Swiss Rail Passes - Changed Itinerary!

A regular Swiss Pass will include all the regular trains and boats in the BO, and your lift up to Mürren. It gives a 50% discount on the recreational lifts, apart from the Jungfrau train which is only 25%. But I doubt you have time for that.

The Berner Oberland pass will cover your travel from Domodossola ( just outside Milan) to Mürren and your travel from Mürren to Luzern on day 4. It will also provide full coverage on all the recreational lifts in the BO, except the Schilthorn and Jungfrau. But agin, I don’t know how much time you have for those, with only 2 full days at Mürren.

But you could give the kids a treat by spending one of those days joyriding lifts over Tom Grindelwald (down to Lauterbrunnen, upmtomWengen, cablecar up to Männlichen (stop for time at the playground there), then ride the gondola down to Grindelwald, and walk through town to the First lift for a ride to the top and a hike to the Blausee, followed by renting Trottibikes for the descent back to Grindelwald ( except for the 7 yr old, who is too small, and one parent, who can ride the lift down). Then take the regular trainand cablecar back to Mürren.

We did this exact day from Mürren with out 11-year-old grandsons and their parents last September, and they loved every minute.

You can get a free Family card for the kids with either a Swiss Travel pass, or a Half Fare Card.

If you choose the Swiss Travel Pass you will need a 6-day pass for each parent, at 379 CHF each. This will cover all your train and boat rides, and provide discounts on any lifts.

If you choose the 4-day Berner Oberland Pass with Half Fare Card, it will cost 196 CHF for each adult for the BO Pass plus 120:for the Half Fare Card, so 316 CHF per adult. This will cover train travel as far as Luzern on day 4, plus all the lifts I mentioned above. But you would pay for the rest of your travel, to and around Zurich. The Half Fare Card will give you 50% off every type of ride.

Thank you Lola! I am from Seattle originally!

Are the lifts expensive? But the Swiss Pass would be good on any train or boat in Switzerland (including boat ride in Zurich and any other rail or bus transport)?

The kids travel free whether or not I have the Swiss Rail or the Half Fare / BO card? Wow, they really don't make this easy.

Thanks,
Samantha

The Berner Oberland pass will cover your travel from Domodossola ( just outside Milan) to Mürren

But note that you will have to travel via Kandersteg between Brig and Spiez in order to be valid on the Berner Oberland Pass, and that will take about an hour longer. The upside is that the scenery will be much better than the view inside a 20 mile long tunnel.
My review of this train.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/switzerland/ride-the-bls

I am a little confused, will the Swiss Pass cover the same trains that BO pass covers and more? I thought I would only miss out on the lifts by getting the Swiss Pass. I am sorry, I probably need to read up more on these passes.

The advantage of the BO Pass is the lift coverage in the region. But staying in Mueren, it is no better than the Swiss Travel Pass when riding the Schilthornbahn above Muerren.

And I really think you should spend a couple of nights in Luzern rather than Zurich. If you do get the Swiss Travel Pass, there are many free excursions in Luzern. Boat rides on the lake are much more dramatic than Zurich, and a couple of free mountain excursions like Rigi Kulm and Stanserhorn.

So, because we are meeting our friends in Zurich and we have a concert in Zurich to get to, that is why we are staying for 3 nights. I would also like to spend some time in Lucerne, but I don't know how we can squeeze it in, unless we leave from Murren, and then stop in at Lucerne for a few hours and then make it to Zurich for dinner.

Well it is not hard to make a day trip to Luzern from Zurich, especially with an STP. it is only 45 minutes away with frequent trains.

You kids under 16 are ONLY free IF you get the free Family Card that you can request with a Swiss Travel Pass or the Half Fare Card. With the Berner Oberland Pass you have to buy a separate Junior Card for each child for them to ride free, 30 CHF each. This is why we usually recommend getting the Half Fare Card with a BO Pass—-and the reduction. In price on the BO Pass covers most of the cost of the Half Fare Card.

The HFC is good for a month.

You can compare the coverage of the two passes for lifts, boats, and trains by looking carefully at the validity maps.

Berner Oberland Pass:

https://www.berneseoberlandpass.ch/assets/Uploads/BLS-BO-Pass-M-24-WEB-komprimiert_compressed.pdf

Swiss Travel Pass (named scenic routes are highlighted)

https://www.mystsnet.com/en/download/swiss-travel-system-map-en-2023/?wpdmdl=14294&masterkey=63a023c8da36c

Study the key to the map carefully, as everything has a meaning; the color and thickness of the line, and whether it is solid, dashed (indicating tunnels), or dotted (usually indicates a 50% reduction in price, but some have a little circled number indicating a lesser amount.

And I neglected to mention the special route you must take from Brig to Spiez if you want to ride for free from Domodossola to Mürren on the Berner Oberland pass. Sam kindly corrected that.

for an example of lift prices, you can see the First gondola prices (and some of the activities available there) here: https://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/grindelwaldfirst/

This says that the RT price for 2 adults on the gondola I would be 136 CHF without discounts. It you are taking one of the rides (zip line or Trottibikes) partway down you pay less, but pay for the ride instead.

For the Männlichen cablecar I mentioned in my previous post, fares are here:

https://www.maennlichen.ch/en/summer/information/fare-prices-from-wengen.html

So a RT on the cablecar, up from and back to Wengen, is 58 CHF per adult. If you want to ride up, hike the popular Panorama Trail to Kleine Scheidegg, and take the train back down to Wengen, it is 60 CHF pp. A Swiss Travel Pass will take you up as far as Wengen for free, because it is a village where people live.

Here is the playground my grandkids loved so much (so did their parents);

https://www.maennlichen.ch/en/summer/experiences/alpine-herdsmans-playground.html