Im traveling from Bellagio to Grindelwald, I want to make sure Im clear with utilizing these passes for my travels.
I will book my trip from Milano Centrale to Spiez via SBB,-selecting 1/2 fare. Do I need to make any reservations for Interlaken Ost and Grindelwald Bahnhof or simply board train I have selected as part of my itinerary? I know the Gotthard based tunnel is out -trains are being diverted to old Gotthard tunnel with additional hour travel time
required.
Im traveling to Venezia next. Will go in reverse order thru Milan. Assuming will go through old tunnel again.
Many participants from the travel forum have been most helpful and kind in helping me navigate train travel and reservations a big thank you to all!
Stephanie
Posted by
Bend, Oregon
2545 posts
The Half Fare Card is only good for train travel within Switzerland. So you would buy a full fare ticket from Milan to the last Italian station on your route (often Domodosolla). Then you determine whether that station and the remaining route is covered by the BO pass (Domodosolla is). Here is the map: https://www.berneseoberlandpass.ch/assets/Uploads/BLS-BO-Pass-M-23-WEB.pdf
Be aware of which routes are covered by the BO Pass, not every route from Italy is covered.
If it is covered by the BO pass, no ticket is needed. If it is not covered, you would use the Half Fare Card to buy a ticket from that station to the next station covered by the BO pass. From there, no tickets are required. Keep you BO pass and HFC available for review by the conductor.
Posted by
Wengen
2493 posts
As I mentioned in your other thread the route from Milan to Spiez is not affected by the issues on the Gotthard. So yo ucan stop worrying about that. Assuming that you are still travelling late september you can count on train service to be normal.
The Berner Oberland covers the trains to Domodossola, so another option you have is to just buy a ticket to Domodossola with Trenitalia, and take a train from there. You will have to travel over the old Lötschberg route though, as the BO Pass is not valid through the Base tunnel.
You can find these routes on www.sbb.ch by looking up Domodossola to Spiez, and adding "Goppenstein" as a VIA point. Will be a bit longer, will be more scenic however, and will save you money if your BO pass is indeed already valid on the day you arrive.
For trains in Switzerland reservations are not needed. With you BO pass you just find your train, and get on, and show it when requested by a conductor.