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Need help train tickets: Basel to Murren and Ber-Ober pass

Posted by (Seattle) on

So I have spent the last 3 hours or so comparing no pass/Swiss Travel Pass/Ber-Ober Regional Pass and have determined that for my family's travel, the best way to go is to purchase point-to-point tickets from Basel to Murren, then a 4-day Ber-Ober Regional pass, then point-to-point Lucerne to Zurich. I have 3 questions for which I can't find answers:

  1. Should I pre-purchase the Basel to Murren tickets, and if so, where? We are traveling on July 15th and somewhere I read that the 15th is a busy travel day with locals taking vacation. I tried to purchase tickets for Basel to Murren on the Rick Steves site, but got an error message saying there weren't any available, which can't be true.

  2. Can I get a Swiss Family Card for a point-to-point ticket, or can I only obtain that with a travel pass?

  3. Can I purchase a Ber-Ober pass without a Swiss Travel Pass, and get a Swiss Family Card too?

  4. When my family travels from Murren to Zurich, can we use the Ber-Ober pass for the Murren to Luzerne portion, and then do point-to-point Luzerne to Zurich?

Answers will be much appreciated, as I'm about ready to tear my hair out.

Thanks! Sarah

Posted by
20254 posts

I see from your other post you have a family of 3, but what is the make up? 2 adults 1 child (what age)?
Q 2. No, you need some sort of Swiss Travel Product (half fare card, travel pass, flexi-pass) to get the free Family Card. I don't believe regional passes count.
Q 4. Yes, as long as the Berner-Oberland (note spelling) Pass is still valid, it is good to Luzern.

Everyone feels your pain, the Swiss offer so many options it is confusing, but in the end, they will get their chunk of change out of you no matter what.

Posted by
32222 posts

Sarah,

Not to worry, your situation doesn't sound that difficult. Hopefully you don't have to tear your hair out.

A few thoughts.....

  1. I doubt if there's any reason to buy advance tickets for the Basel to Mürren trip. You can easily buy the tickets at the station and I don't believe there are any discounts for advance purchase. If you want to buy the tickets online, go to SBB.CH (Swiss Rail website). Where will you be prior to Basel?
  2. I'm not sure about the Swiss Family Card as I've never had occasion to buy one. This website may provide the answers..... http://www.swisstravelsystem.com/en/passes/swiss-family-card.html
  3. Yes, you can purchase a Berner Oberland Pass without a Swiss Travel Pass, however you'll pay more. The Berner Oberland website states, "For children 6 - 16 (15.99) years of age and dogs we offer a Regional Pass Children at a flat rate for CHF 30.- Junior travelcard / Grandchild travelcard tickets are accepted." I'm not sure if that answers the second part of this question?
  4. I'm not sure if the B.O. Pass covers all the way to Lucerne? Hopefully one of the others can answer that. The agent will be able to tell you that when you buy the Passes (are you going to buy them at local rail stations?). If the Passes do cover to Lucerne, then from there you would have to buy P-P tickets to Zürich.

Are you aware of the route you'll be taking to reach Mürren, and the fact that once your reach Lauterbrunnen, there are two possible routes you can take? If you need more detailed information, post another note.

Posted by
7 posts

We are 2 adults and one 13-year-old. We will be arriving in Basel from a river boat.
(Yes, thanks, I'm aware of the full Regional Pass Bernese-Oberland name; I was just using my own abbreviation.)
I now see that the Ber-Ober pass has 2 sets of prices: one for people who don't have a Swiss Travel System ticket, and a second for those who do. For the former, the child price is CHF 30. I guess that's what we'll do.

Now I'm considering the Swiss Transfer Ticket, which would allow my son to travel for free from Basel to Murren and Murren to Zurich, as I re-evaluate the other passes versus point-to-point without the Family Card.

Then there is the Jungfrau Railways travel site, which has another set of prices, and mentions the GA-General Subscription. What is that? Is it another independent rail system? I'm so confused!

Posted by
20254 posts

GA = General Abonnement. That is a year long pass that Swiss residents can purchase. For tourists, a Swiss Travel Pass is the equivalent.
Just for your info, it costs 3655 CHF per year (2nd class) and renews automatically unless canceled.

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