: MSA-HO-5. Additionally, you'll receive a CHF 10 cashback. Free cancellation.
You need to be logged into the Headout website to qualify.
Find mountain trips and other activities offered at discounted rates if your own a Swiss Travel Pass or Swiss Travel Pass Flex.
Get a group discount on the Swiss Travel Pass or Swiss Travel Pass Flex.
Discounts on scenic trains with the Swiss Travel Pass Flex
| Scenic train | Discount |
|---|---|
| Bernina Express | Free:
Seat reservations: no discount. |
| Centovalli Railway | Free:
Seat reservations: no discount. |
| Chocolate Train | Discount 40%:
|
| Glacier Express | Free:
Seat reservations: no discount. |
| GoldenPass | Free:
Seat reservations and surcharge for Prestige class in GoldenPass Express: no discount. |
| Gotthard Panorama Express | Free:
Seat reservations: no discount. |
| Lötschberg Mountain Railway | Free:
Seat reservations: no discount. |
| Voralpen-Express | Free:
|
Discounted mountain excursions with the Swiss Travel Pass Flex
Trips to the below mountains are either free or discounted for Swiss Travel Pass Flex holders.
| Mountain | Discount |
|---|---|
| Bettmerhorn | No discount:
Betten to Bettmeralp (cableway): 50% discounted. |
| Brienzer Rothorn | Discount 50%:
|
| Bürgenstock | Discount 50%:
Lucerne to Kehrsiten-Bürgenstock (boat): free. Stansstad to Bürgenstock (bus): free. Hammetschwand lift: no discount. |
| Cardada-Cimetta | Discount 50%:
Locarno to Orselina (funicular): 25% discount. |
| Corvatsch | Discount 50%:
|
| Eggishorn | Discount 50%:
|
| Glacier 3000 | Discount 50%:
|
| Gornergrat | Discount 50%:
|
| Grindelwald-First | Discount 50%:
Adventure activities: discount varies |
| Harder Kulm | Discount 50%:
|
| Jungfraujoch | Discount 25%:
To Wengen and Grindelwald (train): free. |
| Männlichen | Discount 50%:
|
| Matterhorn Glacier Paradise | Discount 50%:
|
| Mittelallalin | Discount 50%:
|
| Monte Brè | Discount 50%:
|
| Monte Generoso | Discount 50%:
|
| Monte San Salvatore | Discount 50%:
|
| Monte Tamaro | Discount 50%:
|
| Niesen | Discount 50%:
|
| Parsenn-Weissfluhgipfel | No discount:
|
| Pfingstegg | Discount 50%:
|
| Pilatus | Discount 50%:
Lucerne to Alpnachstad (train): free. Lucerne to Kriens (bus): free. |
| Rigi | Free:
|
| Rochers-de-Naye | Discount 50%:
Montreux to Haut-de-Caux (train): free. |
| Schilthorn | Discount 50%:
Stechelberg to Mürren (cableway): free. Lauterbrunnen to Mürren (cableway + train): free. Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg (bus): free. |
| Schynige Platte | Discount 50%:
|
| Stanserhorn | Free:
|
| Sunnegga-Rothorn | Discount 50%:
|
| Titlis | Discount 50%:
|
Other discounted activities with the Swiss Travel Pass Flex
| Activity | Discount |
|---|---|
| Boat Basel | No discount:
|
| Boat Lake Brienz | Free:
|
| Boat Lake Geneva | Free:
|
| Boat Lake Lucerne | Free:
|
| Boat Lake Lugano | Free:
|
| Boat Lake Maggiore | Free:
|
| Boat Lake Thun | Free:
|
| Boat Lake Zurich | Free:
|
| Castles of Bellinzona | Free:
Mini train: no discount. |
| Chillon Castle | Free:
|
| Gruyères | Free:
|
| La Maison du Gruyère | Free:
|
| Maison Cailler | Free:
|
| Rhine Falls | No discount:
To Schloss Laufen am Rheinfall and Neuhausen Rheinfall (train): free. |
| Säntis | Discount 50%:
|
| Swiss Museum of Transport | Discount 50%:
|
| Swissminiatur | Discount 30%:
|
Free public transport routes with the Swiss Travel Pass Flex
We've listed some of the most popular included routes.
| Route | Discount |
|---|---|
| Austria to Switzerland |
No discount:
|
| Basel to Zurich |
Free:
|
| France to Switzerland |
No discount:
|
| Geneva to Zermatt |
Free:
|
| Germany to Switzerland |
No discount:
|
| Interlaken to Zurich |
Free:
|
| Italy to Switzerland |
No discount:
|
| Lauterbrunnen to Mürren |
Free:
|
| Lauterbrunnen to Wengen |
Free:
|
| Zurich to Zermatt |
Free:
|
Swiss Travel Pass Flex coverage map
The map shows where you can travel for free or with a discount. The basic rules are:
- 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.
- 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.
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.
- Red dashed lines are tunnels. Free traveling applies there, just as for the solid red lines. Frutigen to Visp is an example of such a route.
- 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. On a free travel day, you can travel as much as you like on trains, boats, buses, and trams. You don’t need 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 a pass, you will only receive a purchase receipt with these details for each traveler:
- reference number;
- first name;
- last name;
- birth date.
You need these details 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:
- Log into the website https://activateyourpass.com using the details on your purchase receipt.
- Select a date from the calendar.
- Select one of the below options to get a day ticket:
- Print ticket: this will download a PDF document with your ticket. We recommend this option because you can store the document on your phone (or tablet) just like any other PDF document, and show it on request. This works even when you are offline. You can print the document, but that’s not required.
- Add to wallet: this adds the ticket to a wallet app. This normally also works when offline.
- Show ticket: this shows the ticket but does not store it anywhere.
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. We recommend obtaining your day tickets in the evening or the morning prior to traveling. That way you minimize the chance that your travel plans change.
If you do not have internet access while traveling, be sure to obtain 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
- The Swiss Travel Pass Flex is valid for a maximum of 1 month. You can choose any start date you want. It doesn’t have to be the first day of a calendar month. Say that your pass is valid from July 15: it 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 19:0. 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 on other days
If you want to travel on any of the days in between the travel days, you will have to purchase a regular ticket. There are no discounts, no free travel, and no 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 the days you don’t select as a travel day, it can be worth it to buy an additional Swiss Half Fare Card.
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 Swiss Travel Pass to enter the cableway or funicular, ask the personnel upon showing your pass. They’ll get you a free ticket to open the turnstiles.
Our experience with the Swiss Travel Pass Flex
We 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 we have left, and try to estimate which days are best for which trips. We then get our day tickets online. This is doable in our opinion. The process takes about 5 minutes.
On the remaining days, we buy full-fare tickets. Those costs add up quickly, so 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 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. Nowadays, 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.
We 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 received 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.
-
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.
-
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 at a train station. 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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
Other websites of interest
- shop.switzerlandtravelcentre.com: official SBB tourist webshop
- www.museumspass.ch: find included museums
More to prepare for your trip
Tickets
Compare rail passes
Scenic trains
Alternative train passes for Switzerland
Swiss Travel Pass
Swiss Half Fare Card
