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Bellagio to Murren & Rail Pass

Posted by on

Hi All,

I will be going on a trip to italy & switzerland for the first time in late may-early june, and I am trying to figure out the best route to Murren from Bellagio and decide on the type of rail pass to purchase.

We plan on spending 4 days in(lodging) Murren, but will be traveling to interlaken one of the days for activities. We will also plan on hiking to gimmelwald & lauterbrunnen, but probably taking train or cable car on the way back.

We will then leave Murren and travel to Lucerne. From Lucerne, we may decide to take a day trip to Zurich and then head back to spend the night in Lucerne. Given all of this travel that we are doing, which from what I understand is a mix of train and cable car, what kind of rail pass would be best? I find the train system and the types of rail passes a bit confusing. Earlier in the trip we are also going from Venice to bellagio if that has any impact on the pass as well.

Thanks so much for any help.

Posted by
20081 posts

You don't say how long you are in Luzern and where you are going from there. Or how many "we" is. A couple? Family with kids?
The Swiss 30-day Half Fare Card will save you money. It is 120 CHF per adult, then everything in Switzerland is half price.
Bellagio to Muerren is probably best to take the ferry to Menaggio, then bus to Lugano. At Lugano, you can buy the Half Fare card (or Swiss Travel Pass), then train to Luzern, then Interlaken Ost, then Lauterbrunnen, then Muerren.
Train info at www.sbb.ch/en
You don't need a pass for Italy. Book a train from Venice to Milano Centrale. Buy an advance nonrefundable ticket with a print-at-home ticket if you want to save some money. From Milano Centrale, take the Regionale train to Varenna-Esino, then take the ferry to Bellagio.
Train info at http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

Posted by
2 posts

Hi Sam,

Much appreciated on the info. We is my girlfriend and I, and we will be in Lucerne for 3 days before we head to the Zurich airport and back to the US. Do you think the half fare card is more cost effective than the full rail card given that the funicular's and cable cars in the Jungfrau are not included in the rail pass and are only half off?

For that route to Murren, do you think there is a less cost effective but slightly faster route? I wonder if another option might be to go from Bellagio back to Milan and then up to Interlaken?

Thanks for your help.

Posted by
20081 posts

A Swiss Travel Pass only gives a 50% discount on the lifts above Muerren.
I've done the calculations dozens of times and the Half Fare Card is the winner 95% of the time.
But you can do the calculations yourself in about a half hours time. Go to www.sbb.ch/en and get the actual price for each journey you plan. remember to click on the "Fare" button to get to the actual price. The first price you see on the train list says "Prices from" is the price with a half fare card, so you pay double that if you don't have one.
Going back to Milan is fine, but you will be paying for the train to Milan and then the train from Milan to the Swiss border. and you will have to get off in Brig and buy your Half Fare card and wait for the next train. If you do buy the 8-day Swiss Travel Pass and get the electronic version, then you could buy the ticket as far as Domodossola, Italy. Then you just show it to the Swiss conductor (they change crews at Domodossola) and stay on the train the rest of the way.
Travel Pass and Half Fare card info at:
http://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/holidays--short-breaks-in-switzerland/swisstravelsystem.html

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