My husband and I are traveling to Switzerland in September for 15 nights. We will be flying in and out of Zurich. Staying 3 nights in Wildersvil, 3 nights Grindlewald, 2 night Murren, 3 night Montreux, 1 night Zermatt and 3 nights Lucerne. Not sure if Swiss travel pass is best option or Swiss half fare with Berner Oberland and available Saver passes. And yes we will be going to Jungfrauloch, The First, Mannichlin and Schilthorn as well as Golden Pass train and trains thru Zermat , to Lucerne and back to Zurich airport. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thank you!
Posted by
Nashville, TN
612 posts
Without doing a spreadsheet of math, my guess is BO + 1/2 fare card but to know for sure you'd have to make a list of each of the trips you hope to take and price them out on sbb.ch and compare. SBB defaults to half fare pricing, so account for that in your math. The differences between options probably won't be massive so if you don't have the time to over analyze, you most likely won't be making a mistake that's going to cost you massively.
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11775 posts
I believe from personal experience that is the best combo for you is a Half Fare Card and a Berner Oberland Regional Pass for 10 days which should include your arrival and departure days. You will get a discount on the BORP for having an HFC.
You might also benefit from a William Tell Pass in Luzern. https://www.tellpass.ch/en
Posted by
Chicago
3125 posts
As you will be staying in so many different regions (as I do), you might get the most benefit from the Swiss Travel Pass. The BO Pass won’t help you outside of the BO.
Posted by
2 posts
I am looking at the exact same comparisons for the same basic time frame (14 days) and regions (Zurich-Montreux-Zermatt-Wengen-Lucerne-Zurich). I did prices for Swiss Travel Pass 15 days + Zermatt extras + BO extras vs 1/2 Fare Card/SBB Saver Fares + BO Pass + Zermatt extras. The difference came out to $30 or so. Even if my math is off by a bit, it's so close as to be a wash. If I add in the cost for the William Tell Pass for the Lucerne region to the BO Pass, the STP comes out ahead. I think we will end up buying Swiss Travel Pass with the Zermatt/BO cable cars/gondolas as 1/2 fare extras. Think it will give more flexibility if we change plans bc of weather or unforeseen events. You may have made a decision by now but thought I'd offer more structure to the excellent previous advice that the options are quite similar.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17418 posts
For us it came down to a question of how many lifts we want to ride in the Berner Oberland. The First, Eigergletscher, and Pfingstegg lifts at Grindelwald, the Männlichen cablecar, train to Kleine Scheidegg, and other means of mountain transport are fully covered with the B-O pass, versus 50% with a Swiss Pass. Neither will fully cover the Jungfraujoch train (which we will not do anyway).
Look at the validity map and you will see that it covers more than just what we think of as the Berner Oberland. In your case it will fully cover the train as far as Gstaad on your way to Montreux, and the rest is 50%. It also covers travel to Luzern, but a 10-day B-Onpass will not include your Luzern dates. Maybe consider the Tell pass for that.
https://www.berneseoberlandpass.ch/assets/Uploads/BLS-BO-Pass-M-23-WEB.pdf
Posted by
Wengen
2493 posts
I generally advise people to just get the Half Fare Card, and then a regional pass for the area they are in.
One advantage is that you can turn things upside down. In stead of figuring out how much the minimum amount of travel will cost you, you can stop worrying about it, and max out your travel. There is no law against going up the Männliche multiple times. Heck, I even go up there just to have lunch. The Berghaus has quite a good kitchen.
So get the pass, stop worrying about what it all cost, and just roam about as much as you like. That is the best way to explore this area. Allows you to change your plans at whim, and just go where the weather and your mood takes you each day.