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Best guide I found for picking Swiss Rail passes

I just returned from a glorious vacation to Switzerland and Germany. In my pre-planning, I had lots of questions about the Swiss Rail passes and what would be best for my particular situation. I wanted to share something I found that really made the decision easy for me! It is a spreadsheet that lets you compare the Swiss Rail Pass, Swiss half-fare pass, and also another option (like maybe the Berner-Oberland pass). I found it on the MySwissAlps.com website. Here is a link to the page and if you scroll down just a little, you will find a link to "download the example spreadsheet": https://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass

You still have to look up the base full fare prices, but can estimate in some cases. You also modify the trips based on what travel you think you will be doing. I searched fares on the SBB website (noting that the fare listed is the half-price). On the spreadsheet - for Option A, put in the full price; then Options B and C will calculate the cost based on the pass. And for Option D - you put in the information for any other type of pass you are researching. I think this was one of the best resources I found for figuring out the Swiss passes and know many people ask about them on this forum (including me). Hope it helps!

Posted by
21160 posts

That's pretty nifty. That is exactly how I do it, except I build my own spreadsheets which only takes a couple of minutes. But having it right there in a canned app will help most people.

Posted by
11779 posts

That's great! I wonder if it is quite new. Like Sam, I have been building my own analysis spreadsheet and it is very similar.

Posted by
32353 posts

That looks like a great website. It seems that someone else has discovered that travellers need help with the complexities of rail travel in Switzerland. I'll give their spreadsheet a test run later when I have more time. I've also used my own spreadsheets in the past, but perhaps I can retire those now.

Posted by
243 posts

Thanks so much for sharing! This is great to know.