swiss rail

This question is asked often. If you do a search for Swiss Travel Pass you’ll see tons of discussions. There are lots of variables: where are you going after Grindelwald, what do you plan to do while in Grindelwald, how old are the kids, etc.

Thank you. I am not exactly sure where were going after grindewald. Make our way back to MIlan.

recommendations for what to do in grindelwald are always accepted!! :)

kids are 5, 9 and 11

How many days do you have in Switzerland?

A total of 10 days

Beginning April 15, I understand you can get an 8-day Swiss Travel Pass and get 2 bonus days, so effectively a 10-day pass. With the free Family Card, the kids travel free with you. The pass is only valid to inhabited Swiss towns, so you still have to buy tickets to mountain destinations, like Kleine Scheidegg or First, but you do get discounts with the pass.

Would this include my ticket from Milan to Lucerne and my return to Milan?

Thank you so much for this help. Once you get the pass do you still book in advance to have a reservation?

As long as it is valid, the Swiss Travel Pass covers you from the Swiss border. EC trains require seat reservations in Italy. So going from Milan to Luzern, you have to have a ticket from Milan to Chiasso. Going from Spiez to Milan, you would need a ticket from Domodossola to Milan. You can take care of that when you buy the ticket in Switzerland.

Trains in Switzerland do not require reservations except a handful of tourist trains, like the Gothard Panorama Express, Glacier Express, and Bernina Express.

What does EC trains mean? So like I’m on the same train but I’d have two different tickets? Is that correct? One to cover me from the Italy border to the Switzerland border and then the rest of the journey is covered by the pass?

And we made reservations even with the pass?

EC trains, EuroCity Trains, are express international trains. There are trains between Zurich and Milan every 2 hours, and they have a short connection to Luzern at Arth-Goldau. There are also 2 EC trains direct to Luzern in the morning. Also there are EC trains between Milan and Basel several times per day. These ones pass thru Spiez.

So you could buy a ticket from Milan to Chiasso on the train that goes to Luzern. As soon as you get to Chiasso, when the conductor comes by you show your Swiss Travel Pass. From Grindelwald to Milan, you could just show your pass at the ticket office and they will sell you a ticket that only charges you for the section from Domodossola to Milan.

Sam, I cannot even tell you how helpful this was. I’m truly grateful. I feel like I can wrap
My head around this trip more now!!!

And once I buy the pass I can book trips through them in advance for the entire trip?

There is no need to book anything in Switzerland, any more than you would book a ticket on the "A" train from Washington Sq to 86th st if you had a subway pass. Swiss trains operate in a similar manner.

Oh wow! Good to know.

So I just need to buy a pass which is good for rail and buses. Then buy the round trip
To Italy to the first stop ocer the board and vice versa. And then buy anything extra like to grindewald

Nothing extra to Grindelwald as it is a good sized town. One tip, the train from Interlaken Ost to Grindelwald splits half way at Zwei Luetschinen, with the other half going to Lauterbrunnen. The carriages are marked, just make sure you get on the right ones. Going the other way, the trains will couple back together there for the rest of the trip to Interlaken.

Note that between Milano and Chiasso there are also regional express trains, and these do not require reservations, and are cheaper than the EC trains, and for some weird reason even faster.
So if you get the Swiss Pass you can just wait till you are in Milano, then buy the ticket Milano - Chiasso from one of the ticket vending machines there, stay in that train till Lugano and change for a train to Luzern there. This would even permit you to plan travelling over the old Gothard route, in stead of through the new tunnel. The old route is slower, but far more scenic.

You were all so helpful, I hope this is ok to ask a few more questions!! These are questions about the trains in Switzerland

My family is traveling from milan airport to luzern. You recommended perhaps taking train to chiasso and then up in order to save money on the ticket? Then we'll travel around luzern for 4 days before heading to lauterbrunnen. from there, we'll head back to milan. I am trying to figure out the best way to manage this.

The swiss travel pass is 925 for two adults for 8 days. does that feel right?? I was sort of shocked at that.
Am i missing something?

From Milan Airport to Luzern you would take a local train directly from the Airport to Lugano, and change for a train to Luzern there. See www.sbb.ch
No need to go via the city.

The price for the travel pass looks about right. Public transport in Switzerland is good, but not cheap. I sometimes joke that while in many countries public transport is for poor people who can't afford cars, in Switzerland cars are for poor people who can't afford public transit :-)

But you may not need that. Get the Half Fare Card (and the Family Card, so your kids go free). Then just buy tickets as you go.
Milano Malpensa T1 to Luzern should then come to 90 for your family. (Book on www.sbb.ch, and select half fare card for the adults and junior card for the kids, assuming you get the half fare card beforehand). The advantage of the route using the local trains is that the ticket is valid the whole day, so you don't have to worry about missing a train if you are later than expected out of the airport.

The Half Fare Card will also give you 50% off on all mountain railways, and the kids go for free.

Wengenk,
I like your humor! 😉 I also love the STP and feel the convenience is worth the price. I always use it for more transport than originally planned, because I can! Safe travels!

Hello! Just to clarify
I can get the train from the milan airport to lugano. What type of train is this? Then at lugano I take a different train using my swiss pass? or is it one train straight to lucerne that stops at lugano? Anyone know? Im traveling with small children so I want to make sure I fully understand what to expect on our big travel day. thank you!!!

The train actually continues past Lugano to Bellinzona and finally to Biasca. The train enters Switzerland at Stabio, a short ways before Lugano, so the Swiss Travel Pass should kick in then. Lugano or Bellinzona are the best places to get a fast train to Luzern that uses the Gotthard Base Tunnel. You can change at Biasca to take the more scenic Treno Gottardo to get to Luzern. It is about an hour slower than the route that uses the Gotthard Base Tunnel. In, most cases either way, you will have to change trains at Arth-Goldau to get to Luzern, but there are few direct trains.

The train from Malpensa to Switzerland is just a normal commuter train. (The Ticino area is basically part of the greater Milan area). Just go to the train station, and buy a ticket, and take the next train. The brand of those trains is "TILO", and the line nr. in this case is S50. They normall leave at 19 minutes past the hour, every hour.
If you have a Swiss Travel Pass you will need an additional ticket till the first station across the border, which in this case is Stabio. So you need a ticket till there.

Thank you all for your help on how to get from Milan to Lucerne. I was wondering if you could now help me figure out the best way to return from
Lauterbrunnan back to Milan. (Not the airport…we’ll be staying in Milan for a few days)

Any advice? Thank you!

See www.SBB.ch. Swiss pass covers you till Domodossola. So you’ll need a ticket for that station till Milano. You can get that on www.trenitalia.com.

Thank you. Is there a specific route you’d recommend? I looked online and it looked like lauterbrunnen to interlocken ost to spiez to Milan. Is that the quickest route?

That is it.

Thank you. In your opinion, even though we'll have all our luggage which we could store i think at the train station, is it worth stopping at interlaken for a few hours on our way to milan? are there beautiful things close to the train station to make that stop worthwhile? (ill have 3 kids and 2 grandparents with me) but ive never seen interlaken. or is there another place that feels worth stopping along the long route to milan?

If you are staying in Lauterbrunnen, you can go to Interlaken anytime you want. There is a train every 30 minutes and it only takes 20 minutes.

Thank you for your advice. Is there any other place on the way to Milan that could be worth stopping? Maybe to split up the trip

Are you talking about an overnight, or just to stop for a few hours? If the latter, not really. Once you are settled in on the EC train from Spiez to Milan, you might as well stay put and enjoy the ride. The EC train only makes 3 stops along the way at Visp, Brig, and Domodossola, none of them very exciting. Or maybe do stop in Interlaken for a bit.

If an overnight, you could take the scenic regional train between Spiez and Brig and stopover in Kandersteg.

If you’re looking for an overnight stop between Lauterbrunnen and Milan, I would recommend Stresa.

Another option for train passes, which may save you some money:

Buy the Half Fare Card for the adults: 120 CHF each

Buy the 10 day Berner Oberland (BO) Pass for the adults: 275 CHF each

Buy the Children’s BO Pass for 30 CHF each

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

The BO pass covers the majority of places you want to go, including the higher lifts (First, Mannlichen, Eiger Express). This differs from the Swiss Travel Pass, which does not cover those high lifts 100%. None of the passes cover Schilthorn or Jungfraujoch completely, but you get a discounted rate.

The BO pass will get you as far as Domodossola for your travels to/from Italy. You will need to buy tickets for the trip from/to Milan from there.

These are interesting options. I thought we were going to get the Swiss pass for 8 days. (Children are free) Do these options make more sense?

We’re going Milan to Lucerne to lauterbrunnan to Milan

when deciding between the swiss pass and the half fare card, i think i need to understand how much train tickets cost? like how much is the price to start with of each ticket? also, can you buy tickets on your phone? one benefit of the swiss pass seemed to be that you dont need any tickets. is it easy to buy tickets if we go with the half fare since its cheaper?

You can still get the free Family Card with the Half Fare Card so the ids ride with you free.
To see the cost of each journey, use the journey planner at www.sbb.ch/en. Plug in each journey. if it is more than a month away, use the smae day of the week for the next day. If the initial price shown is on a clear background, it assumes you have a Half Fare Card already.

The STP and BO Pass are similar in that once you buy them, you don’t have to buy individual tickets (with a few exceptions). The BO Pass covers a smaller area than the STP. But based on where you have said you are going in Switzerland, it covers where you want to go, and covers MORE in the are you will be in. Compare the coverage maps for the two passes, and notice which trains are NOT covered 100% by the STP.

An 8 day STP is 389 CHF
An 8 day BO Pass is 380 CHF

So the BO pass is already the better deal, because it covers you all the way to Lucerne. And it covers First (68 CHF rt) and Wengen to Mannlichen (52 CHF rt). The higher lifts are very expensive. With the BO Pass you can pretty much go everywhere except Schilthorn and Jungfraujoch and never pay anything extra.

The times when a STP is better is when you are staying in multiple places not covered by the BO pass, or you are flying into/out of Zurich or Geneva.

Neither the BO pass or STP covers the train in Italy. You would want to look at the difference in train cost from the closest station covered by each of those passes, but that might be minimal compared to the cost of the high lifts in Switzerland.