PalenQ

Half-fare cards are great for folks like Swandav who I believe settles into one area mainly and does not travel around Switzerland as a tourist is want to do - you have to know exactly what you will and will not do with a Half-Fare Card - again I and many folks often end up, with a pass, doing a lot more than previsioned - this can be especially true if funky weather sets in in Alpine regions like the Jungfrau - not unusual even in the dead of summer - then you can take day trips to places like Bern, Lucerne or even Lausanne - high-priced fares normally without batting an eyelash - consecutive-day pass are the best bargains and even the few Swiss francs here and there to hop a city tram or bus (100% covered) or go into a pricey museum - often $20 in Switzerland, etc. - so Half-Fare Cards can be great deals for someone basically going to one spot and not traveling around that much (though a Swiss Card (not pass) can be even better as it includes 50% off everything as well as two train trips from airports or border points to any place in Switzerland and back to any other airport or border point - everything a Half-Fare Card has and for some cheaper figuring in long transfers, etc.

PalenQ

another great day with a Swiss Pass in the Interlaken/Jungfrau region IME is to take a boat ride on Lake Brienz - from Lauterbrunnen train down to Interlaken-Ost station - hop the boat right from the station and get off at Geissbach Falls boat dock - take the antique funicular up to the famous gushing falls and famous as well hotel/restaurant there - re-board another boat - about hourly or so service in season - and get off in Brienz - a town known for wood-cutting - check out the intricately cut wooden chalet-style house facades! - then take the train to nearby Meiringen and bus to Reichenbach Falls - and another funicular up the famous falls where Sherlock Holmes and Moriarity tangled to the latter' death by falling into the falls - return to Meiringen and then take the train from there back to Interlaken-Ost and up to Lauterbrunnen - all transport fully covered by a Swiss Pass save the funiculars which are 50% off (and you can also walk up both falls on footpaths).

Surfergirl

Does the Swiss pass work for, say, a day trip from Montreux to Zermatt? Obviously would like to go on the train up the mountain!

Thanks.

PalenQ

Yes indeedy the Swiss Pass passes 100% for fare to Zermatt and back and once there if you want to take the train up to near the Matterhorn summit it would be 50% off for that portion. But hop any train Montreux to Visp then change to trains to Zermatt.

GillsinEurope

On the day trip to Brienz (which sounds amazing by the way), would it be too long of a day for two young kids? How long are the boat rides? I don't mind being out all day, but don't want to push my luck with them. I cannot wait to be there! We leave in a couple days! How is the weather shaping up?!

PalenQ

The boat ride to Brienz, without getting off at the falls, takes about 75 minutes I believe and kids can of course run around the fairly large boats - young kids could also enjoy the funicular up to the falls and back - breaking up the boat trip.

But from Brienz you can quickly return to Interlaken by rail if by that time you think it's time to go back - or from Brienz you could also take a postal bus to the famous Ballenberg Open-Air Museum - a great great family place - lots of old traditional Swiss farms buildings and houses and old mills, etc have been brought here and assembled in a lovely setting overlooking Lake Brienz - lots of hands on things for kids and demos of old techniques in farming, milling, etc.

This may be much better with kids than going to Meiringen, etc.

PS - I quickly checked above and did not readily see how old your kids are - would make a difference in my comments.

GillsinEurope

They are 3 and 1. Babies. Open air museum seems like a great idea and I think we'll plan on it. 75 minutes for a boat ride seems doable too since they can run around and we can stop to see waterfalls. You have been so helpful in the planning of my trip PalenQ. Thank you!.

PalenQ

http://ballenberg.ch/en/Info/Portrait

thanks for the nice comments - see the video on Ballenberg - lots of farm animals to see and pet (I would think, not sure!) - easy to get around - great for kids and a benefit of a Swiss Pass the $20 or so adult entry fee would be covered by the pass - kids that age go free on everything in Switzerland I believe.

Surfergirl

Thanks PQ -- would you happen to know in general the cost for the train up the Matterhorn?

Surfergirl

Ended up getting the 4 consecutive day Swiss Saver Pass, since the extra day was about $11 more and the train (albeit a short ride) from the Geneva airport to Montreux would have cost close to 30 CHF.

2 questions:

I was wondering if anyone knows where I go to validate the pass at Geneva's airport train station. My recollection on getting the stamp is that you go to the ticket office -- sometimes you stand in any old line and they'll do it; in other places, there's a special line you need to get into. If anyone knows the specifics, please let me know. We'll have been on 2 plane rides and will be pretty tired.

Second question is if you have 3 on a saver pass, can you still use the pass if only 2 are traveling one day? I seem to recall you CAN do this, so if one person is sick and wants to stay at the hotel all day while the other 2 are checking out the sights, that's ok.

PalenQ

you can validate the pass IME at any ticket window - no special window - just like buying a train ticket.

yes all 3 folks whose names are on the pass need not be present for the pass to be valid, even for one person using it - makes sense since the railways should not object if someone who has already paid for a seat with the pass does not show up it only benefits them.

If you have any questions about Swiss Passes, trains, etc call Byron at www.budgeteuropetravel.com - even though you already have bought a pass IME he, whom I have bought passes from for years, will patiently answer all questions whether you buy anything or not.

PalenQ

Thanks PQ -- would you happen to know in general the cost for the train up the Matterhorn?

sorry been gone away for a while and did not see this but the official site of the Jungfrau Railways will have the pricing - there is an early bird special at significantly cheaper price if you want to go when the sun rises - Swiss Pass pass 100% up to either Wengen or Grindelwald but from there they get only a 25% discount from those stations to the Jungfraujoch summit station - pricey no matter how you look at it!

http://www.jungfrau.ch/en

kappa1

I (have read only the message above by PalQ and) got confused on a couple of accounts :

> cost for the train up the Matterhorn?

There is no train that goes up the Matterhorn. You can clarify your question.

And PalQ provided the site for Jungfrau trains (in Berner Oberland) while the question was about Matterhorn. So not only me but everybody seems to be confused here.

PalenQ

Wow - I were so so confused - dazed and confused - I read Jungfraujoch but had a brain fart in so doing. Swiss pass covers in full trains to Zermatt - then the conveyance up to the Matterhorn itself would be 50% off of whatever they charge. Sorry about mistake.

Surfergirl

Well, thank you again for answering my last 2 questions -- glad my memory isn't as poor or stale as I thought!

As for the Matterhorn, kappa thanks for enlightening me. I went by an old (like 40 years ago) comment made by my friend when she was a kid living in Switzerland telling me how her mom got scared on the ride straight up the Matterhorn.

I followed up your comment with a little research, and found that my friend must have been referring to the Gornergrat Bahn. There's also the cable cars (Klein Matterhorn), which wouldn't have been built when they were there in the early '60's.

Always hate to ask the question "which is better" so maybe I should ask what did you like about the one you did!

PalenQ

In any case a Swiss Pass covers 50% of the fare of either conveyance - aerial cableways are always more thrilling to me than on the ground trains but for some the gondolas may be too thrilling and scary, especially if they stop en route and leave you dangling for a few minutes at times.

Surfergirl

Thanks again! PQ, have you done one over the other?

PalenQ

Well I took the train because I am a train nut but no I would not recommend one over the other - take one conveyance up and another down perhaps.

Surfergirl

I started writing this last night, but after a flight from LA to Paris, a second flight to Geneva, then two trains to La Tour-de-Peilz just outside of Montreux, followed by an evening with Van Morrison at the Montreux Jazz Festival, pushing through the throngs of revelers along the waterfront for a late night crepe, then a completely sardine-packed bus ride back to the hotel -- all with a sprained ankle, mind you, it was time to sleep.

Now duly refreshed, I now have the information on where to get the Swiss Pass validated at the train station under the Geneva Airport and thought I'd pass it on.

The Geneva Airport train station is small and essentially serves a primary purpose of getting people from the airport to the train station in Geneva although, in our case, the train continued to Lausanne and Montreux. However, the ticket "office" is not really an office -- mostly little kiosks where one can purchase tickets.

There is, however, at the top of the escalator before heading downstairs to the trains, next to the ticket kiosks, a travel agency and an office that says "Western Union" on it. It's the Western Union office that serves a dual purpose as a train station office, and that's where you get your pass validated. You can also get train schedules there, although you have to ask.

There are also relatively new "S" trains -- quiet, what appears to be commuter or light rail regional trains -- that run along the north shore of Lac Leman, with stops at Cully, Pully, Vevey, etc -- local stops.

PalenQ

Surfergal- thanks for the nitty-gritty of activating a pass at Geneva Airport!