LavDXB

Hello,

We are 2 adults and a 2.5 year old who are planning a trip to Switzerland - Austria Early August. We are doing an open jaw - flying into Zurich flying out of Vienna .Below is my tentative itinerary.

Jul 31 – Arrive in Zurich o/n at Zurich Airport
Aug 1 – Check out and head to Lucerne - arrive mid day – check in – o/n Lucerne
Aug 2 – sight seeing around Lucerne – o/n Lucerne
Aug 3 – Check out of Lucerne and take the golden pass to Interlaken – proceed to Wengen – o/n Wengen
Aug 4 - Day trips from Wengen – o/n Wengen
Aug 5 – Day trips from Wengen – o/n Wengen
Aug 6 – Day trips from Wengen – o/n Wengen
Aug 7 – Check out and proceed to Interlaken - Zurich – Take the train to Salzburg – o/n salzburg
Aug 8 – Sight seeing at Salzburg – o/n salzburg
Aug 9 - Check out and take the train to Vienna – o/n Vienna
Aug 10 – check out and proceed to Vienna – o/n Vienna
Aug 11 – Sight seeing Venice – o/n Vienna
Aug 12 – Check out and fly back to DXB

Questions

1. Which swiss pass to take - I will only do the Lucerne to Interlaken bit of the Golden Pass. Am confused between the Half Fare card or Swiss Saver (as we will always be travelling together). Should i get the Swiss - Austria pass instead as am travelling both the countries - but the dilemma is that this pass wont include the gondolas/ trams etc ?

2. Also I would like to know which is the fastest way to get to Salzburg from Wengen.

3. On Aug 1 I understand its a public holiday - anything tht I should be aware of ?

Thanks,
Lav

PalenQ

Swiss-Austria Pass is a Eurailpass and thus would not cover trains above Interlaken - well it would get you a 25% discount Interlaken-Wengen - Swiss Pass would cover that in full. even with Austrian travels I'd rule out the Switzerland-Austria Pass because you will be traveling from Wengen several times probably. Plus that pass costs a lot more than a regular Swiss Pass. and yes that pass would not cover city trams and buses or give you 50% off aerial cable ways and gondolas like the Swiss Pass would.

Half-Fare vs Swiss Pass - HFC have to know exactly what you are doing and will do not more to calculate. Consecutive-day Swiss Pass are best deals - 8-consecutive-day Swiss Pass may be your best bet as it neatly covers all your trains from Zurich to Lucerne, Wengen and out to Swiss border - valid in full on GE.

For lots of great info on Swiss trains, passes, etc check out these IMO fantastic sources - www.swisstravelsystem.com; http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id3.html; www.ricksteves.com.

Wengen to Salzburg you go back to Zurich and change to direct trains to Austria.

August 1st is the Swiss National Day - trains will be running as usual for a Sunday - lots of trains

PalenQ

You know it takes about 10 hours with multiple changes of train (Lauterbrunnen; Interlaken-Ost; Bern; Zurich, etc. from Wengen to Ssazlburg and v.v. - can you break that day up somewhere - like staying the night in Zurich and looking around that lovely fascinating city? Otherwise it is all day on a train - I use the German Railways official site for all European train schedules - easiest to use and usually infallible - a good way to access its English language schedule page where you put From - Salzburg and To - Wengen and get all the trains for a certain day with the changes and routes, etc. - a good way to access this is to go to the home page of www.budgeteuropetravel.com and click on the link "Best online European Railway schedule" or some such wording and up pops the English schedule page - I give this home page link because it also gives you several valuable tips for novice users that may not be apparent at first glance.

But 10 hours on a train is something that even I a die hard rail nut would be aloof to do.

LavDXB

Dear PalenQ,

Thank you for your kind help on this matter.

I have the following plan in mind and given this, would you have any views on a (A Swiss half fare Card + Regional Bernese Oberland Pass 4 or 6 days) vs A Swiss Saver Pass for 8 days

Would the BOB Pass give us more options and discounts on the Mountain Trains, Gondolas etc. Is the BOB valid for use on the Golden Pass (is it just reservation fees that we pay or is it a 50% discount). This was not very clear from the various websites we had looked at

Many Thanks once again and appreciate your help
Lav

Plan

1. Boat rides on Lake Lucerne on the day we arrive in Lucerne
2. Days trip from Lucerne to Mt Pilatus / Titlis - weather permitting
3. Take the Golden Pass to Interlaken from Lucerne and then head to Wengen
4. Wengen - Look around on the day we arrive.
5. Next Day - Wengen to Jungfrau Top / KleineScheidegg
6. Next Day Wengen - Reichenbach Falls / Lake Brienz and Cog Wheel to Rothorn and back to Wengen
7. Golden Pass from Interlaken to Zweisimmen , Lake Thun and back to Wengen
8. Start from Wengen to Zurich and then Salsburg (We are thinking about your suggestion on breaking this up).

Dukey1

Have you considered the possibility of getting a pass which only covers Switzerland and then buying point-to-point tickets for the Austria portion? You will be spending a LOT more time in Switzerland than you will in Austria. You won't need any sort of pass while in Salzburg as the old town is easily walkable and if you do use public transport in town it will be inexpensive; same with Vienna in terms of public transport.

You can buy the tickets for the Austria portion at the Luzern rail station which has a large travel office on the bottom floor and those folks speak English quite well. They can sell tickets and also get you cheaper seat reservations.

PalenQ

Lav - not much time now but one more pass to consider is the Jungfraubahn Pass - good for many things in the Jungfrau Region other passes are not - at least 100%.

LavDXB

PalenQ - I will look at that as well - thanks for the pointer.

I didnt understand the 'atleast 100%' part ...

PalenQ

Well I think the Jungfraubahnpass covers the Jungfrabahn to Jungfraujoch - the highest peak in the area and Europe's highest train station 100% -= Swiss Pass covers 25% above Wengen and Grindelwald - 100% below and Half-Fare Card 50% the whole route.

Swiss Pass would cover 100% of Day 6 except 50% off Rothorn steam train (I walkewd back down - easy and sweet) - use one of the 100% covered travel days on a Swiss Pass there

You are missing out on what I and others think is an excursion to rival the Jungfraujoch one - Wengen to Lauterbrunnen-Grutschalp-Murren-Schilthorn (Piz Glorai) - Gimmelwald - Stechleberg - Lauterbrunnen- Wengen - Swiss Pass covers it all 100% except 50 % off Murren to Piz Gloria cable way.

LavDXB

Dear PalenQ - am lost

So you are saying the Jungfrabahn pass covers all of JF region - (the following coverage map which http://www.swisspasses.com/railpass/...rau-unlimited/) is all the way from Interlaken to our day trips until Day 6. It doesnt cover wengen as per map.

What about the Golden Pass coverage - For this I should use the half fare card I assume?

Also the JFB pass which class of travel does it cover ? Am i even looking at the right site ?

With the Schilthorn excursion - do you recommend I take that instead of Jungfraujoch ? In that case the validty of the jungfraubhan pass goes up to Murren - after that we use the HFC for Schilthorn/ Gimmelwald- Stechleberg - Lauterbrunnen route ?

Thanks,
Lav

PalenQ

Lot to digest there - I'll be back but I think if you go the Half-Fare route that is all that you would want given your plans - forget anything else if doing the Half-Fare Card.

Still seems that an 8-consecutive-day Swiss Pass could be the best deal even though it only gives 25% of Wengen to Jungfraujoch - you are traveling around Switzerland enough to make this perhaps the best deal and then no waiting in ticket lines, etc. - And with a pass I always always use it more than I think I would - like inb Wengen it funky weather sets in - not uncommon in that area - with a pass you would not bat an eyelash expense wise to say day trip to cities like Bern or Thun or Lucerne that are more enjoyable in rainy weather than hiking in the Alps.

Or on a nice afternoon taking the train down to Interlaken and hopping a boat ride on Lake Thun - just relaxing, etc.

Such a pass would be carte blanche to do so much on the whim - Half-Fare Card has to be calculated on exactly what you will be doing.

PalenQ

http://www.swisspasses.com/railpass/...rau-unlimited/)

Also the JFB pass which class of travel does it cover ? Am i even looking at the right site ?

Well I cannot get that site to open -= can you?

The official Jungfraubahn Pass site by Jungfrau Railways
http://www.jungfrau.ch/nc/en/tourism...eidegg/offers/

LavDXB

Dear PAlenQ

That was a very valid suggestion from you that we should take the swiss pass instead of the half fare card for those days where we might need to alter our plans. I had never give a though on those lines. Thank you once again for your invaluable input on this.

With the link you have mentioned - its the same coverage map that came up in the Swiss passes site - the issue with that not opening is my bad - there is a ) at the end of the URL I pasted http://www.swisspasses.com/railpass/...rau-unlimited/ - but this doesnt tell me class of travel - maybe i should call.

With the Schilthorn excursion - do you recommend I take that instead of Jungfraujoch ? In that case the validty of the jungfraubhan pass goes up to Murren - after that we use the HFC for Schilthorn/ Gimmelwald- Stechleberg - Lauterbrunnen route ?

Thanks so much for your patience with me !

indy_dad

As painful as it is, simply write down and price out each planned ticket and compare the Half Card, Swiss Pass and HC+Jungfrau. If it is close, then go with the pass option for the fringe benefits.

There is only 1 class of travel for everything above Lauterbrunnen, I believe so there is no point having a 1st class Jungfrau pass.

Remember that some sites factor in the Half Fare card when quoting a price.

PalenQ

With the Schilthorn excursion - do you recommend I take that instead of Jungfraujoch ?>

No I would not recommend one over the other but if I had only one day to day trip the Murren Loop offers much more varied things like Murren, Gimmelwald, Schilthorn, thrilling aerial gondolas (Jungfraujoch train is mainly in tunnels) - I'd chose that one. Others may disagree.

I think a Swiss Pass simplifies everything and may be your best bottom line too simply because you have 8 days there traveling and the 8-consecutive-day pass per day is a great value and you seem to be traveling about every day - it covers in full to Wengen and all parts of the Murren loop - including gondolas up and down and bus to Stechelberg - just 50% on Murren to Schilthorn.

Even if it cost a bit more at first hand it gives many options yes in foul weather.

PalenQ

jungfraubhan pass goes up to Murren - after that we use the HFC for Schilthorn/ Gimmelwald- Stechleberg - Lauterbrunnen route ?>

Or double back thru Murren and go back down the way you came up for full coverage?

indy_dad

LavDXB,

We are leaving Saturday for a week in Wengen. I have a spreadsheet set up to calculate all the options. I had not considered the Jungfrau Pass until your post so I decided to run it through. It was close, but even with 6-days usage it didn't work out for us.

Remember, for it to come out ahead financially, you must have 2x the price of the pass to make it worth it (unless you value the freedom of the pass). For instance the pass cost 185 CHF if you have a Half Fare Card.

Your tickets (excluding Jungfraujoch and the Schiltorn which offer no benefit over the half fare card) must then have a full fare price of 370 CHF to break even (because you would be getting half off anyway).

We have a lot planned in our 6-days and it still came up (just) short. I'd be surprised if it made sense for your itinerary.

The Swiss Pass doesn't make sense for us, but you have more travel outside of the B.O. so maybe it does for you.

PalenQ

Half-Fare Cards make best for folks going to one spot, like Jungfrau area and not traveling around Switzerland - then it is often the best deal - but the Swiss Card has everything a Half-Fare Card does plus one train trip from any border point or airport to any point in Switzerland (like Wengen) and then out to any border point or airport and then in between those trips you get 50% off everything like the Half-Fare Card (not sure about Jungfraujoch discount 25 or 50% though).

PalenQ

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