I will be in Switzerland for 21 days, travelling around the country with a week in Lauterbrunnen area in the middle of the 21 days. My current question is: is it a good idea to buy the Flexible Swiss Pass for 15 days to cover the travels before and after the Lauterbrunnen area, and buy a Berner Oberland Pass for my week in the Lauterbrunnen area? (1st class Swiss Flex Pass 15 days $1077 + BOP $568 = $1645 for both) vs (1st class Swiss Pass consecutive 15 days and 6 days $1035 + $834 = $1869 total) for travel in May 2026.
Does it make sense to get the Berner Oberland Pass for the week I plan to stay in the Lauterbrunnen region instead of getting the addition Swiss Pass to cover the extra 6 days beyond the regular 15 days pass?
Posted by
Green Bay
22889 posts
There may be some hoops to jump through, but you can get a 1-month 1st class GA Travelcard for 695 CHF (about $875 US).
https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/travelcards/ga-travelcard/ga-1-month.html
Posted by
OP
24 posts
Thanks for the info. I looked into the GA website. Looks like the GA pass only pays for the public transportation (buses and trains between cities) but not the scenic train rides (like the Bernina Express or Golden Pass Express) or museums. So limited usage. Is that correct?
Posted by
Green Bay
22889 posts
Not correct. It does not cover the seat reservations for those trains, but there is no pass that does. It still covers the transportation as the Golden Pass and Bernina Express trains are still public transportation between cities or inhabited towns.
It gives discounts for mountain lifts outside of the GA area, just like a Swiss Travel Pass. BTW, the Berner Oberland Pass does NOT cover the mountain lifts above Wengen or Grindelwald, just the same discount as the Swiss Travel Pass or GA Travelcard does. No museum admissions, but that is a very minor benefit of the, should I say, overpriced Swiss Travel Pass.
Posted by
Nashville, TN
1140 posts
That's not exactly true - the Berner Oberland Pass does cover Mannlichen above Wengen/Grindelwald. It just doesn't fully cover Kleine Scheidegg & First.
The Flex Pass tends to be not the greatest value, but to give you a standard answer on this is hard without knowing all your exact plans. You may be better off with a half fare card + reduced price BOP, but you'd have to do the math to see what works with your specific plans.
Also, make sure you're getting your numbers correct on these prices when comparing. Purchasing through the official websites the 1st class Swiss Flex Pass is 755 chf ($953) not $1077 and the 1st class 6 day BOP is 420 chf ($530) not $568 as you have listed. The Flex Pass is purchased through sbb.ch/en and the BOP is purchased through berneseoberlandpass.ch
To get prices for intended routes, use SBB.ch/en or the SBB app. Prices default to half fare card pricing, so you have to double to get full fare.
Posted by
Wengen
3500 posts
What you can do is get the Half Fare Card, for 120,- good for a month.
Then you could add to that eg. the Berner Oberland Pass or the Jungfrau Pass. Both will be reduced in price with the HFC.
For your big travel days buy a Saver Day Pass. Again with a HFC this will be reduced in price.
So that would be
- 120,- for the HFC.
- 254,- for the BO pass (6 days, I would not bother with 1st class)
- 29,- for each big travel day if you buy the SDP early enough.