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Swiss Pass for 8 days vs. Berner Oberland Pass for 4 & Swiss Pass for 4

Hi!

Thanks to all the posts I've previously read on this, just looking for confirmation.

Myself and a friend (both age 24) will be in Switzerland for 11 days. We arrive from Milan and will train directly to Interlaken. We depart out of Zurich.

Itinerary is as follows: 2 nights in Interlaken (likely one boat trip, one cable car ride); 3 nights Gimmewald (as much hiking as possible, potentially up Schilthorn but not up Jungfraujoch); Train from Interlaken --> Brig to take the Glacier Express from Brig to Pontresina; 1 night Pontresina; Bernina Express all the way to Lugano (train + bus); Lugano for 2 nights (likely one boat cruise, one cable car/funicular up Monte Bre or San Salvatore, not both); Gotthard Express train from Lugano to Lucerne; Lucerne for 2 nights (going up Mt. Rigi or Pilatus, not both) and then train to Zurich; spend most of the day there before flying out at 9pm.

I'm wondering if it makes the most sense to buy a normal fare ticket on Day 1 from Milan airport to Interlaken; then a Berner Oberland Pass for 4 days; then the Swiss Travel Pass for 4 days; then normal fare for the last 2 days (covering the Lucerne & Zurich portion of the trip)? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Posted by
32351 posts

claire,

All the different passes seem like an overly complicated solution. Unfortunately the only way to know for sure which option is the best is to do some number crunching and work out the cost of the passes vs. P-P tickets. Perhaps you could just use a Half Fare card for the entire trip?

You may get some good information by having a look at this site - https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/switzerland-rail-passes

Posted by
16895 posts

I would go with the Swiss Travel Pass for 15 consecutive days, currently $434 per Youth. This costs about the same as the two separate passes, assuming that you would get the B.O. version for half price, but covers three more travel days on your plan. The travel day from Domodossola to Interlaken, for example, is a $55-60 value.