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Is the Swiss Pass right for us?

I'm sure this has been a subject of question MANY times before, but I'm trying to figure out if a Swiss pass is right for us or not.

We will be arriving in Zurich and renting a car. Staying in Lucerne for a few days and then a week in Interlaken area where we plan to hike up the Hardergrat trail (probably take the mountain car up and steam train down?), probably go back to the Top of Europe, and just explore around the whole area there in the Jungfrau region. We will then spend about 3 days in Zermatt and then we haven't decided what to do with our last 3 days in Switzerland yet. Mostly we're going for hiking and awesome views (which of course are every where!)

We aren't going to Switzerland for museums and don't typically do a lot of public transport as we like to walk and will also have the car, but I do know there will be a few trains/cable cars we use. I'm having trouble finding exactly which routes are free, 50% discounted and 25% discounted so I'm not able to really figure out what pass (if any) would be best for us.

Given the rough idea of what we'll be doing, does anyone have some insight about whether or not this pass would truly be beneficial to us?

Posted by
20116 posts

Same map I posted on an earlier thread. shows what is included, 50% and 25%.
https://www.swiss-pass.ch/wp-content/uploads/pdf/swiss-travel-system-map.pdf

A Swiss Travel Pass generally includes travel only to inhabited villages. Since you are traveling by car to most of these, I doubt that a Swiss Travel Pass will be a wise investment. You will not be able to get the car to Wengen, Muerren, or Zermatt, but you can get to a parking lot nearby (they are not free) and take a train or cable car the rest of the way.

You might look at a Berner Oberland Pass.

If you have the patience to plan every where you want to go, a 30-day Half Fare Card might save you a few CHF. They are 120 CHF per person and everything is half price, even trips like to the Jungfraujoch that are only covered at 25% by the STP.

The break-even point is 240 CHF of full fare tickets per person, anything more and the HFC saves money.

Price out each trip at www.sbb.ch/en, keeping in mind that the first price you see assumes you have the Half Fare Card, so double that to get the true full fare ticket price.

Posted by
6902 posts

The Fr. 120.- half-fare card almost pays for itself if you go up to Jungfraujoch. Throw in, say, Gornergrat in Zermatt, Rigi or Pilatus in Luzern, and the savings become significant.
The Swiss Pass is far more expensive, gives less discounts on some mountain railways, and is most probably not worth it if you have a car.

May I ask why you have a car, by the way? It makes sense to me if you have a very good rental deal, if some of your party have mobility issues, or if you are able to fill it with 3-4 passengers, but otherwise I don't find Switzerland to be particularly car-friendly, especially since you are not planning to go much off the beaten path.

Posted by
88 posts

So the half fare card offers 50% discount for Jungfrau?? Well heck, that would practically pay for itself right there! I thought it only offered 25% discount for it. If we're doing that combined with the required trains/lifts for places like Zermatt and Harder Kulm, it would indeed be beneficial.

And about the car rental - we had a car rental last time we visited Switzerland and the only annoyance we found was the cost of parking. But the reason we prefer a car rental is simply freedom to do what we want, when we want, without having to wait or worry about catching public transport and lugging our baggage on each. We can stop whenever I see a gorgeous view (all the time) for a photo, we don't have to have a plan for the day, we don't have to worry about being on public transport everywhere we go being surrounded by hundreds of other people and needing to wear our mask the entire time...
Mainly we just like to have the flexibility without being on anyone else's schedule, but during the current concerns I think it's best to be traveling around a country alone in a car vs public transit whenever possible. The views are beautiful on a train, but we love the traveling by car. (I know that's very non-European)

Thank you for the information on the half fare card! I did not realize it covered Jungfrau, which is a HUGE discount. That does sound much more ideal for us! Thank you!!!

Posted by
2679 posts

So the half fare card offers 50% discount for Jungfrau?? Well heck,
that would practically pay for itself right there! I thought it only
offered 25% discount for it.

You might be thinking of the Swiss Travel Pass, which only gives a 25% discount for Jungfrau.

Have a great trip!!