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Swiss Train Confusion!!!

Posted by on

Hello There, so to say I’m SLIGHTLY confused by all the different Swiss train passes, is a complete understatement!!!

Our trip in a nutshell,
We are traveling from Munich Germany to Lake Lucern for 3 days then on to Interlaken for 3 more days then flying out of Zurich.

I believe the Bernese Oberland is the pass that makes the most sense for us, but really I do not have a lot of clarity on this at all & the more I research the more confused I get.

Is the BO the pass we should have while in Lucern?
We plan to do a boat trip to Mt Rigi for a day & travel to Mt Titus for another day trip.

While in Interlaken, we plan to visit the Jungfrau & the falls. I do know having this pass in this region will be helpful but I’m not 100% clear of how.

We will be taking an early train to Zurich with a stop in Bern to take us straight to the Airport.
Will the BO be helpful for this travel???

I appreciate any advice given to help me make sense of this. Thank You

Posted by
11699 posts

It is confusing and off the top of my head, with many trip to the area under my belt, I would say the no-brainer is a Half Fare Card and a Berner Oberland Pass. You can "do the math" as we say and noodle out all the full fares, look at Saver Day Passes, etc., but if you want a combination of convenience and economy without excessive analysis, that's the combo I would use and have done for many many trips.

To be clear, the Half Fare Card will give you a discount on your travel from the German border (Sargans, I believe) to Luzern. It will also give you a discount on trips in Luzern, whether boat or cable way, and it gives you a significant discount on the BO Pass.

The BO Pass covers almost everything in the greater Interlaken area with surcharges for the Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn. It will take you as far as Bern when you depart and from there you will employ your HFC for a discount on the short trip to Zürich. You would need a BO Pass for the days from leaving Luzern to arriving in Bern. If you want to make sure you pay the very least CHF for your journeys, you might benefit from Saver Day Passes if you want to spend the time analyzing.

Posted by
32336 posts

You're not alone in being confused about the Swiss passes, as that's a recurring question on the forum. There are seemingly a plethora of types of passes available, and it's difficult to know which one is best for any particular trip. In the past, I've resorted to formatting a spreadsheet to try and make some sense out of them, and choose the best one for the specific rail trips I'd be taking.

Laurel offered some good tips, and you may also find this helpful - https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/switzerland-rail-passes .

Good luck!

Posted by
74 posts

You could look at a Tell Pass then the BO pass or Jungfrau pass.

My trip last month, I purchased a half fare card for the discounts in Zermatt. Then it made more sense for my itinerary to just buy the individual tickets around Lucerne than buying the Tell pass (no half fare discount). It depends on what you do and how you get there. A 3 hour boat ride the length of lake Lucerne was 23 CF.

A side note on your itinerary for Titlus, take some time to visit Trubsee. We stopped on the way down and ended staying for a couple of hours. Also, when in BO, consider Grindelwald and First

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