Hi!

I keep reading about the Bernese oberland region...which region is that? i am planning to make Bern my base and travel to geneva, locarno, lucerne by train....should I get a swiss pass for that? I am confused...

Yes for your extensive travels a Swiss Pass would be warranted - consider a consecutive day pass where for the whole period not only trains but most postal buses and transit systems in dozens of cities are covered as are boats on many lakes and rivers. Plus the pass will give you at least 25% off mountain conveyances like gondolas and teleferiques. Swiss passes can be bought in Switzerland but currently at quite a bit more than the $ equivalent they are sold for in the US. I'd contact BETS for current prices and to answer any Swiss rail questions (800-441-9413) - their free European Planning & Rail Guide has a lot of info on Swiss trains, including the Bernina and Glacier Expresses, etc. I've dealt with them for years for railpasses and highly recommend them. If you're confused they'll answer all your questions with patience and from personal experience, as they have me several times. I always recommend them because there is such a paucity of places you can phone and really talk to someone about your confusion. The web is great but not so personally interactive.
Anyway the Bernese Oberland region is the term mainly applied to the area around Interlaken, including Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen, two Alpine towns that offer to me what is the finest experience in the Swiss Alps - these villages have hundreds of neat chalet-style hotels and hostel with the high Alps soaring up thousands of feet, with hiking trails, aerial cable cars and toy-like mountain trains plying the area. Grindelwald to me, or nearby Wengen, is the best place to go to see the glory of the Swiss Alps.

It is roughly the triangle formed by Bern, Luzern, and the Jungfrau.

Hi Ankita,

Actually, the Berner Oberland goes as far west as Gstaad -- which surprised me because Gstaad seems so much more "Pays d'Enhaut" (French) than BO. Here's a link to a map:

http://www.berneroberland.ch/navi/winter/frame_en.htm

(scroll down to see the extent of it).

Here's another link to a map for validity of the Berner Oberland Pass:

http://www.regiopass-berneroberland.ch/engl/geltung.htm

You can click on a link for the details.

Not sure how this information will help you decide on whether to Pass or not? Try the site www.railsaver.com, input your itinerary, and be sure to select "only if it saves me money."

If you don't already have the Swiss Rail website, it's at www.rail.ch.

I usually do a spreadsheet with a column for each pass/point-point option, and a row for each excursion. That's the only way I know of to find the cheapest way.

Good luck!

s

Be aware that railpass prices are set by the railroads. If there are any major "price differences" as implied in one of the posts above, it is because the agency selling that pass to you has decided to mark the price up.

I would check the cost of a pass on the Swiss Railways website and then COMPARE the price with that of an agenmcy such as RailEurope or Railpass/Saver before making any buying decisions.

Unless you have a reason, I would suggest you reconsider basing in Bern. It is a scenic city in an unscenic part of the country. It has a good art museum (if you like Paul Klee), but is also the seat of the government, so it can get crowded with politicians and conventions, and some of the tourist attractions it lists include visiting the capital and observing the legislature(!).

Staying in the area of Interlaken would be more central to your day-destinations. Brienz is often touted as having great views, and many suggest staying in one of the mountain villages. I like Lauterbrunnen for convenience to many destinations and it is in a beautiful valley.

From that location you could take a very scenic train through Spiez and Gstaad to Montreux and on to Geneva. Also, Lucerne and Locarno are accessable.

I think I read elsewhere that your stay will be five days, so you will be on the trains/busses/boats very frequently, and one of the passes will probably save you money, and time, since you can just get on the train without buying a ticket in the station. I think they have a flex pass that allows a certain number of days (3, 4, 5, and 6) within a longer period, and I think that might fit your itinerary better that the Swiss pass, where your options are for 4 or 8 consecutive days, but I can't recall if the flex option is that much more expensive or not. If you are not traveling alone, each pass has a "saver" variant with lower group prices.

You should also look into whether buying online will save you money. I think that the general rule is that buying from the railroad is least expensive, but I know there have been times when an online reseller has had better prices, at least before consideration of any handling and delivery fees.

Enjoy your trip.

I've compared Swiss Pass and Swiss Card prices on www.sbb.ch Swiss Rail web site and prices in Switzerland are considerably higher than same pass thru RailEurope - like 'implied' above. Compare and see - at least they were in Dec - unless 2005 prices for those in Suisse went down! Hard to believe but RailEurope is cheaper than same thing you'd buy at train stations in Switzerland - it has something to do with the decline of the dollar, making local prices higher. Previously to last year the contrary was true, passes were cheaper in Switzerland. there are several other examples of RailEurope being cheaper - London TravelCards, single German rail tickets, Spanish night trains to mention some.

Wow! That is surprising. Wonder if this is true for others that sell the Swiss pass!

I thought the Swiss card could only be bought in US. True?

The geologic of the Berner Oberland is as described above -- all the way from the Grimsel Pass to Gstaad. Culturally, there are differences.

The most accessible area to the high peaks is around Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald, Wengen, Mürren, and Kandersteg.

I have spent a week or more in Lauterbrunnen for several summers now and find it to be a good base of operations for what I like to do.

Bern is ok if you like to radiate in all directions, but it can be crowded when various government activities are taking place. Thun or Spiez or Interlaken are more central and all have nice hotels. Interlaken has some really swanky joints!

The best views of the mountains are to be had from Grindelwald, Mürren and Wengen. As much as I like Lauterbrunnen, I must admit I am not usually there during the day. I am on a trail above Grindelwald, Mürren or Wengen or Kandersteg.

Now for the pass game. Wow. A very complex subject. If you can begin to predict where you will go, then you have the basis for a comparison.

The cable lifts of the mountains accept the Swiss CARD at 50% off list price in most cases. The Swiss Pass is primarily a rail pass and yields 25% off of the cable lifts in the mountains.

If over 50% of your travel will be on regular trains, you might benefit from the Swiss Rail Pass.

I personally after running a few spreadsheets, concluded years ago that my best bet was the Swiss Card, which I can get in 1 of 3 ways: Rail Europe, order from the Swiss Federal Rail folks and pay postage, or buy it in the airport in Zürich.

I made my decision based on the fact that (1) I would be coming in by train from Munich, and I get a "free" ride fron the border to Lauterbrunnen as part of the Card and (2) almost all of my travel after arrival would be on mountain trains and cable lifts where the discount was 50%.

(And I never let the plethora of different private rail lines and cable car lines bother me much. I either got there or I didn't. Besides, all of the lines are interlinked anyhow so what difference does it make whether I am on a BLS car or a BOB car or a WAB car, or an JFB car as long as it had a seat and no cows. Dogs are fine because they are well behaved and usually friendly.)


But, in order to make a good assessment you must be able to predict with some accuracy what you want to see and where you want to go.

If there are 3 o4 4 of you, I suggest looking into renting a car. They are not cheap in Switzerland, particularly with the Bush dollar sagging again, but when you compare rail costs for 3 or 4 people with car rental costs, you might get an idea of which is the cheaper option. One expense item, not usually factored in, is the cost of parking the vehicle. Everywhere you go, there is a parking fee unless you know somebody!!
Parking decks and parking meters are everywhere. That is why in Lauterbrunnen, the local pull up on the sidewalk, run in, buy what they need, and run out. Gets fun upon occasions when the other traffic is playing dodgeball with the pedestrians.
Never had a problem, really.

Speaking of Lauterbrunnen, I go there because I like the town and part of the reason for liking it is the fact that I can get in and out, up an down, easily.
Lunch in Wengen? No problem. Dinner in Mürren. No problem. Two ways to get there! Excursion to the open air museum of Swiss culture near Ballenberg and Brienz, no big deal. Two trains, one bus, and I am there at the gate.

So let me say that you need to do some preplanning, and then check out the costs. I can tell you later where to go to get detailed cost information.
You will need to go several places to gather it all up, but I can be of some assistance when you need it. But others can too, and often are.
Email me if you wish. It is not a phony address.

Swiss Pass Prices: As i implied they are significantly cheaper in US thru RailEurope - just checked:
4 day con pass in Swiss = 245 SF or $208 at .85 cents US to 1 SF, $28 more than in US
2-1 month pass in Swiss = 540 SF or $459, $59 more than in US!
and straight on down the line! This even though the selling agent marks up the pass!