Best pass for Wengen & Murren

I think the BO Passes give you the most flexibility. After many many visits there we have a mantra: "Just buy the pass!" We don't worry about a few francs difference here or there but we feel we always get a great value out of the BO Pass and it is convenient. If you decide spur-of-the-moment to do something not on your list (boat ride on one of the lakes?), it is covered.

The Half Fare Card usually pencils out as a good value in addition as it does give a discount on the BO Pass and will apply, as you know, to any transport outside the region so. But see if the 120CHF cost of the HFC noodles out in discounts. Might be a break even.

I would get the half fare card and BO pass (it’s less than BO pass alone with the discount)…also would go for 1st class - it’s just a little more and 1st class cars less crowded and you get the nice top deck on boats on Lake Brienz & Thun…
also add to you plans the cable cars to Grindelwald and go up to the thrill walk on First. I had the 10 day pass in June and figured I saved $500 off regular prices.

Do you plan to do anything off the mountain not on your list? I don’t typically say this but with your itinerary I don’t even know that you need a pass if the consideration is value. With that itinerary $ wise, you’d be a better candidate for just the half fare card because you don’t have enough things listed that would be a savings with the BO.

The pass would cover Männlichen/KS, Eiger, going down to Lauterbrunnen and Stechelberg but a good deal of the things on your list are right from Murren, involve really cheap rides (like under 10 chf for a lot of them) or things like the Allmendhubel which isn’t covered or the Schilthorn which is 50% off with the HFC without having the BO.

The pass is always nice when you plan to do a decent amount of day trips but you don’t really have those listed, so I’m not sure the value is there. If you want to add things like Schynigge Platte, a boat ride, Grindelwald, etc then it starts to have greater value to you based on the convenience but hiking mostly from Murren I think your train/cable bill would end up being pretty inexpensive with the HFC.

If you think you’ll ride the trains/cables a little more than you have listed I still doubt doing a 10 day + 3 day + HFC would be $ worth it. A 10 day + HFC and then just plan for your last few days to be cheaper rides like down to Lauterbrunnen or Gimmelwald which won’t add up to what a 3 day pass would be for your itinerary.

Obviously this is just a quick scan of your plans so if you have a more detailed plan that I’m missing info on, I could be wrong. Either way, you really can’t go wrong. In the end if you make a “mistake” and buy something you don’t fully need or don’t buy something you could have used it’s usually the difference of under a hundred dollars, so it’s not a make or break in the grand scheme of a trip.

We live in Murren for the summer every year, so if this is your first time, you’re in for a treat :) If you have any other questions for your trip, feel free to reach out!

Thank you all for your knowledgeable answers.
To fill in some blanks... it's our 1st trip to Switzerland & Alps. It will be a 70th birthday present to myself, will change my name to Heidi, and take place in 2024. Husband will be 75, has some breathing issues, so, planning only walks deemed 'easy, downhill, with ride back'. I can always leave him on balcony while I walk/hike. Have not planned to go anywhere other than Wengen & Murren. Am open to any & most suggestions.

Wanderweg, so you think a 10 day BO with the HF card would be the way to go, or just the HF? We will be staying at Alpina, and will eat supper there a couple times. Doesn't look like many restaurant choices, which is fine. Does the co-op have food for picnics/cold suppers, beer & wine?

If you are going to be there on your actual birthday the Schilthorn is free, as are the boats (first class) on Lake of Brienz and Lake of Thun. This could come in handy if you don't get the BO pass.

https://schilthorn.ch/9/en/Happy_Birthday!

https://www.bls-schiff.ch/en/lake-cruise/tickets-vouchers/special-offers

If you plan to limit your trips and do mostly simple walking from Wengen & Mürren, I think the most economical option for you will be doing just the Half Fare Card. If convenience is as important as budget, see additional comments below.

To monetarily benefit from a 10 day BO pass, you need to be averaging around 40 chf of train/cable car rides per day to start “winning”. I just don’t see you hitting that mark with your plans. With your itinerary and the HFC, you’re probably going to be averaging maybe 20 chf per day. Some days maybe slightly more, but some significantly less. For example, with the HFC a roundtrip from Mürren to Lauterbrunnen is going to cost you only 11 chf. If you don’t do any other train travel on that day, you will have essentially paid 3-4 times that cost with the BO pass for the convenience of not having to buy a ticket.

The pass is nice in that it allows you to not purchase tickets when you ride the cables/trains between Lauterbrunnen, Gimmelwald, Stechelberg, etc but you’ll still need to get physical tickets for Schilthorn, Allmendhubel & Männlichen, so it depends on if you feel that an extra potentially 100-200 chf between 2 people is worth the convenience of not buying tickets for your small trips. It may be to you if budget is no consideration.

For most people the pass is always a good idea, I just think for your personal “quieter” itinerary that it’s benefit to you is convenience, not really saving money. Which is a totally valid choice, we choose convenience over budget quite a bit!

And by the way, I think quieter itineraries are amazing and you’re going to love your trip. It’s a special place and all the Swiss National Day activities are amazing. The Mürren Dorfest (village festival) is the Thursday through Sunday after Swiss National Day and is lots of fun as well - cow parade, traditional live music, food, flea market, etc.