gladtotravel

After a ten day trip with my wife thru the Netherlands and Germany, ending in Basel, I'll go with her and our bags to Zurich Airport on a Tuesday in June and she'll go home to USA. I then plan to take train from Airport to Lucerne and transfer to Murren where I have four nights booked at hotel. I'm not taking the faster train through Bern because I gather from reading travel books that the Lucerne connection will be more scenic.

I'll then hike and see the sights with Murren as my base. I'm able to do a semi-strenuous, physically active visit. I've booked the fifth night, Saturday night, at a Zurich airport hotel for an early Sunday flight home to USA.

Would I benefit from a four day Swiss pass? Am I right that the Lucerne connection will be more scenic? Is there a flaw In what looks to me like a simple plan? Are the Swiss trains as efficient as everyone says? Any advice is always appreciated.

swandav2000

Hi gladtotravel,

The Swiss trains are as good -- better even -- than we say! I bet you'll fall in love with that method of travel. You'll be mingling with locals and other travellers, and you'll be able to truly enjoy the scenery instead of having to watch the road. You can also bring along a picnic (including wine) to enjoy on the train, or go by the bistro car or the bar car to get a bite to eat. It's truly a relaxed and wonderful way to travel.

To get the best fares, you/someone just has to do the math. Get all the fares for your trips from the Swiss rail site at

www.sbb.ch (there is an English button)

Be careful when you get your fares, too, because the majority of people use the Half Fare Card, and the site regularly defaults to the half fare. So, make sure the half fare box is UNchecked to get the full fares.

Once you have all your fares, add them up and compare to the various passes. I used to have to do a spreadsheet to keep track of all of the combinations and possibilities.

Whenever I did the math, the Half Fare Card came out as the best option for me, so these days, I just get it. It costs 98 chf and gives you half off practically everything that moves for one month.

You may also want to investigate the Swiss Card -- it gives you free travel from a border point (Zürich or Zurich airport) to your destination (Mürren) and back again, plus it gives you half off your travel between your arrival and departure, just as a HFC does. The Swiss Card costs 162 chf.

You can see an overview of these at

http://www.swisstravelsystem.com/en/...-overview.html

Yes, the route via Luzern is the Golden Pass scenic train route. More information on this at:

http://www.goldenpassline.ch/en/interlaken-ost-luzern/

Have fun as you plan!

s

sandralist

If you truly mean that any advice is appreciated then this is not really advice but just to tell you that I once booked 4 nights in Murren and left after 3 because that felt like enough. Even though I had sunny weather every day I realized that if it had rained I would have been inconveniently located to reach other places and do other things. I decamped for Spiez but just in general I think I might have preferred a lower elevation for the 3 days I was there. During the time I was in Murren I used as a "base" to visit Piz Gloria and the Trummelbach falls plus several walks through the mountains. I felt I could have accomplished all of this at a lower elevation and had more optoins.

neckervd

Yes, the itinerary via Lucerne - Bruenig is more scenic (and cheaper).
I wouldn't buy a 4days Swiss Pass; you will travel back to Zurich airport on day 5.
You may check the Swiss Flexipass with 3 days of free travel and half fare for the other days.
Check the Regional Pass Bernese Oberland too. It allows you free rides between Berne, Lucerne and the Jungfrau area and include many mountain railways where you have to pay half fare with the Swiss Pass: Schynige Platte (the most romantic railway in the Bernese Oberland, with 100 years od trains), Kleine Scheidegg, Muerren, Brienzer Rothorn, Maennlichen, Alpen Tower, Harder, etc. It grants furthermore 50 per cent discount between Kleine Scheidegg and Jungfraujoch (ony 25 per cent with Swiss Pass).
http://www.regiopass-berneroberland.ch/offer-2014/

Dukey1

I fyou are going to remain in the general area of Murren and do all those cableways, the trip up to the Jungfrau, etc. as opposed to going back and forth down to Lauterbrunnen, Interlaken, etc., the pass probably is not what you want.

Even with it as has been pointed out you may still have to pay; you could consider getting the Jungfraubahn pass (yes, there are so many pass and far variations once you get there it can be even more dizzying than the heights themselves) and even with that you may be paying partially for some things.

I agree that the Bruenig Pass route is more scenic.

I was not, and still am not aware that the SBB site "defaults to the half-fare" because believe me on MY computer it most certainly does not!!!

swandav2000

Dukey1, sometimes it does on my computer, and sometimes it doesn't. I've heard others say that it always does on their computers. So, just a word of caution to watch out for it.

s

gladtotravel

sandralist. I probably will change some or all of the Murren reservation.
swandav2000, I think I have quite a bit of work to do on the passes. Thanks for giving me the options.
neckervd and Dukey1, needed that reassurance about going thru Lucerne vice Berne. I will be careful about defaults to the half fare.

Thanks to all who care enough to share their knowledge and experience.