Switzerland/Paris train ticket help
 

Hi there,

My husband and I will be traveling to Switzerland (mainly Berner Oberland region) and Paris this June. I am looking for advice on what train pass to purchase. We intend to mostly do day hikes while in Switzerland. This is our general outline:

Fly into Zurich, Connect to Interlaken, stay in Beatenberg for 1 night
Stay in Murren for 4 nights
Connect to Paris via Basel, stay 5 nights
Paris to Zurich, 1 night in Zurich, fly out of Zurich

Is the half fare pass worth it or should we stick with 1-day passes?

TIA!

I assume you have purchased air tickets or are using miles and cannot fly home from Paris, correct? Can you start in Paris and end in Zurich?

Given your itinerary and assuming you aren't taking a lot of day trips by rail I suspect you might be better off with point-to-point tickets. I would not get a pass that included France for the Switzerland-Paris portion

Assume you are familiar with the SwissRail website: www.sbb.ch/en for planning purposes

Yes, we are using miles and saved over $800 flying in and out of Zurich.

Thank you, that was what I suspected regarding the pass.

Do you have any insight about the saver day pass?

SaverDay Pass costs about 58 euros (29 with half-fare card and need to be booked in stone weeks to get) and unlimited everything for the whole day. But I think you should look at the Jungfrau Pass, good for your transits in Interlaken and Murren and Beatenberg I think - another option is the Berner Oberland Pass.

Now for trains to Paris and back check www.oui.sncf - French Railways or www.sbb.ch for discounted tickets having nothing to do with any pass.

For lots on info on trains check www.sbbch; www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

All depends on your journeys by the rather expensive mountain railways and lifts in the Bernese Oberland. I suppose you want to see more than Muerren and may therefore have to leave this cul de sac at least every 2nd day.
Check regional Pass Berner Oberland, Jungfrau Pass and Half Fare Card.
https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/...om-abroad.html
https://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/jungfrau-travel-pass/
For Interlaken - Basel - Paris - Basel - Zurich check https://ch.oui.sncf/en/tgv-lyria

Does anyone have thoughts on which of these three passes is the best (or the advantages/disadvantages of each)?

It seems like its more affordable to buy a ticket from Interlaken to Paris with a train change rather than buying separate tickets for each part of the Interlaken-Basel-Paris route. Is there any reason that wouldn't be a good thing to do?

If it's cheaper that would be great if its Interlaken-Basel-Paris all included - changing in Basel or any station is easy - be sure there is enough time in it for easy changes. I in fact like changing trains as often there is enough time to snag a coffee or snack.

I am looking into booking supersaver tickets with the half fare pass for my interlaken-paris and paris-zurich trips as I know my travel won't be impacted by a flight delay, etc. It looks like the supersaver tickets are already available for these trips (over 60 days until day of travel) Is this normal? With the half fare card, it will cost $75 from Interlaken-Paris. That seems like a good price, right?

Additionally, we are spending 2 nights in Murren and 2 nights in Gimmelwald. We intend to mostly do longer day hikes. I am trying to determine how much we will use public transport during this period? Is the Jungfrau pass worth it? Will we need to use a lot of public transport during our hikes? Thanks!

Are you sure Half-Fare Card gives half-off trains to Paris?

See the fare for $75. I'm assuming that the half fare only applies to the Interlaken to Paris portion. But I'm confused as to why the supersaver ticket is available this early? Is this really a supersaver fare?

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1ac2e8d2d2.png

too small for me to read even after enlargement. Supersaver fares are usually sold up to 90 days in advance or so - I really have questions about the Half-fare Card applying to the Interlaken to Paris fare - especially the French portion.

Where did you see that - again the thing you posted is too small to read - maybe it's in there. And those cheap supersaver fares can sell out way in advance so I'd book any cheap fare ASAP.where's neckervd?

Ugh darn. So it is from Interlaken to Paris via Basel. I'm wondering if the supersaver part is just for the Interlaken to Basel portion. On the picture that is too small, it says the standard fare is $216 and the special offer with no refunds or exchanges is $75.

I want to jump on it but still deciding if I should do the half fare or the jungfrau pass. Are trains and trams unavoidable while hiking from Murren?

Check www.oui.sncf - French railways and see what they give for Interlaken-Paris should be about same as www.sbb.ch. I think the $75 is for Interlaken-Basel-Paris - and has nothing to do with Half-Fare Pass - I do not think the half-fare thing can be applied to any of the Interlaken-Paris ticket no matter where you buy it.

Once again why do you think half-fare card applies to special discounted fares Interlaken-Basel-Paris? Are you just assuming that (and it may be so but I seriously doubt it.

Where's neckervd?

Are trains and trams unavoidable while hiking from Murren?

You can certainly hike directly from Murren, going up or down (some sections are steep).

You can also access hiking trails by taking the Allmendhubel funicular above Murren. And then there's the cablecar to the Schilthorn from Murren. And the cablecar down to Gimmelwald and Stechelburg from Murren.

But you need to take transport from Lauterbrunnen to Murren, or hike uphill with luggage:)

So yeah, pretty much unavoidable unless you plan to plant yourself in Murren and just take day hikes in the vicinity.

Based on your itinerary, I doubt a pass is going to be much help, unless you plan to take some expensive mountain excursions, such as Jungfrau and Schilthorn.

Thank you! That helps. I know will need public transport to get down into Murren and out of Murren but otherwise I think we will stick to day hikes we can get to without much public transport. We are planning on hiking to Schilthorn from Gimmelwald or Murren.

I think the half fare card is impacting the price because I selected "half fare card" from a dropdown menu after choosing the trip date. There was an option to choose a special ticket fare for the France portion and for the Switzerland portion.

OK - may be for Swiss portion or 25% off for international tickets. Anyway good fare - op on it.

We are planning on hiking to Schilthorn from Gimmelwald or Murren.

Wish I had your energy (and knees)! Interesting article on the hike (this route took five hours one way):

https://gigigriffis.com/hiking-the-a...of-schilthorn/