Jungfraujoch

A Half Fare Card will get you the biggest discount (50%) on the Jungfrau trip. It will also get you 50% discount for the Schilthorn. Do you really need to do both? Have you allotted yourself enough time to see and experience Lauterbrunnen and alpine villages of Gimmelwald, Murren, Wengen? The way to NOT appropriately see this stunningly beautiful area is to get on a train and ride ride ride your vacation time away.

Tim, Thank you very much for your response! Will certainly take your advice and not do both. If you were to do one, which would you choose? Or would you do either? We were in Lauterbrunnen many years ago on our first RS tour. Regretfully, we were socked in by rain and fog the two days we were there.

Go in July

We were there in September and used the half-fare card. I believe you can get a slightly lower price for Jungfraujoch if you go early in the morning. We did Jungfrau one day, stopped for lunch at Kleine Scheidegg on our descent (restaurant up the hill had gorgeous views), and still had time in the afternoon to walk to the waterfall just outside Lauterbrunnen. The first/ last leg of that trip- from Lauterbrunnen to the transfer at Kleine Scheidegg has lovely views. The second part, up to the Jungfrau, is mostly inside a tunnel.

The next day we went up Schilthorn, had lunch in Murren, and after lunch drove to Grindelwald and went up to First. That trip is four different cable cars, not a train.

Two hours is plenty of time at either summit.

The third day we took a scenic boat trip on Lake Brienz, had lunch at the restaurant on top of the ugly hotel (good views of people hang-gliding) then visited Tummelbach Falls in late afternoon.

The half fare card was good for everything except Tummelbach Falls.

This itinerary did NOT feel rushed. Unless you are planning a lot of hiking, three days gives you a good taste of the Berner Oberland. We stayed at the Hotel Silberhorn in Lauterbrunnen and were very happy with our choice.

I was going to start a new thread at some point but everyone's advice might be helpful here, so:

Are reservations (trains/cables and/or specific seats) available to ascend either Jungfrau or Schlithorn?

If so, should you get them or wait to check the weather? I'm asking for the June timeframe.

As for the Half Card, I'm thinking of spending (a little?) more for the Full Card since I want max flexibility and am willing to pay up for it. Any thoughts and pros/cons there?

Thanks.

Reservations are not needed and not advisable due to weather potentially wrecking your plans.

The HFC is almost always the most economical choice, but I prefer the Swiss Pass for full-fare coverage because of the convenience and I like to take advantage of the free museum entry. I also like that the marginal cost of a spur-of-the-moment side trip is zero with the SP.

Someone on this site had provided a link or website for an excel spreadsheet to compare different options. I compared saver fares or passes vs. Swiss travel card vs. half fare card. We are traveling from dodomodossola Italy to Luzern to Berner Oberland and back to Italy. By the time I included the summit to Schilthorn (included in Swiss travel pass), mt Rigi in Lucern (included) a ferry ride in both places and possible a couple museums, the 8 day Swiss travel pass won.. Not to mention the flexibility of not being tied to a specific train as with the supersaver fares. Worse case we would break even.

Yes, if your goal is to save the most money possible, you have to do the math. List all the trips in Switzerland that you are definitely taking and possibly taking, as well as the museums you are definitely seeing and possibly seeing. Then, compare the prices with no discount, with a Half Fare Card, with a Swiss Pass, and (if you're mostly limited to one region) with a regional pass such as the Berner Oberland Pass or the Jungfrau card. It's laborious, but it's the only way to be sure.

In favor of the Half Fare Card is simplicity. It gets you half off of anything that moves in the whole country, from local trams all the way up to the Jungfraujoch. Every ticket machine has an option for Half Fare/Child Fare. So, since it costs 120 CHF, if you're buying at least 240 CHF of tickets, you can't lose. The Jungfraujoch alone is almost that much. You do have to buy tickets each time (not hard, but different from the Swiss Pass).

In favor of the Swiss Pass, it's very convenient. For things that are fully covered, you don't need to buy tickets; just board, and show your pass when tickets are checked. (Note that they can also ask to see your passport; this has not happened to me, but it has happened to others, so be prepared). For things not fully covered (such as the Jungfraujoch or the lift from Wengen to Maennlichen), show your pass when buying your ticket, and the correct discount will be applied. It also acts as a museum pass; Swiss museums are as expensive as everything else in the country, so if you're going to more than a few, you can save a lot on these. And, as said above, it means that changing plans on the fly is prepaid, so it feels "free." For instance, on a rainy day in the Berner Oberland, I decided to go to the Ballenberg Open Air Museum. The train ride, bus ride, and museum admission were all covered by the Swiss Pass.

Thanks all for good tips and advice. Im going full Swiss Pass and not looking back.

Still curious as to possibility or even necessity of making reservations for Schilthorn or Jungfrau?

Mentioned above was the Excel spreadsheet that makes it easy to compare which pass/card will be best for your particular itinerary. If you click on this link, it will take you to the My Swiss Alps web page. Scroll down to where it says "Example Excel Spreadsheet" and you'll see the link for the download.

We did not make any advance reservations for any of the trains or cable cars we used while in the Berner Oberland. This was not a problem. We bought the half-fare pass at the same time we bought our Jungfrau tickets.

Our trip was on weekdays in mid-September, 2018.

"Still curious as to possibility or even necessity of making reservations for Schilthorn or Jungfrau?"

Don't even think of making reservations or pre-payment for these. If the weather at the top is not good, it's a waste of time and money to do these excursions. Check the webcams before going up (they're at the stations, or you can look online at the links below). I was startled to see tour groups going up to the Jungfraujoch on a day when the webcam at the top showed nothing but pure white-out (no visibility). Then I realized they had prepaid for a tour and this was their allotted day and time. I'd have been very upset if I had made the same mistake.

Jungfrau webcams: https://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/live/webcams/#webcam-jungfraujoch-top-of-europe
Schilthorn webcams: https://schilthorn.ch/en/Infos/Live

Just making sure you understand that a Swiss Pass will NOT get you to the Jungfraujoch.

Eric
Thanks for the link, I’ve been using that site, but forgot that was the source of the spreadsheet.

Karen

Thank you everyone. I will not make reservations but will keep fingers crossed for good weather.

And thanks for the comment on the STP not getting all the way to the top, I do understand there is an additional surcharge - sure, why not?!