Itinerary and travel pass questions

Your trip is nicely paced. Having been to these areas a few times, here are my thoughts-
I actually would add more days to Wengen and skip Zermatt.No one is ever ready to leave the Alps, and there is so much to explore. This also gives you flexibility if you have cloudy mountain weather days.
The Jungfraujoch is impressive, but a one-time experience, and takes some time. It's definitely worthwhile. The schilhorn is easier to get to, and not such a project. I would actually do both , weather and money willing.

Lucerne is so charming ! If you have the STP, Mt Rigi is completely covered, including the boat ride, which is beautiful. The STP only partially covers Pilatus . There is also Mt. Stanserhorn 25 minutes outside of Lucerne, with the very cool open air Cabrio cable cars, completely covered by the STP. Go up for the sunset. Mt Titlus is about 10,000 ft elevation, and Rigi and Pilatus around 6,000 ft., so the experience is different. On a clear day, Mt Titlus is stunning!

Did you download the SBB app for the train route prices? Did you know that the app assumes you have at least the half fare card, as most all Swiss do? Which means those prices would be double, as you're carefully pencilling out your costs. Many folks here recommend the Half Fare card, instead of the STP, but I will always buy the STP for the convenience of not needing to stop and buy tickets on the covered routes. The STP gives you a discount on the BO Pass. It is all very confusing and at some point you just have to decide on one pass and don't second guess yourself.

You have a wonderful trip planned in this spectacular country. Safe travels!

Half Fare Card plus 4-day Berner Oberland Pass.

Hi Dan,
I too am planning a 13 day Swiss travel on June this year as well..
You have very similar itinerary to mine..
Only difference is I forgo any mountain excursions near Luzern, as I believe mountains in Jungflau region offer more majestic experience..
So I am planning only one day in Luzern (for city exploration) and spend 6 days in Jungflau region.
Also planning at least 3 days in Zermatt
Definately get 1/2 pass and BO pass - I did the calculation.. and it is so much cheaper and inclusive than STP...

I'm such an advocate for the STP, I know!
In the past few years, there have been sales early in the season, for passes that could be used for the rest of that year. Each time, the sales have been different, so keep watching here, as we have many bright- eyed posters who will blast the news as soon as it's announced.
When I have had the STP, I have found many more uses than originally planned. Perhaps taking an unplanned lake boat ride, doing the same ride twice, in different lighting, and having a wonderful time.
If you have beautiful, clear weather, my advise is to go to as many mountain summits as you can! You cannot ever take good weather for granted, and can't assume the weather will be clear at successive stops. Just do it! You'll have no regrets.

Wow! Thanks for the quick replies!

I usually post on trip advisor but the responses has been abysmal so thought I'd give Rick Steve's a shot. Glad I did.

The costs that I priced out are indeed the full prices. Will def look into the HF card and BO pass. To confuse matters more, there is also the Jungfrau travel pass!

I'm coming from the West Coast of USA to Switzerland so I'd hate to skip Zermatt as I don't know when I'll return to Switzerland. I think what I'll do is keep an eye on the weather for Zermatt a couple days prior. If its good, I'll go. If not, spend more time in BO.

I too am thinking I might be spending too much time going up different mountains lol! Will take one day from Lucerne and add it to BO to account for weather variability. So now I'll have 5 nights in Wengen.

Thanks again!
Dan

Generally early mornings are the clearest in the mountains, and the clouds roll in later. I have found the local weather forecasts to be quite accurate. It's also easy to access the web cameras on the summits, so you can actually observe the weather, and decide if that's your day to explore! Each summit seems to have its own personality, and to me, the Alps never get old. I'm never ready to leave. Good luck and safe travels.
Ps
Book accommodations asap!

My quick-and dirty analysis bsed on your prices (which look accurate to me) is 976 CHF just buying point-to-point tickets, 884 CHF with a 15-day STP, 720.50 CHF for the HFC plus 4-day BO Pass.

BTW, where are you going after Vevey? You are not staying there forever.

lol. after Vevey it is back home from Geneva.

Dan

accoomodations booked for Wengen! Hotel Alpenruhe.

We are doing a somewhat similar trip in late September and early October, but we have 19 days in Switzerland.

For us the STP was by far the most expensive option, and I have spent many hours with a spreadsheet working it out.

It seems that the HFC, the BO Pass and a few saver day passes, all first class, are the way to go for us and are a considerable saving over the STP. The BO Pass also gives a larger discount on the Bernese Oberland mountain rides than the STP does.

I think our issue is that the STP only lasts for 15 days, so in your case with less time, it might work out more reasonably.

Half fare and BO pass would give you the most bang for your buck.

Hi Dan..
Re: Hotel Alpenruhe...
Just curious - how many accomodations did you consider before choosing this one?? and did you book direct or via travel platform?
I too am searching for accomodations near Wengen in June, and there are so many options.. LOL...

Hi Gene,

I looked at several accommodations and TBH most look similar to me. I found hotel Alpenruhe to be the most aesthetically pleasing to me at my price point. The reviews are also very positive. I also def want a mountain view room. It is a bit of a uphill walk(10min) to the hotel but they will pick up up from the train station when you arrive. I compared several accommodations across Switzerland directly vs 3rd party websites and find that most of them are cheaper when booking direclty.

I forgot to ask.

With my itinerary, it doesn't seem like I will be able to take any of the panoramic routes; particularly the Golden Pass right?

Thanks
Dan

Luzern to Wengen is quite scenic, the section from Luzern to Interlaken is part of the "Golden Pass" route. You can take a more scenic route to Zermatt by specifying vi Kandersteg.

Sounds great!

With regards to the HF and BO pass, if I have 5 days in BO should I just buy the 4 day and just pay half fare for 1 day? vs buying the 6 day pass?

Also, since the BO pass allows free travel from Lucerne do I still buy advance tickets on the SBB.ch site? I don't see an option to put BO pass information on that site so that my travel from Lucerne is covered

Thanks
Dan

Hi Dan - just fyi, I stayed at Alpenruhe in Wengen last weekend and it was great!! The rooms were spotless and comfortable with great views (there is a construction crane nearby, but the hotel can't do much about it and the view was still great). Bathrooms are on the small side, just fyi, but they are upfront about that when booking. Breakfast was excellent with many local products. Hosts were friendly and have obviously put a lot of thought into the hotel design and atmosphere. Hope you enjoy your stay later this year!

Thanks for the review Hopper. Glad you enjoyed your stay. Hopefully you had some good weather !

Beautiful sunshine and blue skies! A little too warm for this time of year in fact, but we weren't there for skiing, so we just enjoyed the beautiful scenery and fresh mountain air :)

hopper18, are the pistes bare like last year or is there more snow on the ground generally, even if it was a little warm?

Nigel: We didn't go any higher than Wengen but there was no snow in the village at all. Skiing seemed ok and there were plenty of people out there but no fresh snow. They had maintained the ski path into town so you could still ski down into Wengen (by the Männlichen station) and it looked ok over by Wengernalp/Allmend. The hotel told us the snow was great a couple of weeks ago when the Lauberhornrennen was going on, but that most of it had melted since then.

We also went over to Mürren - a bit more snow on that side since it doesn't get as much afternoon sun. The Grütschalp-Winteregg-Mürren hiking trail was closed due to ice. Winteregg restaurant had crowds though and there was snow on the ground up there. Saw people skiing down from Allmendhubel.

Gimmelwald ski and sled trails were closed due to no snow. We walked down from Mürren and didn't even need to wear hats/gloves and took off our winter jackets. No snow in Lauterbrunnen, but the waterfalls were booming from the melt!

Hopper18,

Do you think the crane blocks most of the hotels in Wengen? Or just specific to the location of the Alpenruhe? I wonder if it warrants a hotel change? Thanks!

Dan

Dan - the crane is next to a hotel that is being renovated (I believe it's the Belvedere), a short distance and downhill from Alpenruhe. It's not blocking the hotel directly or anything and it didn't make any noise. The view to Lauterbrunnen valley was completely unobstructed and the crane itself is low enough on the horizon that it didn't interfere with the view of Jungfrau either. There were a few times it was moving around and briefly took up more "space" in the skyline, but most of the time it was not that intrusive since it was downhill from the Alpenruhe. Personally, I didn't really think it was that big a deal - we still had a full panorama of the mountains, and the hotel itself was excellent. Anyway, trust me, you will take so many pictures of the area from all angles...and you seem to have a busy schedule of excursions planned so you won't be spending much time at the hotel anyway!!

Thanks for the detailed response Hopper.

That sounds reassuring. I'll keep the booking!

Dan

First time to Switzerland and trying really hard to create an itinerary that makes sense and then the train decisions!
Open to feedback on BO pass, or and Half pass etc… and itinerary ideas

Train Zurich to Murren 6/1
June 1-5 Murren 4 days
June 5-8-Zermatt 3 days
June 8-11-Varenna Como area 3 nights-train Zermatt to Varenna

Murren =options we are considering:
-Train to Lauterbrunnen Valley to hike the LB Path to see Trummelbach Falls
-Train to Wengen-hike down to LB Valley
-North Face Trail
-hike mannlichen to Klein Scheidegg vs Schilthorn
-? See grimmelwald or Gimmenwald

Train to Zermatt June 5
-Day 1 travel
-Day 2-Hike riffelsee to riffelberg
-Day 3-?????

Train to Varenna/lake Como area June 8th-do we buy tickets in advance? Where?
Bernia express from Zermatt to brig?,brig to Milan, Milan to Varenna or the version to lake Lugano and do some bus then a ferry
Or other itin ideas?

@ sissyodom, Please start a new topic to ask a question. That way, you will get notified when answers are provided and you will not pester the OP with answers that do not pertain to him.