My mother(26+yrs) and I(20yrs) are traveling from 7 days in Italy and then flying into Geneva, Switzerland in March of this year. We will need to travel by train to our final destination, the Berner Oberland area. We will only be traveling in that area for 2 days before returning to the airport in Geneva. Our itinerary includes Speiz, Interlaken, Schilthorn, Jungfrau/ Jungfraujoch, Disentis-Brig segment of the Glacier Express, and Gimmewald (including the cable cars and mountain trains these destinations require). Our main focus is to only be in this general area, and we understand we will run out of time.
What is going to be the best Swiss pass for the money? (Swiss Flexi Pass or Half Fare Card etc.)
And if we were to get the Swiss Flexi Pass could we combine Swiss Flexi Pass Saver that is for 2+ people, with the Youth Pass?
Posted by
Green Bay
20980 posts
After further review, how are going to do 4 days of rail touring in 2 days?
Jungfraujoch--1 day
Schilthorn--1 day
Glacier express--2 days
Ok, you could do the Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn in a day, and nothing else.
You could go leave Interlaken at 8 am and get the train to Disentis, spend 5 minutes on the platform, and make it back to Interlaken by 8:30 pm.
So 2 days in the B-O and most of it riding trains and cable cars. What if it is lousy weather?
Here is a suggestion, if you want a scenic rail journey, take the Golden Pass route from Montreux to Spiez on your way from Geneva to the B-O.
Look at the 4 day Berner Oberland Pass at 230 chf/pp. It covers a lot of what you want to do.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
As Sam indicates, you won't make this in 2 days. Geneva/Interlaken takes 3.0hrs. It takes 2hrs each way to travel to/from the Jungfraujoch from Lauterbrunnen. You'll be up there for 2-3 hours - essentially most of the day. From Gimmelwald, it will take you just short of 5.0hrs round trip just to get to/from Brig. Then, the round-trip from Brig to Disentis will take 2hrs39min on the Glacier Express and 3:15 minutes from Disentis to Brig on two Regionale trains. We have done this exact journey from Lauterbrunnen. It's a very long day.
A Swiss pass or card will help as the fare to/from the Jungfraujoch is $190. It's about $110 to/from the Shilthorn. No Swiss pass or card covers more that 50% of either fare (Jungfraujoch from Wengen and the Schilthorn from Muerren). Add in 98CHF for the round trip to/from Disentis on the Glacier Express. Geneva/Interlaken round trip will be 140CHF. Interlaken/Brig round trip is 88CHF. At full fare, you are looking at an estimated 650CHF for your transportation fares per person.
The Swiss 1/2 fare card costs 130CHF and is good every day for 30 days. You fares would then be 325CHF + 130CHF or 455CHF. Why get a flexi-pass when you will only be there for 2 days although you can get a 3-day flexi-pass and use all 3 days.
As an option, you could consider the Berner Oberland Regional Pass. A 4 days pass costs 230CHF but it covers all full fares in the B.O. except the 50% up to the Jungfraujoch and the Schilthorn. It extends out to Bern and Brig so you are covered there. Your trip from Geneva would need to be via Bern. Most runs from Geneva to Interlaken require a train change at Bern. This pass would cover about 50% of the Glacier Express run to Andermatt which is a short distance short of Disentis.