Swiss Pass Question

"Does the Swiss Pass get me everywhere the Jungfrau Pass goes ( I realize that high peaks Schilthorn and Jungfrau are only discounted on both." Yes, but the discounts are different (Jungfrau trip discount is 25% above KS with a Swiss Pass; 50% with the Jungfraubahn pass or Half-Fare card.) And the Schilthorn is not covered on the Jungfraubahn pass; it covers only as far as Mürren. It is hard to find current information on the Jungfrau Pass as it is summer only, and they don't currently have it on the new Jungfrau.ch site. I don't remember if it covered the Pfingsteg lift or not. You can ssee the coverage of the Swiss passes here: http://rail.myswitzerland.com/produkttexte.php?passid=1 Click on the "synoptic map" at lower right and a map will pop up. You'll see the Pfingstegg lift is not there, so no discount with a Swiss Pass or Flex pas. There is a 50% on the First lift. As far as people traveling together with a Saver Pass: one person can use it along if he or she wants. The others will not be able to use it at that time and will pay for tickets if they want to go somewhere without walking there. If the conductor should ask where the others are (which I have never seen them do,) just say they ae "zu Hause" (at home). Don't worry about the "privately operated" aspect if you are using a Swiss pass. The distinction applies to 2-country and Eurail passes, which require a supplement on some private railways. The Swiss Pass will fully cover a journey as far as a village (Wengen or Mürren); above that the discounts apply.

Thanks Lola, The map on the Rail Europe site don't show very good detail. This map is much better, though it doesn't list Gimmelwald as a destination for the Swiss Pass. Here is a link to the Jungfrau region Pass. http://www.swisspasses.com/railpass/swiss-regional-rail-passes/packages/jungfrau-unlimited/?PHPSESSID=0c2d17fd58eb32c29e79619fc95dd057

They don't write in "Gimmelwald" but it is there. This is why the online Synoptic map is so nice---you can enlarge it on your scree to see the detail you need. Look closely and you will see a yellow line connecting Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg---that is the Postbus, fully covered with a Swiss pass. There is also a red line going up to Grutschalp and over to Mürren---that is the cablecar train combination to Murren, fully covered on the Swiss pass. Now see the little black "L" that connects Stechelberg and Mürren? That is the cablecar through Gimmelwald, which is at the elbow of the "L" (you actually change cars there). This line is solid, not dotted, which means it is fully covered on the Swiss Pass. Above Mürren, going up the Schilthorn, it is dotted, meaning 50% covered.

And thank you for the link to the Jungfraubahn Pass map. I last found it several months ago, but couldn't manage this time. I see Pfingstegg is covered with that one. But boats are not. . . something you might want to consider in choosing your pass. But for boats you could use your 3-day Flex if you are doing the combination. If your kids want to do the Pfingstegg Rodelbahn, and you will definitely go up the Jungfrau, that might weigh pretty heavily toward that combination.

"people need to be travelling together at all times" This just means that you cannot have your party separate and travel in different directions at the same time. We had a pass for 4 of us and 2 of us would go off to one place and the other 2 would plan an activity where they didn't need the pass. We learned that we should have booked 2 passes for 2 each. Thus we would have still got the Swiss Saver pass. We found our pass saved us a lot of money when you added up all the discounted activities.

I'm not going to use the correct terminology here, but keep in mind when you are working through the decision on the swiss passes that with the flexi pass you can still use the pass on your "off" days to get 50% off. Since the pass only gives you 50% off on most of the lifts/trains above Murren anyway, you can get a flexi pass but limit the days that you use the pass to those days when you will be traveling below. Hopefully that makes sense. We found the swiss pass analysis on Rick's trip planning page to be very helpful in sorting through the choices.

I've been to this region many times using passes, and my gut instinct is to NOT be tied to any pass that restricts me to a particular region...like the Jungfrau Pass, for example. The Swiss Pass gets you everywhere you want to go (including Gimmelwald) and includes discounts to Jungfrau and also to Schilthorn. Swiss Pass also covers trains, boats, buses, cogs, gondolas (Lauterbrunnen -> Grutshalp for example) and even the city trams throughout Switzerland. The only other pass I might consider would be the Half Fare card but is not as convenient as a Swiss Pass which allows you to jump on and off wherever and whenever you want. You don't ever have to stand in line to buy tickets except for special places like Jungfrau and Schilthorn. Gimmelwald - nice place to visit, but wouldn't want to spend 11 days there. I would highly suggest Mürren over Gimmelwald. Lastly you talk of your "family". If you have kids < 16 years old DEFINITELY by all means get the free Swiss Family Card or buy the very cheap Junior Card. Your kids will travel absolutely free with you wherever you go...including Jungfrau and Schilthorn.