Travel Pass Suggestion
 

I am (35yrs) travelling to switzerland along with my wife (29yrs) this July. Need suggestion on travel pass that will make sense for our travel requirements. Our night stay is already booked so need to work around it. Rough itinerary is....

16th July: Reach Geneva @15.00pm
See Montreux and travel to Fribourg. Stay for 1 night. (Address: Chemin des Roches 25, Immeuble, Fribourg 1700.)

17th July to 19th July: Travel by public transport and stay in Wilderswil 2 nights. (Address: Kirchgasse 9, Wilderswil, Bern 3812.)
17th: Travel to bern city are local culture, do interlaken lake. Go and stay in Wilderswil at night.
18th: Travel to Jungfrau. Come down from other side to do interlaken in the evening before ending our day in wilderswil.
19th: Mount Pilatus & Lakes. (or suggestion welcomed with starting point wilderswil and end point Zurich at night)
Evening travel to zurich for night stay.

19th July-22nd July
Travel to Zurich for a 3 night stay.
(Address:Zurichbergstrasse 46A 2. Stock Zurich, Zurich 8044.)
20th: Travel to Lucerne and do local sightseeing.
21st: Zurich sightseeing
22nd: Travel to Venice Italy by bernina express from Thun.

Later, again on 2nd August morning we will be in Geneva (having started from Paris by bus at night on 1st August).
2nd August: Do local sightseeing in Geneva till noon. Return flight at 15.00pm.

Please suggest if any pass will be good for us. Will be in Italy for 7nights and 3 in Paris. Advice if any other pass will be an advantage.

Thanking u in advance!

So, you plan the following zig-zagging:

Geneva - Lausanne - Montreux - Lausanne - Fribourg - Bern - Thun - Spiez - Interlaken - Wilderswil - Interlaken - Spiez - Thun - Bern - Thun - Spiez - Interlaken - Wilderswil - Grindelwald - Kleine Scheidegg - Jungfraujoch - Kleine Scheidegg - Lauterbrunnen - Wilderswil - Interlaken - Wilderswil - Interlaken - Lucerne (luggage lockers) - Kriens - Pilatus - Alpnachstad - boat - Lucerne - Zurich - Lucerne - Zurich - Berne - Thun - Berne - Zurich - Chur - Tirano - Milan or Edolo - Brescia - Venice.

For all this zig-zagging and backtracking, you best buy a Swiss Travel Pass for 8 consecutive days: 363 CHF/USD/EUR/pax. With the Swiss Travel pass you will get discounted tickets for Jungfrau (129 CHF/USD/EUR/pax) and for the Pilatus roundtrip (54 CHF/USD/EUR/pax).

July 22nd will get a long day:
Thun dp 6.01 - Berne 6.23/6.32 - Zurich 7.28/7.37 - Chur 8.52/8.58 - Filisur 10.00/10.16 - Bernina Express - Tirano 13.32/14.45 - Edolo 15.40/15.54 - Brescia 17.54/18.23 - Venezia SL ar 20.10

Thanks dear...
I too was thinking of 8 days swiss pass.. my dilemma was whether 8-day pass or 4-day flexi pass.
By-the-way, one typing error I have done above is for 22nd.. wherein I start from Zurich (not from Thun) to Venice in bernina express..

Secondly, how much more/extra do i need to pay for jungfrau return and bernina one way travel with
(a) swiss pass.. and with
(b) half rate card..??

And how about bern on 17th?? Is it worth spending time there can u suggest something better for 17th?? for that matter even for 19th itinerary..??

Appreciate your feedback...
Thanks in advance☺

The BErnina railwy is included in the Swiss Travel Pass. you have just to pay for the compulsory seat reseration.
You will find all fares by opening
http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html
Bernina Express seat reservation: https://www.rhb.ch/en/panoramic-trai...a-express#info

I too was thinking of 8 days swiss pass.. my dilemma was whether 8-day pass or 4-day flexi pass.>

An 8-straight day pass would also give you 50% off on things not fully covered - or almost all of them but if you buy a flexipass you have the option of buying a half-off Half-Fare Card in conjunction with it at about $65 instead of about $130.

Some kind of Swiss Pass is warranted for sure - if consecutive-day I like it better because you never know when you may want to use it - weather turns funky on the Jungfraujoch day you may want to do a lake boat trip or whatever. (Swiss Passes cover travel in full to Wengen or Grindelwald from Interlaken - but then after only gives 25% off the rest (was 50% for years but changed a few years back).

for lots of great info on Swiss transports and passes check out www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. Check pass prices in your home country and in Switzerland - not always the same and could be cheaper here than there - sometimes significantly, and vice versa.

22nd: Travel to Venice Italy by bernina express from Thun.>

A very long ride from Thun - take a train to Zurich then to Chur, change there for St Moritz and catch Bernina Express trains there (better to stay the night in St Moritz IMO).

Or did you mean from Zurich rather than Thun?

Thank u neckervd and PalenQ☺
PalenQ, it was an typing error from my side for 22nd.. it's Zurich to Venice!

You did mention about rate difference in buying Swiss pass.. can I get a Swiss pass once I land in Geneva Airport?? How long doest it take to activate it?? And how much time for customs & baggage claims and all if my flight arrives at 14.30 hrs at GVA??

And neckervd, my BErnina travel is covered upto Tirrano, right??

Both, GVA airport and the airport railway station are small and efficient. I count usually less than 30 min for customs and baggage claim, plus 5-10 min walk to the railway station.
Montreux bound trains leave every 10-20 min or so:
15.21, 15.33, 15.51, 16.03, 16.21, 16.30, 16.33, 16.51, 16.57, 17.03, 17.21, 17.30......

Yes you can buy the pass at any Swiss train station, including at Geneva Airport - they will activate the pass when issuing it.

Swiss Travel Pass, Swiss Half Fare Card, etc. are valid up to Tirano, either via Bernina or via Zernez - Stelvio (Swiss Postbus only) or even via Lugano (direct Bernina Express bus).

The connecting bus to Edolo costs 4 EUR and the train from Edolo to Brescia 8 EUR. Brescia - Venice costs 15 EUR by slow train and 34 EUR by fast train.
Tirano - Milan - Venice costs 50 EUR.

even if you bought the pass before leaving you'd still have to go to the ticket window to activate it- but at times there may be a substantial price difference here vs there or there vs here.

I just got back from a Switzerland trip using the 15 day Swiss Travel Pass. I elected the print at home option, which requires you to state the start and end dates (which are printed on your ticket). You don't have to do anything to validate this, and can simply head for the train upon arrival. All you do is show the printed form they email you (note that it should be printed without scaling) and your passport (which they check against the passport number printed on your pass) to the inspector when asked on the train (as it is in motion).

the problem with pre-validated passes is if you end up having to cancel your pass may not be refundable since it was activated?

not sure.

Thank u everyone for all your kind suggestions☺
One more thing if I may add.. how about catching a night bus back from Paris to Geneva on 1st August?? I have a return flight on 2nd at 1520 hrs.
Will I reach early enough to catch little glims of Geneva before heading to GVA?? In such a scenario is it worth buying 8-day flexi swiss pass so that i can use it on 2nd August too by paying additional 44CHF??
I wanna use 1st August in Paris.. and preferably morning of 2nd August in Geneva for whatever I could before catching my flight..!

In such a scenario is it worth buying 8-day flexi swiss pass so that i can use it on 2nd August too by paying additional 44CHF??>

It may be worth it buying an 8-straight day pass even if only using 7 days - consecutive-day passes always give you 50% discounts on cable cars and trains to mountain tops or most of them.

Can't answer question about the pass and the bus?

If you buy a flexipass then be sure to buy a half-off Half-Fare Card special in conjunction with the Swiss Flexipass- to get half-off on days not using the pass for unlimited travel.

In such a scenario is it worth buying 8-day flexi swiss pass so that i can use it on 2nd August too by paying additional 44CHF??>

How is a Swiss Pass going to save you 44 Swiss francs- just to the airport?

Do not understand.

Both Paris - Geneva night buses will arrive at Geneva Gare routiere. From there you will reach the airport by Geneva city bus (lines 1 and 10; change at Cornavin).

Thank you neckervd and PalenQ for replying☺
RailEurope is selling 8-days Swiss pass for about 326Euros and 8-days flexi pass for about 366Euros.. so was thinking is it worth going in for additional 40 euros and get it to use on 2nd August too (provided i reach early enough on 2nd august morning). Or should i consider Geneva 1day pass for my travel needs on 2nd August??
I am planning to take Ouibus from Paris to Geneva [email protected] and arriving@0730 in Geneva.
Are these buses safe?? I mean in respect of punctuality and other safety??

What are you plans on Aug 2 travel wise for Geneva - if going to Montreux then the extra 40 euro may be good to have - if just in Geneva no.