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Mürren to Chamonix-Mont Blanc

Posted by (USA) on

Bonjour!

I have an incomplete understanding of how this will work and I would like to hear any insight you care to offer. First time in Switzerland for our family of 4 (kids aged 11 & 15). We will be in Mürren in mid-August, traveling to Chamonix-Mt Blanc on 21 Aug (Sunday) and this post is specific to that leg. We have Swiss Travel Passes (1 per adult; both kids accompany for free w Swiss Family Cards). My plan is to use the STP for free train travel on a one-day journey along a route that includes the Golden Pass and the Mt Blanc Express (thanks to another post in this forum). So, my proposed route looks like this:

Mürren - Lauterbrunnen - Interlaken - Spiez (stop at Schloss Spiez for a bit) then…

Zweisimmen - Montreaux (Golden Pass) then...

Martigny - Vallorcine - Chamonix (Mt Blanc Express).

So, my questions..

  1. Using the Swiss Travel Pass, would we just "buy" (free) our tickets for each leg at each station as we go? Or am I able to reserve ahead of time the tickets for the entire route? Other than the Golden Pass, which requires reservations, we would not be able to reserve seats on the Mürren-Zweisimmen sections. Is this correct? Or am I able to buy the tickets ahead of time for that day, even if I don’t know the exact times we need yet?
  2. Should/can I reserve the Golden Pass portion ahead of time?
  3. Since we have most of the day to travel, speed isn't our priority. This seems to be a very scenic route, while still accomplishing the travel in less than a day. This appears to be 6-7 hours travel time. If we add in some time for Schloss Spiez and interchanges, a morning departure should get us in to CHX late afternoon/early evening. Correct? I am also open to better route suggestions.
  4. Does anything look out of order in these plans?

Thanks!

Posted by
7300 posts

Bonjour!

1/ with the Swiss Travel Pass (STP), you just hop on any train within Switzerland. There is nothing to buy, unless you want to reserve a seat (more on this below). The one caveat is, if you have a Flex STP, you need to "activate" it, i.e. fill out the date if it's a paper pass (unsure about digital).

1B/ the STP only covers your journey up to Le Châtelard Frontière, NOT Chamonix. You NEED to buy a ticket for that last leg: you can do so at a Swiss railway station, or online through SNCF Connect.

2/ the only stretch that is advisable to book in August is the Zweisimmen - Montreux leg. You can do so on the MOB website, which you find if you google Golden Pass. It's not mandatory, just advisory.

3/ Yes, your route idea is the most scenic for sure, even though it is much slower than through Visp. No idea if Schloss Spiez is worth the stop, I haven't been.

4/ Pay attention to point "1B" above, otherwise it looks good to me!

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