I have travelled by train through Switzerland before, but used a Eurorail Pass.

Can Keith and I just buy passes to use for train travel between Zurich and Wengen??

What about using the local trains between Wengen, Murren, and Interlaken? Can we use the same pass for them?

Where do we buy them?

Thank you for your help.

Thin

Here's an overview of the Swiss system passes which you can buy there. Many people seem to purchase the Swiss Half Fare Card, but it depends on your actual travel plans.
http://www.swisstravelsystem.ch/en/c...offer/tickets/

Can Keith and I just buy passes to use for train travel between Zurich and Wengen??

What about using the local trains between Wengen, Murren, and Interlaken? Can we use the same pass for them?

Yes on all those connections - Swiss Pass 100% valid up to Wengen and Murren (and Gimmelwald)

Hard to tell if pass is best if you are only going between Zurich Airport and Wengen and back but IMO a Swiss Pass is one of the bargains in Switzerland - good on nearly all trains (except those to mountain tops then it usually gets you 50% off - like on Murren to Schilthorn) and also on lake boats, postal buses - practically everything that moves in Switzerland besides cows.
Consecutive-day passes, if they comport to a 4- 8 or 15 or 30-day period are the best deals but for many that their stay in Switzerland does not fit the 4- 8-, etc. consecutive day passes then the 3-day Flexipass is often the best deal. Half-Fare Card can be best if you know exactly what trains you will take but if flexible look at the pass - even from a Wengen base it's easy to pop down to Interlaken for a boat ride on either of the lakes that bookend it or at night for more restaurant selections - or to replace dwindling trip funds at the casino!
kybourbon has given you a great site - swisstravelsystem.com that links you to Swiss Railways web sites (fares in francs - if you know exactly what trains you will be taking then easy to see which is best - pass or Half-Fare thing) - and i always also spotlight these great info-laden sites - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com - passes can be bought at stations in Switzerland but compare prices to those bought in the U.S. in U.S. dollars - at many times the past few years the same pass was cheaper here than there - i have not checked in a few months however and it obviously has to do with current exchange rates.
Eurailpasses are much more limited in their validity in Switzerland than a Swiss Pass - like only giving you a 25% discount up to Wengen, Murren, etc.

Hi Thin---I think the answer for you depends on whether you are going up the Jungfraujoch. This trip RT from Wengen is around 155 CHF, so it's worth using a pass to reduce the cost (but passes only cover 25% or 50% of that trip).

If you are not doing that trip, the cost of the travel you contemplate is not enough to justify buying a pass, unless you are also going to ride other cablecars and boats as well.

For example, Zürich to Wengen is either 59.20 CHF or 76.20 CHF, depending on which route you choose. (Oddly enough, the faster, more direct route through Bern is more expensive than the slower, more scenic trip over the mountains via Luzern).

Wengen to Interlaken Ost is around 26 CHF roundtrip, and Wengen over to Mürren is 32.80 roundtrip. The least expensive pass, my favorite 3-day Flex Pass, is 212 CHF, so the pass costs more than the regular tickets would for Zürich to Wengen RT plus one excursion (these are 2d class prices, not for the chariot).

However---if you know that you and Keith plan to ride the train up the Jungfraujoch, then I think your best choice is a Swiss Card (182 CHF). This and the Half-Fare Card are the only passes that will give you 50% off the Jungfraujoch trip; the other passes only discount 25% for the expensive part. The Swiss Card is basically a Half-Fare Card with a roundtrip to and from your destination included. So for 83 CHF more than the cost of the half-Fare Card you get your roundtrip to Wengen and back. This is from the website:

"The Swiss Card not only does include the first and the last trip from the border or airport to one's destination and back, it also offers a 50% discount on all trips effected by train, boat, (postal) bus and most mountain trains and cable cars between the 1st and 2nd transfer day. The Swiss Card has a maximum validity of 1 month. However, once the included return has been used, it is not valid any longer. The first and last trip must be completed by the end of the day. Each trip has to be as direct as possible."

I'm not sure which route they consider "most direct" between Zürich and Wengen but hopefully it includes either one. I think they just mean you can't wander around and ride trains all day on the way to your destination.

You can buy the Swiss Card at the airport train station. Just don't use it to get from there into Zürich--you want to save it for the journey to Wengen.

And now we can talk about whether the Jungfraujoch trip is worth doing. . . .

We are definitely going to Schlithorn Piz Gloria.

I don't really care about splitting hairs over train ticket costs. I would rather just have my Swiss Pass to show rather than stand in line to buy tickets.

My husband is Jewish and tight with a buck, but if he thinks he is going to go hide in a corner with a bratwurst sandwich whilst I try to figure out train schedules and ticket prices, he is sadly mistaken. He will buy the Swiss Pass or ELSE!

Thin

Good choice on the Schilthorn/Piz Gloria.

If you want to cover all your travel without standing in line for tickets, then you'll need the 8-day Swiss pass for 320 CHF(and you'll still have to buy tickets from Mürren to the Schilthorn). We did one of these consecutive-day passes last time and I really liked the convenience of just getting on the train or boat.

If Keith screams about the cost then a Flex Pass for 212 or 257 CHF would cover most of it.

Is that the price for the Swiss Saverpass enzian? Just in case you don't know Thin, 2-5 people traveling together qualify for the Swiss Saverpass, which saves you 15% over the regular Swiss Pass.

I love the flexibility of the Swiss Pass - that's what we usually buy, but on our latest trip we tried the Half Fare Card which saved us about 100 CHF over the Swiss Pass. It worked great for us. No lines in April except at the ski lifts!

Yes---those are Saver Pass prices.

8-day Swiss pass for 320 CHF(and you'll still have to buy tickets from Mürren to the Schilthorn).>

But you will get 50% off the Murren to Schilthorn tickets if you show the Swiss Pass

8-consecutive-day pass costs $328 p.p. currently now in U.S. so is about the same as buying in Switzerland, figuring in foreign exchange charges - usually 3% with most Credit Cards - but as the dollar fluctuates it could be cheaper here or there but now is about the same (to clarify note i made above)

...and right now with the CHF worth about $0.93.....

Interesting---it's cheaper to buy it in Switzerland . . . 320 CHF instead of $328. Yes, there is a foreign transacton fee on that, but I don't know any way to buy one in the US without paying an extra $20 in service charges.

Swiss Passes for past several years were always about 15% cheaper here than there - in Suisse but with the dollar now going up and apparently RailEurope, 25% owned by the Swiss Federal Railways, raising Swiss Pass prices, recently it seems, this is no longer true - but that is today and if the dollar keeps going up or goes down it changes. And RE does not charge a mailing fee on orders of $299 or more - this also varies - sometimes it is $449 or more and sometimes they have a special of no fees on any pass. I have bought passes from www.budgeteuropetravel.com for years and they have no mailing fee except for $5 on orders under $200 or something - but next time i may just wait to Switzerland, if they are cheaper there - all factors - i heartily do recommend anyone with Swiss Pass questions however calling the folks at Budget Europe as you can talk to someone, like Byron, who is a real expert and will IME answer any question about passes, Swiss trains, etc. (and you can still buy your pass in Suisse if it is cheaper). And there should be little problem buying a Swiss Pass at any train station in Switzerland - rarely long lines like in many countries now at ticket windows.

What about using the local trains between Wengen, Murren, and Interlaken>

If going to Murren or basing there than the Swiss Pass has great benefits as it covers both trains to Lauterbrunnen and then the new aerial cableway up to the top of the cliff at Grutschalp and then the electric train along the cliff's edge to Murren and then the aerial cableway down to Gimmelwald and also the absolutely thrilling aerial cableway that plunges back down to the Lauterbrunnen Valley at Stechelberg and then also the postal bus back to Lauterbrunnen - 100% all covered by a Swiss Pass - but if you had a Eurailpass you would get only 25% off on some of the components, but not all. so anyone going to Murren will find Swiss Passes more cost effective than others perhaps - and this Loop from Lauterbrunnen up to Murren and back down to Lauterbrunnen IMO is the most fantastic excursion in the Jungfrau Region - two thrilling aerial cableways - great panoramas from up top of the ice-girdled Jungfrau Massif - views down into the deep Lauterbrunnen Valley, etc.

Wow, Palenque!

I'm copying off your post to put in our growing folder of not-to-miss adventures during our week in Lauterbrunnen in April.

We have Swiss Cards, so should get 50% off ticket costs for the mountain rails and cableways.

Byrd

Thanks, guv. You are a right good bloke.

Thin

Byrd and Thin - i should add to the Murren Loop that from Murren you can take a side trip up to the Schilthorn and this cable way is way different from the other two, which go straight up and down thousands of feet

The Murren to Schilthorn cableway (actually part of the Stechelberg-Gimmelwal-Murren cableway, though you must change stations i believe in Murren) is said to be the longest in the Alps and it goes for several miles over an increasingly barren landscape above the tree line to the icy outpost of the Schilthorn, famed for being a venue in a James Bond flick On Her majesty's service (i believe that was the one) - it has a famous revolving restaurant and there is a ledge you can walk out on and onto snow - of course the views are fab - all over the whole region - 360 degrees - especially nifty over Interlaken bookened far below between its two lakes - Swiss Pass would get 50% off Murren-Schithorn and back - not 100% like all other components on the Murren Loop.

And for two easy hikes - really strolls that can be included in the above Murren Loop - rather than taking the cableway from Murren down to Gimmelwald you can walk down the about 2 miles on a paved path that hugs the cliff's edge (but from a non threatening distance) and then explore that really unique and to me rather surrealistic farming village - maybe have lunch in its fabled local Hotel - featuring Alpine delicacies like Fondu, etc. - then hop the cablecar down to Stechelberg.
And at Stechelberg, rather than hopping the postal bus back to Lauterbrunnen do a really easy few-mile hike along a gurgling stream to Lauterbrunnen.

Thank you, Palenque.

I'm making careful notes.

Byrd

thanks too Byrd - and to add one more tidbit to the Murren Loop - if you walk back from Stechelberg, tucked in at the end of the Lauterbrunnen Valley to Lauterbrunnen you pass by Trummelbach Falls just before Lauterbrunnen (as does the postal bus) and this thundering water cascade inside the mountain is to me one of the wonders of Switzerland - said to be the sole drain of the Jungfrau Massif the water really does thunder down this drain hole in rocks - catwalks get you closer than you want. If you have a Swiss Pass i believe it covers entry to this - not sure but it does to over 400 Swiss museums and sights - including the Ballenberg Open-Air Museum on Lake Brienz. Swiss Cards i think not - being one of the few differences in coverage - otherwise it's 50% off everything the pass covers or gives discounts on - except and this is in favor of the Swiss Card in this case i do believe Swiss Cards still get 50% off the Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch trains whereas that previous 50% was reduced to 25% for Swiss Passes (though you still get 50% off up to Kleine Scheidegg and 100% valid to Wengen and Grindelwald.

anyway Trummelbach Falls to me at least is something really awesome!

Trummelbach Falls, Lauterbrunnen Free Pictures - FreeFoto.com
Pictures of Trummelbach Falls, Lauterbrunnen. The 10 glacier waterfalls inside the mountain are made accessible by a tunnel-lift. The Trummelbach Falls is ...
www.freefoto.com/browse/1302-25-0?ffid=1302-25-0

Lauterbrunnen - Wikipedia
The village of Lauterbrunnen (foreground), the Staubbach Falls (centre ... is available using the bus via the Trummelbach Falls to Stechelberg and then the ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauterbrunnen