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Rail Passes help - eurail vs italy pass & swiss pass

Posted by (clifton, nj, USA) on

Hello,
My wife and I will be travelling to Italy and Lauterbrunnen, switzerland this May.
Our iternary [city, no of days] - Milan(0.5), Lauterbrunnen(2.5),Venice(2.5),Florence(2.5), Rome(2.5).

I saw that eurail pass gives 25% discounts in the trains/lifts for Alps, but swiss provides 50% discounts.We plan to do the Jungfrau.
However, separate swiss,italy passes will need those extra days when I travel from italy to switzerland.
Is it cheaper Overall to buy a eurail pass or separate italy and swiss passes?
Or buy just swiss pass and make italy point to point?
Any advice please.

Posted by
6898 posts

Vikram, for just a couple of days in Switzerland, and your expected trip up to the Jungfraujoch and possibly the Shilthorn, I would suggest the Swiss 1/2-fare card. It cover 50% of all fares including the expensive ones to the tops of the mountains. It costs 99CHF per person. It will also cover you 1/2 fare to the Swiss border. For Italy, I would recommend point-to-point.

Note also that when you buy your tickets in Milan for Lauterbrunnen, expect to be sold a ticket from Milan to Interlaken Ost. The Italian train system doesn't show Lauterbrunnen. The reason is that the Swiss want to be paid in Swiss Francs for the train system that goes into the Lauterbrunnen valley and the Italian train system is in Euros. This is not a problem at all. When you get to Interlaken Ost, walk over to the ticket window and buy your tickets to Lauterbrunnen. You can pay in Swiss Francs or with your credit card.

Posted by
15 posts

Thanks again Larry, you are a great source for Europe travel!

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