Swiss travel pass

The Swiss Travel Pass includes many museums and attractions. In Lucerne it includes a boat ride to a cog train to the top of Mt. Rigi which was extremely enjoyable. It also includes their art museum and a panorama museum. In Murren, the Swiss Pass covers the trip all the way up to Schilthorn. The Swiss pass also covers the Chateau de Chillion, near Montreaux on Lake Geneva, which is close to Lausanne. I bought a Swiss Pass and I think I came out about even and I liked the convenience. If you are not doing museums/attractions type of things, I'm not sure how close you'd get to break even.

mapisco, there is no shortcut to doing the math.

"Prices vary for these individual train routes for our destinations which I find so confusing."

No, the prices are fixed. What is definitely confusing is that when you look up prices on the Swiss Rail website (and that's where to look - not anywhere else), the first price you see assumes you have a Half Fare card, since most Swiss people do. To see the price without the card, you have to choose "No reduction" and go to the next page (or, just double the first price you see).

Swiss Rail: https://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

"I see some half price on mountain lifts and free fares on large lake boat rides."

To see what the Swiss Pass covers, use the first page of this PDF and enlarge as needed: https://cdn-doc.myswissalps.com/docs/default-source/rail-network-maps/swisstravelsystem.pdf?sfvrsn=7788603a_34

Anything with a solid line is fully covered - boats, buses, trains, and lifts. Anything with a dashed line is 50% off full price, unless it has a circled number 1 next to it, in which case it's 25% off full price. If you're looking at a Swiss Pass coverage map (called the Swiss Synoptic Map), be sure it's for 2018 - the coverage changes every year! (another point of potential confusion).

As stated above, the Swiss Pass is also a Museum Pass. Swiss museums are as expensive as everything else in the country, so if you're seeing more than a few, this can be a great benefit. Here's a list of covered museums by city: https://www.museumspass.ch/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Falterli-2018.pdf

Stan is correct - unfortunately, there is simply no substitute for doing the calculations. Yes, it's a bit of work; add up all the transit you are definitely taking and the transit you are possible taking, plus the museums, and compare it with full price tickets and museum admissions, and with the price of the Half Fare Card plus half priced tickets plus full priced museum admissions. Only then will you know the best deal for you.

Thank you for these suggestions. I have my work cut out for me but at the same time I'm so excited about our upcoming trip!!