Swiss Travel Pass Versus Eurail Pass

Well, two things come to my mind
1. Swiss travel Pass also covers buses and some mountain railways that wouldn’t be covered on a Eurail passs.
2. Swiss Pass also provides admission to quite a few museums throughout Switzerland.

• As above, a Swiss pass includes trains + buses + lake boats + city transport and gives a discount on mountain railways and cable cars. A Eurail pass is rail only, with a few local rail companies excluded.
• A 15 day out of 30 Swiss pass costs CHF 563 for 2nd class, or CHF 890 for 1st class. 2nd class is totally adequate, don't bother with 1st class.

Details for Swiss Pass here: https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/travel-in-switzerland/international-guests/swiss-travel-pass.html
Map of where it is valid here: https://www.sbb.ch/content/dam/sbb/de/infotexte/uebersichtskarte-sts.pdf

I would really map out your itinerary to see what kind of a pass will be best for you, and how many days you will want it for. My husband and I are going to Switzerland this year too, and I looked at Eurail (no way this will be best for you if you are only visiting Switzerland), Swiss Travel Pass, Swiss Half Fare Card, and 2 different regional passes. The Half Fare Card is going to work out best for us, but I needed an excel spreadsheet to reach that conclusion. It will completely depend on where you plan on spending time, how much you plan on moving around, and what you plan to do.

See a summary of how the pass coverage varies at https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/switzerland-rail-passes. The Swiss Travel Pass covers more, but only on those 15 counted travel days, with no discounts or coverage in between. You may possibly do a lot of math and still come out with similar totals.

I would only get first class if you want to reserve in first for scenic trains like the Glacier Express and Gotthard Panorama Express (GPE is back to being an all first-class train this year on the official, named departure), and maybe not even then. The Golden Pass line is not offering nose-cone VIP seats this year. You could almost buy two 2nd-class Swiss Travel Passes for the price of one 1st-class version. On the Eurail Pass, the price difference between classes of service is less.

In some locations, your hotel may provide a city card that covers the local bus system or other discounts.

I’m guessing that you’ll get the biggest savings. bang for your buck from the Swiss half fare card.