Swiss Half Fare Card

How are you getting to Lauterbrunnen? You can buy the Half Fare Card at most manned train stations, including the airport if you are landing in Switzerland.

With 7 days in and around Lauterbrunnen and Mürren, and plans to ride a number of mountain lifts, my recommendation is the 8-Day Berner Oberland Pass a with Half Fare Card. This pass will fully cover all but 2 of the trains, boats, gondolas, cablecars mountain trains within the Berner Oberland region, plus the train inbound from either Bern or Luzern, or from Domodossola in Italy on Day 1, and your travel to Zermatt on Day 8as far as Brig (by regional train from Spiez to Brig only). That means you do not buy tickets for trains and boats before boarding; you just get on, and show your BO Pass and HFC to the conductor or attendant when asked.Some lifts will require a visit to the ticket window to get a QR code that opens the turnstile, but others will have an attendant who will open it upon seeing your pass. It is very convenient, and also fun to just ride everything you want without stopping to consider the cost.

The 2 exceptions are the Schilthorn cablecar above Mürren (up to Mürren is covered) and the Jungfraujoch train above Kleine Scheidegg, but your Half Fare Card will give you 50% off both, or you can use the “special offer” price with the Berner Oberland pass for the Jungfrau. I have seen 99 CHF for that but have not confirmed.

The price for the 8-day BO Pass with Half Fare Card is 287 CHF, a reduction of 108 CHF from the regular price of 395 CHF. That 108 in savings pays for all but 12 CHF of the HFC. And then you have that HFC for half off all the rest of your travel —- from your point of arrival to Bern or Luzern on your way to Lauterbrunnen, for the trip to Zermatt from Brig onward, and from Zermatt to your point of departure from Switzerland. Plus 50%off any lifts you want to ride at Zermatt.

Buy the Berner Oberland online on this website:

https://www.berneseoberlandpass.ch/prices-tickets/

And you can buy your Half Fare Card for visitors online here:

https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/tickets/guests-abroad/swiss-halffare-card.html

Note that you do not have to purchase the HFC before you buy the BO Pass; you can use the HFC a discount without entering any information about it at all. But you do have to have the Half Fare Card in hand before you actually travel with the pass.

I find it simplest to buy these online at home, for several reasons. It saves time when you arrive at the airport or train station. And I like to print them out at home to have paper copies in addition to the pass displayed on my phone.

Note that the Half Fare Card is good for 30 days, so it will be valid before and after the validity period of the BO Pass. You set the start date when you purchase each on. Use the day of your arrival into Switzerland for the HFC and the date you will take the train to Lauterbrunnen for the Berner Oberland Pass. Maybe they are the same?

Thank you so much Sam, (I see you're from Green Bay, my husband is from Oshkosh & a huge Packer fan)
We will be getting a rental car at the airport.

Thank you for all the great information Lola!
The links are so helpful as I was looking for an online option to purchase & hadn't found it..
I will plan on us buying both those passes you recommend.
So the passes cover trips to and from Bern or Luzern, or from Domodossola in Italy? Are those places to see if it's raining?
Sam & Lola, hat are your favorite spots we shouldn't miss?
Thank you again,
All this information helps so much.

Bern, Luzern, and Domodossola are towns on the train lines that lead to Interlaken, which are covered with the Berner Oberland Pass. But you will have a car, so this benefit is not useful to you. Actually with a car you probably don’t need the Berner Oberland Pass,just the Half Fare Card to get 50% off the mountain lifts.

I believe you have to install the sbb mobile app on your phone and you can purchase the swiss passes with an effective date that you choose. The app also shows all the train schedules and platforms - great for travel plans and less confusion. The app also downloads your Swiss Pass in a QR phone that you simply show to the conductor......or scan depending on where you are. We just spend 2 weeks in Switzerland - I never touched a piece of paper although I did have a folder of "back up" printouts.