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train from Salzburg to Interlaken, plus Swiss rail pass questions

Posted by (Florida) on

As part of a ten day trip to Germany/Austria/Switzerland in early July, a friend and I are traveling by train from Salzburg to Interlaken. I'm trying to determine if we should buy a Swiss Transfer pass but for some reason I can't seem to get pricing info on the point-to-point tickets from either the Swiss or Austrian rail web sites this morning so I can compare costs.

We will be in Interlaken one night (the same day we travel from Salzburg), in Gimmelwald for two nights and then will travel by train to Zurich for one last night before flying back to the US the next morning. We looked into the Swiss Saver and Flexi passes but it seemed as though PTP tickets would be less expensive than a 4 (or even 3) day pass. I only learned of the Transfer pass this morning, and if we want to go that route, I'll have to purchase by tomorrow for it to arrive before we leave.

Any opinions on passes for our situation, or will we be better off just paying for each ticket (including up to Gimmelwald) as it comes up? Also, any advice on the train trip from Salzburg to Interlaken? It looks like it will be a long day of travel, but we don't want to split it up by adding another night in the middle (thus losing one in Gimmelwald). If we don't have passes, we plan to buy our tickets at the Salzburg train station when we first arrive (we'll be there three nights). Thanks for any help!

Posted by
6898 posts

The train websites are very good at showing P2P fares within their own countries. They are not so good at showing P2P fares for international travel although some nice special fares are often shown. Since the objective seems to be to find the P2P costs within Switzerland in consideration of a Swiss pass or card of some type, you might price just the Swiss portion of your journey from Salzburg to Interlaken on the Swiss train website. This you can do. Many runs will go through Zurich or Basel so you can price Zurich/Interlaken. To save some time, the fare from Basel SBB to Interlaken Ost is 55CHF.

For the journeys in Switzerland that you describe above, P2P should be just fine as long as you don't go up to the Jungfraujoch or the Schilthorn. Those are expensive trips.

Posted by
213 posts

Annie, your route to Interlaken from Salzburg will likely take you through Zurich. Taking the earliest train from Salzburg, you will arrive in Interlaken between 3 and 5 PM (I do not remember the exact time). That will include transfers in Zurich and probably Olten on the route that goes through Basel. This way you approach Interlaken from the west. On your return from Interlaken, I suggest taking the train that leaves to the east, going around Lake Brienz and through Lucerne, where you'll have a transfer. That eastern route is very beautiful, going over the mountains and giving you different scenery on the way back to Zurich.

Posted by
19274 posts

Salzburg to Interlaken:

Freilassing, Germany, is just a few km across the Salzach from Salzburg on the rail line from Salzburg to Munich. German Rail sells a Europa-Spezial Schweiz ticket for as little as €39 per person. The route uses a regional train from Freilassing to Munich and express trains from there to Interlaken Ost via Zürich and Bern. The ticket can be obtained from the German Rail website (advance purchase required). For the date I looked at the €39 fares were sold out, but there were still €49 fares available.

But Freilassing isn't Salzburg. No, but it is right across the river and the regional train to Munich starts in Salzburg and the point-point fare from Salzburg to Freilassing is €2,10. So, you buy the Europa-Spezial ticket in advance from German Rail, then buy the ticket to Freilassing in Salzburg. The P-P ticket covers you to Freilassing and the Europa-Spezial ticket covers you the rest of the way to Interlaken.

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