neckervd

May be you will have a look at https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?sh...9189b83c6a16c6

PalenQ

again I would check all TGV departure stations in Switzerland or at least the 3-4 different main routes - TGVs originate in Lausanne and Geneva for Paris and in Zurich via Bern (closest to Interlaken) and Basel to Paris - take the cheapest one if you have a Swiss Pass it will cover you to places like Basel or Geneva - which would be expensive to get to without a pass from the Jungfrau Region anyway.

You do not necessarily have to go to Basel is the point. They all end up at the same Gare de Lyon in Paris.

If there are TGV duplex trains - doubledeckers go for the upper deck to see much of anything - the lower level often sees only windblocks and cement walls.

travelgal86

Thanks Palenq. Yeah, I dont care so much about the route, just about changing trains as few times as possible. And I'm hoping to book sooner rather than later to get the better prices.

thanks!

travelgal86

Hi All,

We are embarking on our trip soon, and I wanted to ask about train passes in Switzerland. We are spending 5 nights in Switzerland--3 in Grindelwald and 2 in Lucerne. We are flying in to Zurich and plan on taking the train right to Grindelwald. We hope to do a few day trips from Grindelwald and then take the train for Grindelwald to Lucerne. We have already purchased our train tickets from Lucerne to Paris.

Would our best choice be to buy the 4 day Swiss train pass to cover all of our train trips within the country? Can we buy it right when we get to Zurich before heading to Grindelwald? Also, is there a train station right at the Zurich airport, where we can buy the pass and take the train to Grinelwald, or do we need to find our way to a train station first?

Thanks for all the guidance!! I cant believe its already travel time!

neckervd

So your itinerary may be:
Train 1: Zurich airport - Lucerne,
train 2: Lucerne - Interlaken
Standard fare ZRH - Lucerne - Interlaken: 55 CHF
or
train 1: Zurich airport Berne
train 2: Berne - Interlaken
Standard fare ZRH - Berne - Interlaken: 73 CHF
plus
Interlaken - Lucerne: 32 CHF
Lucerne - Zurich airport: 29 CHF
plus
Interlaken - Grindelwald RT: 22 CHF

As to the most economic solution all wil depemd on what you will do from Lucerne and Interlaken: mountain railways, buses, gondolas....
If you do a lot of things from Grindelwald and not much from Lucerne, the Bernese Oberland Pass may be the best solution. If you plan just the contrary, the Swiss Half Fare Card may be better.
With the Bernese Oberland Pass, you get free rides from Lucerne and Berne to all places in the Bernese Oberland.
The Swiss Half Fare Card gives 50 per cent reduction all over Switzerland.

Zurich airport railway station is in the airport terminal building, less than 10 min from the baggage claim; they sell all kinds of tickets and Swiss Passes.
http://www.regiopass-berneroberland....-XL-14-WEB.pdf
http://www.regiopass-berneroberland.ch/offer-2014/
http://www.swisstravelsystem.com/en/home.html

travelgal86

Thank you for the reply. From Zurich I definitely want to take the fastest train/route to grindelwald. It's tricky about the route because we don't have every day planned out yet. How do these passes compare to a 4 or 6 day pass??

Thank you!

neckervd

"How do these passes compare to a 4 or 6 day pass??"
Only YOU can answer this question because only YOU know which day trips you plan to do from Grindelwald and Lucerne.

The fastest (and more boring) route from ZRH to Grindelwald goes via Berne, the more scenic and cheaper one via Lucerne - Bruenig Pass (53 min longer).

You may have a look at
http://www.swisstravelsystem.ch/en/
http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en