2 full days in Lauterbrunnen

It will depend on the ages of the people in your group, when you are going, where you are traveling from, where you are traveling to after Lauterbrunnen, and which lifts/gondolas/cable cars/trains/busses you plan to take during your two days. There is no easy answer. Many people recommend making a spreadsheet to determine the full cost of all this travel, then decide which pass works best for your plans.

Most people will say do one or the other (jungfraujoch or Schilthorn) but both are not needed. Each are expensive, and rarely covered 100% by a pass. The experience is 100% weather dependent. No point in going if weather at the top is bad. If you only have two days there, you should plan for backup activities in case of rain or clouds.

The pass options are: Swiss Rail Pass, Swiss Rail Half Off Pass, the Berner Oberland Pass, and the Top of Europe pass. Each of these has its pros and cons. It’s very confusing and very dependent on your specific itinerary as to which is “best” for your group.

You will be able to check conditions for those mountains ahead of time, see them in real time online. It took us four days until it was clear enough to go up the Jungfrau which was very costly- but really worth it.

Thanks Travel4fun & Suki! The 4 of us are 60’s & 70’s, so won’t hike much. But really want to see both mt tops, weather permitting of course. We are touring and only spending 3 nights in Switzerland so no need for fancy passes, only for the region. But still don’t know if regional passes are worth it or pay from point to point and how much that might be.

I'd compare those prices to the Berner Oberland Pass. In general, you have to take several short trips or a couple of long trips per day to make the pass worthwhile.

How are you getting to Lauterbrunnen? The BO pas does not cover travel to Zurich, for example.

Be aware that when you look at point to point prices, the assumption is that you have a half fare card.
You have to double the price, if you don’t plan to buy the half fare card.

Thanks everyone! Have decided with the Swiss Half Fare Card. Seeing we’ll be there the first week of Oct., will we have regrets? I understand that we have to buy tickets at each stop as we go. Don’t mind doing this but hopefully won’t be wasting a lot of time in lines at each ticket booth.

use the app on your phone. No time in queues at all.

Linda,

The Schilthorn is easier and quicker to reach from Lauterbrunnen, and also slightly less expensive than the Jungfraujoch. You may want to allow some time on the way up or way down to have a look around the villages of Mürren or Gimmelwald. If you want to have a fine meal in the revolving restaurant at the Schilthorn, it will be a bit pricey but it's a unique experience.

For the trip to the Jungfraujoch, you'll have to change trains in Kleine Scheidegg. One important point to mention for travel to the Jungfraujoch is that the facility is almost at 12,000 feet. If any in your group may have difficulties with the altitude, it's a good idea to consider that. I found that I was moving somewhat slower at the top, and stairs were more of an effort. On the trip down, there's not really much to explore at Kleine Scheidegg but you could travel to the next town below that, Wengen, and have a look around.

As others may have suggested, it's a good idea to check the webcams at the top of both locations to see what the weather is like. However with only two days to explore, I'd probably still make the trip even if there is cloud at the top.

Have you researched the transportation links to get to each location?

You should do a bucket list once in lifetime treat.... AirTime Paragliding in Murren! We did it the end of August and it was fabulous! By the way I am 70.

We flew into Zurich and went to the SBB office in the airport. We told the very helpful man our itinerary and he helped us buy the appropriate passes. It can be very very confusing, but we felt that we saved time and money by having the half price pass and the BO pass. We stayed in Lauterbrunnen and went all over both sides of the valley but didn't do either Schilthorn or Jungfraujoch.