Nonconformist

Thanks for the nice comments.

Yes, Solothurn was a delight. It may have been my favourite place on this trip; it was definitely my favourite of the longer trips.

I think for the Ringgenberg walk, my parents just walked along the lake following the yellow signs. They actually went all the way into Interlaken and back to Ringgenberg, and realised halfway through that they hadn't had to do that and could have turned off much closer to Bonigen (where a bridge, possibly a railway bridge, I think, crossed the Aare).

There are people (and I know some) who love walking so much that the mere act is sufficient pleasure with views etc just a happy bonus, and I imagine they're the ones who happily stride out in rain/fog/snow. I once had a picnic in the rain, though (in the New Forest, many years ago). DM made us "shelter" under a tree to eat. It dripped on me.

jmw444

What a vivid picture of your New Forest picnic. Your mom is a sport. Again, I've enjoyed reading your story so much. Tell your Mom that there are folks here who would love to read hers as well. J.

LilyLace

Your report is excellent Nonconformist! We are leaving for Interlaken in 4 weeks and you have left many tips for us!

I almost hate to ask but my In laws will travel with us and they have a strong need to be prepared! They keep asking me these questions and I have been unable to find out.
LOL.

Do you have any idea of prices for the trains? We will be connecting from Zurich to Interlaken and also the cost of the cog trains?

Thank you in advance.

tipsygus

LilyLace

Very simple go to www,sbb.ch/en this is the Swiss Rail site and will give times,prices and most of the information you are asking about. For the mountain railways try entering the name of the mountain ie www.stanserhornbahn.ch or go to the My Switzerland site www.myswitzerland.ch there is an English version which will give the links

tipsygus

ooops slight correction it should be www.sbb.ch/en

ronkala

Thankyou for a great report and bringing back memories of our time in Switzerland last year.

Lilylace, www.sbb.ch will give you train schedules and probably costs.
We had a two week rail pass, so were not concerned about buying tickets. We did use the timetables to preplan our daily trips which enabled us to know how much time and distance we had between arrivals and departures in case we had to change trains.

Nonconformist

Yes, sbb.ch is a very useful site. I'd probably recommend getting a half fare card. These aren't valid on all the mountain railways, but do cover the boats as well as normal trains.

I didn't note down all the train prices, but those I did were (with the 50% discount):

26.50 francs return to Bern
30 francs return to Lucerne
37 francs to Solothurn

I hope you have a great trip.

LilyLace

Thank you all very much. One more question: What is the 1/2 price card and how does that work?

ira

Thanks for sharing, N.

Nonconformist

Swiss railways sells a variety of passes:
http://travel.sbb.ch/index.php?modul...func=searchSTS

Basically you buy in advance, and get discounts (or free travel if you get the most expensive pass) on rail, boat and bus, excluding private railways such as the Jungfraubahn (though these may still offer a smaller discount).

Actually, what we had wasn't the Half Fare Card per se, but what's called the Swiss Transfer Ticket, which is basically the Half Fare Card plus the full cost of the return journey from the airport to your destination.

Katie7

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