Best Swiss Pass for our trip

Since you will be in the BO area (including Lucerne) for most of your trip, I would look at the Half Fare Card plus the Berner Oberland Pass to cover 11 nights. The BO Pass covers a lot more than the Swiss Travel Pass. The BO Pass covers everything except Schilthorn and Jungfraujoch 100%. Those peaks are only discounted. The STP only covers the high gondolas 50%.

Definitely get the family passes for the teens.

I’m curious why you would split your stay between Wengen and Murren since they are so close to each other. You can see one village from the other, across the valley.

Thanks for your input.

The idea was to minimize time traveling through Lauterburnnen.
When in Wengen see all the sites on that side of the Valley and then switch to Murren and do the same there.

I’d get the 15-day Swiss Travel Pass and get a supersaver ticket for the lucerne to Zurich train as you can commit to a specific day and time for that one. These you can buy 6-months in advance to get the lowest price.

https://www.sbb.ch/en/travelcards-and-tickets/buying-options/saving.html

I’m not familiar with the options for kids, so I’m no help there.

The Swiss Travel Pass will cover you in Zermatt, Wengen/Murren, and Lucerne. Yes, you will need to pay extra for the mountain excursions that are not covered at 100%. Others like the ½ price card + BO Pass. I like the convenience of the Swiss Travel Pass and I’m also in different regions outside of the BO pass coverage area, like you will be.

I also have 5 nights in wengen and 3 in murren for my upcoming trip. So, I think that’s an excellent plan. 😊 It literally take minutes to check in and out of a hotel, so not a big deal.

Looks like you have a great trip planned.

With 5 nights in Wengen, I recommend going up and over the mountain to Grindelwald. The. Take the gondola to First, maybe do some if the activities at the adventure park. Either 1) take the gondola up to Mannlichen then down to Grindelwald 2) take the train to Kleinne Scheidigg and then train down to Grindelwald 3 take the train to Eigergleischer and then the gondola to Grindelwald. All of these are covered 100% by the BO Pass, but only discounted with the STP.

Watch for opening dates for some trails. We were there in late June and some trails/gondolas (Mannlichen) had just opened due to snow.

The majority of your time is in the Berner Oberland, so I would recommend the 10-day Berner Oberland Pass (275 CHF) plus Half Fare Card (120 CHF) with free Family Card for the kids. The reduction in price on the BO pass with HFC more than covers the cost of the HFC.

Start the validity on the 23d and the BO pass will fully cover your journey from Brig to Wengen, provided you go by the “scenic route” via Kandersteg, rather than the long and deep Lötschberg Basistunnel—-which I would avoid in any case. The HFC will give you a discount from Zermatt to Brig, and the children will be free, on this as well as all other rides.

Once in the BO, whether Wengen or Mürren, the BO pass will fully cover the mountain lifts around the region (apart from the Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn, which get a discount). This is a better offer than what you get with a regular Swiss Pass, which only covers the mountain lifts at 50%. Your kids are going to want to ride these, especially the First lift at Grindelwald, and maybe the Pfingstegg lift there a s well ( for the Rodelbahn).

Then your 10-day pass will fully cover the transfer by train to Luzern. After that, your HFC will discount your boat rides and mountain excursions like Rigi or Pilatus, plus the train ride to Zurich airport.

As for staying in both Wengen and Mürren, I think that is fine. We have done that as well. The two villages are quite different from one another, with different views and different activities close at hand, as well as a different “vibe”.

Thank you Lola! Such wonderful and detailed advice.

This matches what travel4ffun has recommended on the passes.
We plan to follow your advice!

Quick question:

You mention the BO pass will cover from Brig to Wengen once we leave Zermatt.
The train route I have seen from Zermatt takes one to Visp rather than Brig.
Do we need to take a train from Zermatt to Brig rather than Visp?

Thanks again!

The train from Zermatt actually goes to Brig, stopping at Visp along the way. The fastest way from Zermatt to Wengen changes at Visp to an express train to Spiez that uses the Loetschberg Base Tunnel. But this way is not valid using the Berner Oberland Pass. For that, you have to continue to Brig and change to a regional train that uses the old route using the high Loetschberg Tunnel. That takes about an hour longer but is much more scenic. BTW, the train from Zermatt stops in the street in front of Brig station, so you get off and walk inside the station to get mainline trains.

I will add to the chorus on the Half Fare Card + BO Regional Pass. the thing I really like about it is you are not reaching into your pocket every time you want to take a mountain lift and you will take a lot of them in the Lauterbrunnen/Mürren/Wengen area. Over 10 years of travel there nearly every year, we have never regretted this combo. Then you can decide to “joy ride” several lifts just for fun (nice on an overcast day) or just pop off somewhere for lunch or dinner, with no thought to additional cost.

Do look at the super saver tickets as recommended by Carrie for the segments outside the BO. You have to commit to a specific train, though and It might be hard to commit to a specific train for the Zurich to Zermatt route since you annoy predict your on-time arrival by plane. You can, with planning, commit to a departure from Zermatt to Brig, and save some Francs on that route.

Be sure you get the SBB app for your phone. Login with your account to SBB and buy your pass here https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/inspiration/international-guests/swiss-halffare-card.html. It will then display on your phone. You can buy all the passes for your family and have them in one place. No need for each person to have the app. Also, the odd ticket you buy (like Zurich to Zermatt) will fall under the HFC discount and you can buy all of your tickets for that journey through the app. The BO Reg Pass is NOT on the app but you can either print paper copies or download the PDFs to your phone (or both!).

Tschuss!