I'm having trouble sorting out which pass/passes I should buy for my trip to Switzerland, Austria and France. I will be travelling with my 2 12 year olds and have seen that there is a Swiss family card which allows them to travel free. I'll be going from Zurich to Lauterbrunnen, going up the Jungfrau, up the Shilthorn, then to Salzburg to meet my husband and other son (probably via Zurich) and then to Paris. Does it make sense to buy the Swiss pass, Swiss card or the Swiss transfer ticket and buy the point to points for the trips to Salzburg and then to Paris? If so, do the 12 year olds actually travel free all the way to the Jungfrau and Schilthorn? Can that really be possible? Would a 3-country pass be better? Any suggestions? (This is my first post so sorry if I am not approaching this correctly!)

You can try sending an email enquiry to Swiss Rail at www.sbb.ch.

From the Rick Steves rail pass web site:

"The Swiss Family Card allows children under 16 to travel free with their parents. Based on the validity of the parent’s ticket or pass, this works even on the high mountain routes. The Swiss Family Card is available for 20 SF per child at major Swiss train stations, but you can request a free Swiss Family Card when you order an adult Swiss Pass, Swiss Card, or Swiss Transfer Ticket in the U.S. Not valid with passes that include other countries. Kids 6–15 not accompanied by parent are half of adult fare; under 6 free."

I'm skeptical that a child's ride to the Jungfraujoch or Schilthorn would be free, but I could be wrong. The Swiss Pass would cover most anything in Switzerland (including city buses and boats) but not the ride from Wengen to the Jungfraujoch or from Murren to the Schilthorn, but it will get you 25% off.

Whether some variation of a Swiss Pass or a multi-country pass is the best deal depends on how much time you will be spending in each country.

I can tell you what option I would definitly NOT take given that you are traveling with several people, and that is the Swiss Half Fare Card. Although monetarily it could save you some money, rail passes (be they Eurail or a Swiss Pass) let you bypass ticket windows and just get on the train. That can be a huge time saver and a trouble saver if your kids can be hard to manage at times.

A Eurail SelectPass is good for any 3 adjacent countries such as France, Switzerland, and Austria. These passes are cheaper than the regular Eurail pass and have a youth pass option. See this link for more:

http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/select.htm

How are you getting from Austria to Paris? Salzberg to Paris is a nasty 10+ hour train ride. You may want to consider flying.

yes, we're planning to do the Salzburg to Paris trip by train as long as we can include a TGV, as promised to my son who loves trains. (I checked airfares and they seem pretty steep, but again, I may have missed a bargain by not being attuned to the best airlines over there) We'll be in Salzburg 5 days without train travel, as we will in Paris, so it seems that we should concentrate our discounts in Switzerland. Does anyone know of a company who will help figure out which pass is best, or is it all trial and error on my own?

Call BETS' European Rail hotline (800-441-9413) - a free service where european rail experts who will answer any and all questions - in my experience with them at least - all their staff has traveled for years personally on European trains - especially good on Switzerland. I always recommend them because this type of service - free - is hard to come by. Rick Steves for example i think charges something like $40 for a limited amount of similar service. And ask for their free European Planning & Rail Guide that will answer many of your questions - though it advertises their railpasses they sell it also contains a wealth of info. Anyway try it and see and report back!

this sounds like great advice! thanks and once I check it out, I'll let you know.