My husband & I will be joining this trip in July. I wanted to find out if we need to buy some sort of travel pass while on this trip or if all public transportation will be covered when we’re doing “on your free time“ breaks or exploring?
For those who have done this trip, the itinerary talks about visiting the village of Zermatt. Did they give enough time for folks to visit Matterhorn if they wanted too or just the village?
I took this trip pre-covid so some details may have changed from my experience. Public transport was covered when the group was moving from place to place or on a group activity. A pass for travel between Murren and the Valley floor was provided while we were in Murren and could be used during free time.
You can see the Matterhorn from Zermatt and there was a few hours of free time. I am unsure about what you mean when you ask about visiting the Matterhorn.
When we took this tour precovid, we purchased a half fare card for our own explorations. We used it for transportation on our own to Pilatus, schilthorn, Rigi, getting to/from the Zurich airport, etc.
The hotels gave us a pass for the local trams and buses.
The RS trip did cover getting into the town of Zermatt, via the rail, but not cogwheel in town. We were lucky and the day was clear, so we saw the Matterhorn. Zermatt itself was not that interesting to me. We had time to go up on the cogwheel train, I've forgotten the stop, and we watched the parasailing against a beautiful blue sky.
Obviously, the itinerary has changed a bit since our trip.
This was a fantastic tour and began my love of all things Swiss. You have a great adventure in store. Safe travels.
Thank you Carol now retired. What I mean is would we have enough time to go up to take cogwheel train or Rothorn lift just to get up closer to the summit? I have no idea if it can be done not knowing what the weather would be like or how much time we have to wonder around vs how long it will take to go up & back without being late…
Thank you Pat. Thinking of doing either a half fare card or Swiss flex card, too, but can’t figure out what’s free coming from the tour vs what trips we have to pay to know if it’s worth buying it.
So when you have the 1/2 fare card, did you just buy tickets from SBB on days you’re traveling to say…Rigi or do you buy from the train station? Thanks again for sharing your experience!
Years ago, buying on the app wasn't possible, way back when I was on the RS Swiss trip.
Since you need to wait each day until you know the weather is clear for the summits, buying in advance wouldn't be much of an advantage, but buying on the app saves standing in line (altho I've never seen long lines.) Our RS Guide constantly checked the weather apps, and adapted our day in Zermatt to the time predicted to be clear. When we first arrived, the Matterhorn was in the clouds, but as we waited, it cleared and the site was beautiful!
Safe travels!
