armweber

We are arriving in Zurich, want to stay in Bern for a few days, travel to Ascona and back Zurich. From Bern we want to travel to Grindelwald and Zermatt on separate day trips. What is the best and cheapest way to do this. We are both seniors. In other words we will travel by rail: Zurich-airport to Bern, Bern to Grindelwald-Jungfraujoch and return, to Bern Zermatt and return, then Bern Ascona, then Ascona to Zurich airport. What is the cheapest Swiss SBB ticket for all this. the time of travel, last week of May - first week of June.

Dukey

"What is the best and cheapest way to do this. We are both seniors. In other words we will travel by rail:"

I would agree that rail is probably one of the better, if not THE best way to do this trip

You COULD check the fares and timings at www.sbb.ch (click on the "EN" version at the top)..you could also compare pass prices on the same site but perhaps you'd rather have someone else do it for you,,,some will say the SwissPass is the best..perhaps one which allows you to travel together at all times for an even greater discount; others wil tell you the SWissCard is better.

Personally, if you are might do some other trips you haven't thought of the pass might serve you better but am sure you'll get varying opinions

abbydog

When I traveled in Switzerland a few years ago I followed a Fodors talk recommendation to contact the people at budgeteuropetravel.com, and they walked me through all of my options, schedules, and costs -- eventually even ordering all my rail ticket for me. They are amazing and charge no fees. I am sure they can figure out a great plan for you!

swandav2000

Hi armweber,

I've always found that the Half Fare Card is the most economical option for my own trips. It costs 99 chf and gives you half off just about everything that moves in the country for one month.

Yes, the best way is to get all the fares from the Swiss rail site and then compare the sum to the various passes and discount cards. You can see all the passes, etc, at

www.swisstravelsystem.com

I'll also say that the ticket agents at the desk at Zürich are absolute masters at figuring this out. Just give them your itinerary, and they'll let you know which one would be your best bet.

Have fun!

s

Hambagahle

Unless you have a particular reason to stay IN Bern (friends etc?) I would suggest that you consider another place. Bern is an absolutely beautiful little city, and I adore it but the hotel choice is somewhat limited, which is strange for a capital city, and with the travel you plan you will be spending an additional hour, at least, a day on the trains by staying in Bern.
Consider choosing a place further down the Thunersee such as Spiez. Spiez is very pretty and is a small lakeside town. It also happens to be a very useful railway junction: Trains go from Spiez to Visp in the Valais (where you change for Zermatt) in 20 minutes!
If you arrive in Zurich you can go toBern, check your luggage at the station, go sightseeing, and then come back, get your luggage and go on to Spiez. The next day it will be easy to get to Interlaken to take the train to the Jungfraujoch. And when you go to Zermatt you are only 1hr and 20mins away!
In fact, you would really be better off going to Zermatt en route to Ascona. The train from Brig to Domodossola doesn't take very long and you can then connect via the Centovalli line to Locarno and then on to Ascona. Your plans of a day trip to Zermatt and then back to Bern or Spiez, then back to the Valais to get to Ascona involve a lot of needless backtracking. Why not consider spending a night in Zermatt and leaving the next am for Ascona??

Palenque

For the type of travel the OP envisions a Swiss Pass to me is a no-brainer - if you can comport your travel time on trains to fit a 4-, 8- 15-day consecutive pass all the better as they are great deals or look at the 3-day Swiss Flexipass as well.

southeastern

We bought our Swiss Rail pass in the states and were ready to hit the rails. Train riding in Switzerland is wonderful. You will love it!

Palenque

And in some of the places the OP intends to go - like Grindelwald and Zermatt cars are not even allowed in these towns but must be parked, at a cost, in parking lots and beyond Grindelwald and Zermatt - up in the hills again no motoring possible so you have to take the train, lifts, etc. unless hiking.

Palenque

Swiss Passes cover all regular passenger trains, lake boats, postal buses, funiculars and aerial cableways in Switzerland that actually go to a place where people live. But if it's a conveyance that only goes to a mountain top then the Swiss Pass will give 50% off and not cover it in full (Jungfrau train between Kleine Scheidegg and Jungfraujoch is 25% - rare exception.
So the reason those two dramatic IME aerial cable cars going up to Murren and back are covered is because they link Lauterbrunnen to Murren and Gimmelwald - two actual places and not just mountain tops.

Palenque

The train from Brig to Domodossola doesn't take very long and you can then connect via the Centovalli line to Locarno and then on to Ascona.>

The Centovalli line is one of the less heralded scenic train routes in Switzerland - but it is not really in Switzerland though it ends up in Locarno, Switzerland after running mainly thru the southern Italian Alps - not rugged mountain scenery but sweet bucolic pastoral scenes with an Italian look - and even though it runs mainly thru Italy Swiss passes are valid the whole route from Domodossola to Locarno.

Palenque

<some will say the SwissPass is the best..perhaps one which allows you to travel together at all times for an even greater discount;

that's a Saverpass that allows 2-5 people to use one pass - all names on one pass so all have to be on the same train-bus-bat, etc at the same time - but any one of the party can use the pass by themselves as well - say you're in Wengen and someone wants to go down into Interlaken for the night - say to replenish dwindling trip funds at the casino - they could use the pass by themselves.

Palenque

Dukey : <some will say the SwissPass is the best others wil tell you the SWissCard is better.

Personally, if you are might do some other trips you haven't thought of the pass might serve you better but am sure you'll get varying opinions>

I think Dukey has hit it on the head - folks like swanndav2000 who know exactly what trips they will do and thus can make an explicit fare calculation may be better - if not taking a whole lot of trips either - the Swiss Card or Half-Fare Card will be best for their plans

and my take is that folks only going to one base and then hiking, skiing, etc and back to an airport often find the Swiss Card or Half-Fare Card or even Swiss Transfer Ticket the best ticket to ride.

But many do not want to set all their transport trips in stone - like what conveyances you will be taking in the Jungfrau Region - perhaps deciding on the spur of the moment - gee it's raining up in the hills so lets hop the train to Lucerne - or on a nice day in later afternoon decide to hop a boat on Lake Thun from Interlaken and have a relaxing float with the awesome Jungfrau Massif looming high above the lake.
Without a pass you have to calcualte well how much is the boat ride at 50% off, etc - when things are free folks tend to use them most IME
Anyway flexibility of the pass is a key as well as not ever having to go to a ticket window like you must with the Half-Fare Card and Swiss Card
Well i've had dozens of Swiss Passes so that is my bias and one i strongly support for most, but not all, tourist profiles.