Swiss Pass???

Also, on the sbb.com website, if we did have a swiss pass, what option would we select for a pass? Just trying to figure out the different costs. It's very confusing!

It is debatable whether it would be cheaper for you to get a pass or individual tickets.

Swiss Federal Railways website ( http://www.sbb.ch ) is showing a train departing Roma Termini 09:00 5/1/2015, arrive Mürren 16:51 for CHF 211. Most of this cost is in Switzerland, as Italian trains are a lot cheaper than Swiss trains.
For times and prices within Italy see http://www.trenitalia.com/ For times and prices within Switzerland see http://www.sbb.ch For cross border trains either should work.

It may be worth your while to get a Swiss pass, and pay separately for the trip from Rome to the Swiss border (cost € 102.80 Rome to Domodossola). A 8-day pass for Switzerland would cost CHF 363 (see http://www.sbb.ch/freizeit-ferien/ferien-kurz-trips-schweiz/swisstravelsystem/swiss-travel-pass.html ). You need to cost up your individual trips (using sbb.ch ) against the cost of the pass. An 8 day pass would cover you from your arrival in Switzerland through to a train to Geneva Airport.

Thank you so much for your reply! How to I input whether we have the Swiss pass or not in the sbb website? Also so the Swiss pass cover the train from Milan or just from the boarder?

Answering your questions in reverse order:

• The Swiss pass is only valid on Swiss trains. i.e. from the border, which is Domodossola station in your case. See the validity map here. You would have to buy an Italian ticket from Rome, via Milan, to Domodoŝsola; which, as I said, costs €102.80.
• "How to I input whether we have the Swiss pass or not in the sbb website?" - Sorry, don't understand this question. Why would you need to input whether we have the Swiss pass? The pass covers all trains as shown on the map. You look up times on the SBB website, but you ignore the prices as you already have a pass.

You don't need to reserve seats for the Swiss portion of the trip. If you have a Swiss pass to cover that, then just buy the reserved ticket to the border. It's not likely that someone will have a duplicate reservation for your seat on the later portion of the trip.

Since you won't be stopping at the border to buy a pass, and I don't think you have time for home delivery in the US now, then try buying the new e-ticketed "Print at Home" version of the consecutive-day Swiss Pass. It looks like you can't buy it through SBB until Jan. 1 or later (and I'm not sure how quickly it will be available in our railpass shopping cart). Or, if you decide to fly to Switzerland (www.skyscanner.com), you can buy any pass at the Swiss airport train station.

Thank you for all the info! I was confused because some of the things we had read said you still needed a reservation on the Swiss trains. I was trying to see how much that was if we had a pass. Now I understand that there is no option to put in a Swiss pass when looking at tickets because you don't pay anything.

Would I be able to use the Swiss pass from Milan getting into Switzerland? Or do I need to go to the other boarder town that was mentioned.

We're getting to Rome today and hoping there is an overnight option for the pass. I know I saw you could pick it up at the airport too but it's pretty out of the way if we have to go another day and I doubt it would be ready today.

Brown Paige, I already answered your question about whether you could use the Swiss Pass from Milan:

The Swiss pass is only valid on Swiss trains. i.e. from the border, which is Domodossola station in your case. See the validity map here. You would have to buy an Italian ticket from Rome, via Milan, to Domodossola; which, as I said, costs €102.80.

I didn't realise you were under the misapprehension that you needed to reserve seats on Swiss trains, hence my confusion. Swiss rail tickets (including passes) are valid on any train on the routes shown on the map, just turn up and get on.
Your Italian trains (Rome to Milan and Milan to Domodossola) will include reservations, but once the train reaches Domodossola the italian crew get off, a Swiss crew get on and Swiss rules apply after that. You stay in your seat, and when the Swiss ticket inspector comes round you show him or her your Swiss pass.

The Print-at-Home (or in your hotel) version of the Swiss Pass Consecutive is pre-dated when you buy it online. When I tried it yesterday, it allowed a start-travel date through 12/31, but if you'll start travel in January, then you need to wait until January to buy it. Prices are changing a bit on Jan. 1. There's no other way to get a Swiss Pass in Italy.

Chris thank you for the clarification! I will just need to price out each leg of our trip if we didn't get the pass (which is a lot easier said then done... as I'm sure everyone knows)! Thank you Laura! My husband was looking on the site and it shows that we could pick up a pass at the Milan train station or any station in Switzerland. Is that correct? Sounds like either way, we'll have to wait until the 1st because our first travel day would be the 5th.
Also, does the day of going up to the Schilthorn count as a travel day? Or just a benefit of having the pass?
Thank you!!

Another question- Chris you'd probably be able to answer. How do I go about looking for a train that goes from Rome to Domodossola and continues on to Murren without having to change trains in Domodossola? I tried putting in Roma Termini to Murren via Domodossola through sbb.ch but it has me going from Rome to Milan up to Brig then Speiz.....

Brown Paige, You've already answered you own question!
The shortest route from Rome to Mürren is via Domodossola, that's why I keep on talking about it. The route is:

• Rome to Milan (Milano Centrale)
• Milan to Spiez. This route goes via Domodossola and Brig. You may have to change at Brig, depends on which train you take.
• Spiez to Interlaken Ost
• Interlaken Ost to Lauterbrunnen
• Lauterbrunnen to Mürren

If you repeat your search on sbb.ch, and then look at the train from Milan to Spiez, you will see it stops at: Milano Centrale, Stresa, Domodossola, Brig, Visp, Spiez, Thun, Bern, Olten, Basel SBB (where I live!).
If you go by a different route, it will be a different border station.

Uh folks, on certain Swiss trains (the tourist ones, with names), you might need reservations. I rolled the dice and didn't make seat reservations on the Golden Pass from Interlaken to Montreux and because it was offseason it worked out OK. But looking over the train and its route, I could easily see how you could get hosed if you don't. And some of the seats had little headrest covers that said RESERVED so other folks didn't chance it.

And don't forget, the Swiss pass situation is the most complicated and confusing that I've seen in Europe. Lots of options, and options on those options. Takes some real studying.

The 007 mountain is the Schilthorn, a great day trip well worth the effort. Note that your pass may or may not work, or may only get you a partial discount. Again, research required.

Your Swiss Pass will get you a 50% discount on the Schilthornbahn. 40 chf rt from Muerren.
http://schilthorn.ch/en/Angebot/Timetable__Tariffs/Price_Single_tickets
If you are getting a Flexi Pass, you can still get the 50% discount and not be a travel day.
And yes, there are a few exceptions to the reservation rule, mostly on special "tourist" trains like the Glacier Express and Bernina Express. They're called "reservations" but they are actually special supplements for riding the named trains, which include special services like multilingual audio narration along the way.

We are not recommending a flexipass because I don't believe Paige can get one before entering the country from Italy. I'd be very surprised if Milan train station had them. But the Shilthorn discount is 50% with either the Consecutive or Flexi passes.

It sounds like the Golden Pass may be part of her route to Lausanne, with panoramic reservations available online or at stations, but no booking deadline. Glacier Express or Bernina Express have not come up in the earlier discussion.

Ok, I'm trying to break down the cost of each leg of travel. These prices are for myself, my husband, our 4 yr old and 1 yr old. Here's what I have:
Rome to Murren (on sbb.ch) $541 (I looked again and this doesn't include a stop in Domodossola. Breakdown: It goes from Roma Termini to Milano Central ($265), Milano Central to Brig ($154- it's charging us for 3 adults and 1 child), Brig to Murren ($122). It's shows route is Roma Termini - Mürren BLM
Via Milano Centrale - Brig - Spiez - Interlaken Ost - Lauterbrunnen - Lauterbrunnen BLM (no Domodossola).

If I look separately, on trenitalia, I can get tickets for all of us from Rome to Domodossola for $257 leaving at 9am the 5th. On sbb.ch, I can get a ticket from Domodossola to Murren for $103. Why would this be cheaper ($360 vs $541) if the train from Rome to Murren on sbb.ch was the same route?

My confusion is, if I wanted to book the first option, so the train was more direct and I didn't have to worry about piecing the trip together, how would I buy just the Italy portion since it looks like the train goes directly from Milan to Brig? I wouldn't mind piecing it together from the Italian train site and the Switzerland train site but there would be about an hour wait in Domodossola.

Again, I apologize for the questions but it just seems very confusing!! And trust me, I've spent a TON of time on the sbb.ch website.

Paige, sorry, but you are doing something wrong in the way you are looking up these trains, all trains from Milano to Brig stop at Domodossola. It is the same train on both sbb.ch and trenitalia websites.
"Via Milano Centrale - Brig - Spiez - Interlaken Ost - Lauterbrunnen ... (no Domodossola)" - THAT IS VIA DOMODOSSOLA. Look at the detailed list of stops, or look at it on the map.

"the train goes directly from Milan to Brig? I wouldn't mind piecing it together from the Italian train site and the Switzerland train site but there would be about an hour wait in Domodossola." - the train goes from Milan to Brig with stops at Stresa and Domodossola. There is no need to get off the train at Domodossola.

Finally, I am confused by your use of $ (which $?). Trenitalia quotes prices in Euros (€), SBB uses CHF (Swiss Franks).

If it is any help send me a private message (click on my name and then on "send a private message"). I think you are working under a misunderstanding somewhere.