Hi, after reading a lot of posts on this forum regarding the Swiss Pass, I am still confused. We will have a car and will drive from Luzern to BO (our hotel is in Lauterbrunnen) and tour the BO area for 3 day. We are a family of 4 (2 adults + 2 children age 5&6) and we plan to take the cable cars/trains to see Jungfrau, Schilthorn if weather is clear and plan to do some rides to Grindelwald, First, Mannlichen, Kl Svcheidegg, Murren, Wengen....and do a little bit of hiking to see the beautiful scenery. If the weather is not very cooperative, might do the boat rides at the lakes. Well, at first I was planning to get the Swiss half fare pass but then I read about it's very inconvinent to buy tickets from point to point, so will a Swiss Pass/Flexi Pass be a better choice? We will only need that to tour around the area for 3 days. I know it won't cover some of the rides but it will cover most though, right? Also, can we get that at the train station there? What about the BO region pass? I am looking fgr saving and also convenience. Thanks!

Hi. The Swiss Pass will benefit you if you do all of your traveling by train and plan to do daytrips, boatrides, etc. Probably the Berner Oberland Regional Pass is what you should look into. There are folks here who can help you calculate a comparison re point-to-point ticket purchases. Have you tried searching here? J.

First, the children are "free" on all those routes as long as you have the "junior card" for 20sfr. available at any train station.

Yes, consider the BO regional pass for the adults, only if you are certain that the weather will be cooperative to pay for the most expensive excursions-Jungfraujoch and Schiltorn. Here is the website with all the details. http://www.regiopass-berneroberland.ch/engl/ticket.htm

Thanks for the replies. I think I decided to go for the BO region pass rather than the half fare pass since for CHF 130 more, I will be able to get most of the rides free and still get 50%off on the most expensive ones to Jungfrau and Schilthorn. I will get the pass when we get there and hoping for good weather for us. Thanks again!

We just returned from a trip that included a stay in Wengen for 3 days with our chidlren, ages 6 and 8. Get the Junior Pass for your kids, and get the Berner Oberland area pass for the adults. My kids love Jungfraujoch- go there first. Lauterbrunnen is centrally located, however, I preferred the car-free environment of Wengen. Have a good trip!

I think there is some fuzzy logic here with out any supporting figures to backup the assumption that any pass will help. Not always a correct assumption. Without calculating the breakeven point you have no real way of knowing whether the pass benefitted you are not.

The Berner Oberland Regional pass, 7 day 2nd class version, costs 220 chf.
The pass is valid over a 7 day period and includes 3 free days which the pass holder designates, but the free days must be within the 7 day period.

The question then becomes this: Will you ride enough on the free days to recover the cost?

The cost of the Jungfraujoch trip from Wengen, if taken on a free day, will cost 51 chf (half of the return fare of 102 chf.) is what I assume.

The Schilthorn on a free day should cost you 31.90.

The total cost of those two trips taken with the pass would be 220+51+21.90 for a total of 302.90. (The other trips listed below would be at no cost on a free pass day.)

If you took the rides listed below with no pass, you would need to buy individual tickets.

Here are some figures taken from the following web site:
http://www.jungfraubahn.ch/english/p...E/SE_KrTe4.htm

Wengen - Jungfraujoch return 139.00chf
Wengen - Schilthorn return 95.00
Interlaken - Wengen return 24.80
Grindelwald - First return 49.00
Wengen - Männlichen return 37.00
TOTAL 344.80

So if you took all those rides on free days, you would save money. If you missed on one of the 3 highest priced ones you would lose money.

So that is why I say, it takes some actual cost figures and definite plans to establish whether or not the pass purchase will save money. The benefits are not automatic.

I did not buy one until clear weather was prediced, but we were there a week.
It worked out fine, but for the 3 free days we rode everything in sight from 8 am until late afternoon, except the Jungfraujoch.

Thanks again esp. Bob for the detail calculation. I originally planed to buy the half fare pass for CHF99 and that actually worked out cheaper for the rides we want to take. However, with a pass we might save time on lining up at each point for tickets, is that right? I won't get the pass till we get there and have good forecast for weather. And if we do get the regional pass, I will make sure everyone get up early daily and make full use of them

In this case you should decide when you are in the BO. Weather is a major concern. It is absolutely wasted money to go up on a mountain if it stucks in clouds.

Beside that, it seems to me from Bob's excellent calculation that the cheapest option would be the Swiss Half Fare Card for one month (99 Sfr.). There are usually no lines at the ticket desks. And you can buy your ticket for the entire trip at your railway station in Wengen.

print out the PDF fares for these journeys to take with you.
http://www.jungfraubahn.ch/deutsch/a...liste_2004.pdf

Hi, baby108. These are the "folks" with the facts that I mentioned in my reply at the top. I'm a Swiss Pass fan, but I make maximum use of it every day on trains, boats, and busses, and my daytrips are often lengthy. What can I say -- I'm crazy about the Swiss travel system! I want to see every place they go! But in your case, you've received solid advice from Ingo, and Chris, and Bob. Have a wonderful time! (And I hope the weather cooperates!) J.

I really appreciate all the inputs from you all, Thanks! I am checking the weather every hour now for all the cities we will be visiting but things are not looking too good now and the web cams of the mountain tops shows fogs and rain... Well, I will keep my fingers crossed and hopefully things will improve over the next week