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Train Pass - Swiss Travel Pass vs. HFC and BO

Posted by on

Hi!

I can see this is a confusing topic for many. We are traveling this summer and I am still unclear what pass to get. Should I worry in advance or take itinerary to the SBB office in Zurich and purchase there?

Day 1: Zurich Airport to Montreux
Day 2: Belle Epoch train (MOB) to Gruyere for the day
Day 3: Montreux to Interlaken
Day 4: Day trip to Lauterbrunnen (not doing Schilthorn or Jungfraujoch Top) Will do Tremmelbach Falls
Day 5: Day trip to Oeschinen Lake or Grindlewald for Grindlewald First
Day 6: Stay in Interlaken. Maybe boat ride on lake /Go up to Harder Klum
Day 7: Travel to Lugano
Day 8: Travel to Venice

I would appreciate any help. I have spent too much time on this and have gotten no where. :(

Posted by
3249 posts

Unfortunately other people would also have to spend time doing the math to figure out the best option. With some itineraries it is easy to tell that a BO Pass, with or without a HFC is a good option, cuz they have 5-6 days in the Berner Oberland and want to ride lots of lifts. But yours isn’t like that.

I would say probably not a BO pass, and just ask the SBB agent at Zurich airport if a Swiss Travel Pass would be worth the cost.

Posted by
3 posts

thank you for the reply, and I would not want someone else to have to work on that. Just didn't know if there was someone with a similar trip.

Posted by
66 posts

While I always try to excel sheet it out, there’s one quick tip that helps me decide— are you doing museums that would be covered by the Swiss pass? Usually, transit by itself isn’t enough to justify the Swiss pass. I find the BO pass to never be worth it for the same reason — it doesn’t cover museums and stuff, so why bother. Your choice is likely going to be between half fare or Swiss pass. If you want to do 5-6 museums that would all cost full freight otherwise, I’d go for Swiss pass. Otherwise, even if it’s like 3-4 museums, your best bet is half fare.

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