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Which Rail Pass makes the most sense...Switzerland and France

SO... I am leaving on April 11th for a trip to (mainly) Switzerland and France. I have the itinerary figured out- for the most part. I am trying to find the past that would make the most sense and cover the majority of the trips we will be taking... here is our itin. along with est. cost in swiss francs w.o a pass.. I am thinking a pass would save us some money on this trip:

zurich -brig= 130 chf
brig-zermat= 150 chf rt
brig-domodossola= 30chf rt
brig-leukerbad= 30 chf
brig-interlaken= 100chf
intlerlaken-lauterbrunnen= 20chf
lauterbrunnen-schiltorn= 75chf
brig-montreux= 70chf
montreux-lausanne= 35chf
lausanne- paris

We will be staying in Brig and Montreux. Thank you in advance for ANY pass purchasing advice!! I cant figure out if the benefits of the swiss-only pass would make sense for our trip.

Posted by
6898 posts

Evan, some type of Swiss Pass or Card will save you money. With a full Swiss Pass, all of your transportation in Switzerland for the legs you show is covered except the leg from Murren to the Schilthorn. Your pass will get you a 50% discount on that leg. Also, you show 75CHF from Lauterbrunnen to the Schilthorn. I see 102CHF roundtrip. Also, there might be an extra fee from Brig to Zermatt if you ride the Glacier Express train. You can ride the regular trains on the same tracks and avoid this extra fee. A consecutive 4-day Swiss Pass will cost 390CHF. An consecutive 8-day pass will cost 564CHF. You can compare your math with these figures.

One card that might interest you is the Swiss 1/2 fare card. It costs 99CHF and is good for 30 days. It does what it says. 1/2 fare on all transportation including the trip to the Schilthorn. We had this card and it was just fine for our visit. The savings on the trip to the Jungfraujoch just about paid for the card. Also, I think we had to pay an extra 15CHF supplemental fee to ride on the Glacier Express.

Posted by
6898 posts

Evan, I'm still looking at your itinerary. Question: why go from Brig to Montreux when you can take the Golden Pass scenic train from Interlaken to Montreux-Lausanne? Maybe I don't understand the full routing of your trip.