Help with train tickets

We spend our summers living in Murren, so I can tell you with full confidence, you should definitely not get the BO Pass 3 times. Get the half fare card + Unlimited Jungfrau Summer Pass. It's a pass meant for residents or long term visitors, so it doesn't come up on tourist info. It includes everything around Murren, including unlimited rides to the Schilthorn and all the major mountain areas in the Jungfrau Region (Schynige Platte, First, Wengen, Kleine Scheidegg, Jungfraujoch, Gimmelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald, etc) and once you hit around 2 weeks in the area, it's the best option.

Your plan of 3 BO passes + 1/2 fare card would be 1068 chf and doesn't include Kleine Scheidegg, Jungfraujoch, Eigergletscher or First. My plan is half of that -- 569 chf -- and includes those things.

Then for your travel from Zurich airport to Murren and from Murren to Chamonix and back, just purchase half fare tickets to/from Interlaken Ost where the pass starts. You'll purchase the passes online but you'll need to go to a train station in the area to pick up your phyiscal cards for the pass. You can do this at Interlaken Ost upon arrival or you can just pay for your arrival ticket from the Zurich airport to Murren and then pick up the cards in Murren. Either way is fine. We typically just purchase our first ticket all the way to Murren and deal with getting our cards in Murren so that we don't have to miss the train connection in Interlaken, but either is fine.

If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out. If you all are in Murren that long, we might see you around :) If you guys like to hike, my husband & I do a ton of hiking in the area.

If your travel partner wants to explore more of Switzerland during his 30 days (not just the Jungfrau region), take a look at the one month GA Travelcard. This gives you unlimited travel on all trains, boats and busses in all of Switzerland.

https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/travelcards/ga-travelcard/ga-1-month.html

Additional helpful info from the Q&A section:

Tourists can purchase it as well, but the card will be a paper ticket;
no SwissPass card is needed. An SBB account is helpful to purchase
tickets online, though.

The GA travel card does not cover all the trains. The things like the Schilthornbahn above Muerren, and the Wengneralpbahn above Wengen and the Jungfraujochbahn get discounts with the GA Travel Card.

The GA travel card does not cover all the trains. The things like the Schilthornbahn above Muerren, and the Wengneralpbahn above Wengen and the Jungfraujochbahn get discounts with the GA Travel Card.

Yes, of course. You can not go into the recreational areas for free, that has been said so often here I did not repeat it. A regular GA will provide a discount on the Summer Jungfrau Pass (like the HFC does) and also gives half price on most mountain excursions. I can only assume that the one month GA functions the same way, but since I live here, and have the yearly one, I have never used it.

edited to add: my point being that the one month GA is only CHF 320.00 more than the one month HFC. For anyone staying 30 days who wants to do day trips to see the rest of the country, this can certainly be very beneficial.

Wanderweg, is this something you purchase for your extended holidays here?

Yes, we do the year long half fare card + the unlimited summer pass I suggested above, as it’s valid April through November. For the times we venture beyond the validity of our pass we just pay 1/2 fare.

Thank you so much for the reply! I have been looking at tickets for months and that was the best solution I could come up with...your plan is so much better! I am so glad I asked! Wanderweg-I may reach out to you if I have any other questions. Thanks again, we are headed that way soon.

Hi Janelle,

I enjoy traveling around Switzerland a lot and make really good use of my GA travel card. If this doesn't apply to you, or especially your travel partner, then the HFC is certainly the way to go. At the risk of being annoying, I will just spell it out a bit more so you can decide accurately.

The Summer Jungfrau Pass is perfect for exploring Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Mürren, and getting to/from Interlaken Ost.
If you or your travel partner (staying a month) want to go beyond this area — Montreux, Luzern, Zermatt, boat on Lake Thun or Brienz, rainy day trip to Bern — you’ll need extra tickets, even at the Half Fare Card price they add up.

Example:
 Zürich Airport > Interlaken Ost (where the Jungfrau Pass kicks in). 
CHF 38.50 × 2 (for return trip) = CHF 77.00

Just three more longer train rides like that and the GA travelpass pays for itself. Mt. Rigi is even included with the GA zone, so Interlaken > Lucerne > boat > Rigi is all covered.
Bonus: No need to buy tickets every time. Just hop on and go. Change your mind part way through an outing and go somewhere else, it doesn't matter.

Pass Comparison:

• Half Fare Card – CHF 120.00
• 50% off all trains, buses, boats, and mountain trips

GA Travelcard – CHF 440


• Unlimited travel on public transport
• 50% off mountain trips
• Only CHF 320 more than the HFC for full access across Switzerland

My guess is that by choosing to stay for 30 days just in Mürren that the focus of their trip is mostly hiking and spending time in the mountains in the surrounding areas, otherwise they would pick a more centralized base. Having spent my summers in Mürren for many years, it’s a priority to have all the mountain transportation fully covered when staying there because you use them way more often than you do purchasing one off day trip tickets here and there. It’s between having to purchase supplement tickets almost every single day vs here and there.

It’s unlikely that you’d do a day trip all the way to Zurich or Montreux from Mürren. It’s just too far for the day. Maybe Bern, Thun, or something like that, but that’s only 10-30 chf roundtrip with the HFC.

It’s unlikely that you’d do a day trip all the way to Zurich or Montreux from Mürren. It’s just too far for the day.

Well, I am sorry to hear that. A longer train trip is nothing to be afraid of, in fact so many tourists to exactly that when they take one of the scenic train routes. For a Swiss person hearing this it is like someone from here taking a trip all the way to California and then staying only in Disneyland because everywhere else is 'too far away' and they think it has nothing to offer. For a few days that's great, but for a whole month? Train travel is super simple, and for a day trip you don't even need to schlep your luggage along....but each one makes the kind of holiday that they desire, which is of course the best thing to do.

I didn’t say the places didn’t have anything to offer, but I personally don’t prefer multiple day trips that require 8+ hours of train travel roundtrip, leaving only a few hours to do anything there. Some may, totally fine and it’s a personal preference.

When you come to Switzerland for a hiking trip, it’s not comparable to sitting at Disneyland for a month. We spend our summers living in Mürren and when you stay in one spot for a month or more, it allows you a really special opportunity to slow down and feel like you’re living somewhere instead of a typical vacation trying to see all the things. The purpose changes from checking off a list of cities to soaking in an area and enjoying it. So I’d compare it to going to California and deciding you want to go live in San Diego for a month, not sitting at Disneyland for a month. It’s not required to see all the places in California to have enjoyed your time there.

Your suggestion is a great one for anyone who wants to move around a lot for a month + so it is a great option to consider for those who prefer a more on the go summer than I. My purpose in clarifying was simply that I get the vibe from the original poster that their intent is more along the lines of what we do for our summers in Mürren.

Wanderweg and SwissNomad, Thank you for the discussion about the GA Travelcard. It looks like a real bargain for travel in Switzerland even if you used it for just a couple weeks. And, like the Swiss Travel Pass did, it really simplifies travel around the country.

One thing to add to the discussion. Like the year long half fare card, getting the GA card requires you to get the Swiss Pass (poorly named product that isn’t the Swiss Travel Pass). It’s basically an SBB ID/account and it requires a process of SBB verifying your passport and sending you a physical card in the mail with your photo, customer #, etc. It’s intended for residents, so I can say as an American that the process was a bit of a pain in the butt. Their system isn’t set up for US addresses/info, so I had to have an SBB employee override the system manually. I’m very savvy with SBB and tech and it still took us multiple days of hassle to get it right. Tourists should know that before selecting that option, as it’s not as simple as purchasing tourist passes.

Like the year long half fare card, getting the GA card requires you to get the Swiss Pass

@ Wanderweg

Not so, that is why I posted this quote from the Q&A section for the One Month GA on the SBB website (see my first post in this discussion):

Tourists can purchase it as well, but the card will be a paper ticket; no SwissPass card is needed.

So according the SBB, the Swiss Pass is not needed. See: Questions from the Community, posted on 13.06.2025

https://www.sbb.ch/en/help-and-contact/products-services/travelcards/ga-and-half-fare-travelcard/1-month-ga-travelcard.html#anchor7

@Kenko, yes! It is a really good deal, that is why I have been pressing the point. I am sure that some who read this can benefit from knowing about it. :-)