Hi everyone,
There will be 4 of us travelling in September through Germany and Switzerland. I have most of the tour already sorted however I am stuck on how to get from Lindau (Germany) to Interlaken West. We are staying 5 nights in Interlaken so I thought a Swiss Pass would be the best option, as we want to see Jungfrau and the surrounding towns, but I am not sure if the Swiss Pass includes the initial travel from Lindau.
If anyone can shed some light, it would be much appreciated!
Thanks
Brett, you can see the lines covered by the Swiss Pass on this map:
www.swisstravelsystem.com/download_sts/uebersichtskarte_en.pdf -
It does not show travel from Lindau as covered, but you pass will kick in as soon as you arrive in Switzerland (very close to Lindau).
Use the Swiss transport website www.rail.ch to see the route. You have a choice of all train, or crossing the lake by boat to Romanshorn (where the pass coverage will start).
Fantastic! Thanks very much!
We used our Swiss Pass in Lucerne for museums, boat trips, city bus travel. It was a great deal for our family.
Where all the activities in Lucernce included for free on the Swiss Pass?
Brett, we validated our swiss pass in Lindau, they did not charge us more to go to Interlaken, i think it is included because it is a border city, but i am not totally sure. Here you can see wich museums have a rebate or are free with a swiss pass http://www.museumspass.ch/
If you are only going to Lucerne, Interlaken and highter in the Berner Oberland, it maybe not the best options, you might want to do a search for point to point tickets vs swiss pass. A lot of the lift ticket are only 50% discount with the swiss pass not totally covered. You can check the prices here at www.sbb.ch
Also since there are 4 of you traveling together you could get some swiss savers pass instead.
If you will be spending 5 night in the Berner Oberland, i suggest you stay in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, like Murren, Wengen or Lauterbrunnen, there are nicer than Interlaken. Have fun!
Thanks Martine for the information. I will check the SBB and see if it would be better just to buy point to point tickets. Thanks again.
If you are certain you will go up the Jungfraujoch, you might look into a Half-Fare Card. This pass gives you a 50% reduction on the very expensive Jungfraujoch trip, which is 193,80 CHf for a return ticket from Interlaken Öst. Other passes like the Swiss Pass only cover the trip from Wengen on up at 25%.
The Half-Fare Card costs 99 CHf, so it will almost pay for itself on the Jungfraujoch trip.
The other Swiss Passes (Saver, Flex, etc.) work best for people who are doing longer journeys, costing more than 40 CHF or so, for the number of days on the pass. If you are basing in one place, and doing short trips, AND going up the Jungfraujoch, the Half-Fare Card may work better. However, it does not include admission to museums.
The "regular" fare from Lindau to Interlaken West, by train rather than by boat, is 93 CHF. To find out the fare for the boat route, you can put in an inquiry on SBB.ch and they will answer back.
There is a very good chart showing what the various Swiss Passes cover (and don't cover) on this website under "Railpasses". The synoptic map (link above) is helpful as well.
