Train Questions- Golden Pass vs SBB and rail cards?

Posted by utjane on 04/04/25 01:51 PM

Family of 4 (2 adults, 2 12yo) travelling from Wengen to Montceau-les-Mines station in France this June. Is it worth trying to incorporate Golden Pass Prestige from Interlaken to Montreaux for this leg of the journey? Is it worth it to try to incorporate it? If we opt to do it, how much time should I allow to switch from SBB to GP in Interlaken? Is there a better station to catch GP rather than Interlaken on this route??

Finally- if our time in Switzerland will be spent ZUR directly to Wengen then on this path, is half pass travel card the best option (the 2 kids would ride free) or another option better?

Posted by WengenK

Wengen

04/05/25 07:31 AM

2891 posts

Shortest way to Montceaux les Mines is via Basel and Dijon. Adding the Golden pass will add about 3 hours to your trip. See www.sbb.ch for schedules. You could do a trip Wengen - Interlaken - Montreux - Lausanne - Dijon - Montceau. Would be a 10 hour trip though.

Getting anywhere from Wengen almost always involves changing trains in Interlaken. Note that you will not be coming from SBB, but from BOB, but that does not really matter. There are 500+ transportation companies in Switzerland, but form the point of view of the tourist it is one system.

The Half Fare Card (with the Family Card) is good value for families, as discount and free travel for your kids also applies to cable cars and mountain railways, which is what I suppose you will be wanting to do in Wengen. But you can work out if it is worth it and always get it at the airport after you've landed.

Posted by utjane OP

04/06/25 03:38 AM

5 posts

ok thanks so much for the input! I don't think we want to add 3 hours on to an already long train.

Posted by phred

Los Angeles

04/06/25 05:52 PM

5011 posts

Google maps or Rome2rio will lay out various options and timings

Posted by WengenK

Wengen

04/07/25 06:02 AM

2891 posts

Rome2Rio is not a good place to look for the best train routes. Google maps is slightly better. Best place is just use the SBB. They have the schedule for France too.