If you are travelling alone or even in 2 to Switzerland and want to fully rely on the public transportation, I would highly recommend to get the Swiss Travel Pass where this pass gives you unlimited travel on the public buses, trains, trams and even boats throughout the nation with hassle-free. Not just this pass applies on the public transportation, you can even get free admission to over 500 fascinating museums and also get up to 50% discount on most mountain excursions to Swiss Peak. This pass is specially designed for foreign visitors who are non-residents of Switzerland and Principality of Liechtenstein.
Swiss Travel Pass Categories
Swiss Travel Pass is divided into 3 different categories based on:
a) Consecutive or Flexible
b) First Class or Second Class
c) Validity Period of 3, 4, 6, 8 and 15 days
Swiss Travel Pass - Consecutive Days
Validity/Class |
First Class (CHF) |
Second Class (CHF) |
3
Days |
369.00 |
232.00 |
4
Days |
447.00 |
281.00 |
6
Days |
570.00 |
359.00 |
8
Days |
617.00 |
389.00 |
15
Days |
675.00 |
429.00 |
Validity/Class |
First Class (CHF) |
Second Class (CHF) |
3
Days |
424.00 |
267.00 |
4
Days |
514.00 |
323.00 |
6
Days |
610.00 |
384.00 |
8
Days |
649.00 |
409.00 |
15
Days |
706.00 |
449.00 |
Swiss Travel Pass Flexi gives you unlimited travel within 1 month from the selected start date. For example; if you choose Flexi 8 Days Swiss Travel Pass and you select the start date to travel on 1st January, then you pass is valid till 30th January and you can travel unlimited 8 days within these 30 days.
Boat is included in Swiss Travel Pass too and you can ride for free
Where To Buy Swiss Travel Pass
Generally, you can buy this pass at staffed Swiss rail stations but do take into account that there might be a queue, especially during the peak hour. So for more conveniently, you can directly purchase this Swiss Travel Pass through online which not only helping you in saving your precious time, but it also ensures a digital back-up in case your printed copy gets lost or damaged. You might also get lower price than the official prices you'd pay in Switzerland as there might be some offer and promotion that is available by the online retailer. In our case, we bought this pass from Klook, our favourite travel platform and instantly we got our Swiss Travel Pass via email right after we had made payment for it.
During the purchase of this pass, all you need to do is to key in your name, gender, date of birth, passport number, nationality and your departure date. Make sure that all your details are same as accordingly to your passport cause the train inspector will randomly check both of your passport and Swiss Travel Pass together. Do take note of the departure date, it's actually the date that you want to start using this pass in Switzerland, not your flight departure date.
How To Use Swiss Travel Pass
It's pretty simple - just hop on and off as you like as long as you have the Swiss Travel Pass with you. The only thing you need to take note is the cabin class; whether it's the First Class or Second Class. Second Class pass holder is not allowed to be in the First Class cabin, so make sure you don't get fine/penalty for this silly and clumsy mistakes.
Talking about seat reservations, you don't have to reserve any seats and you are allowed to sit anywhere as you like on most of the trains as well for the boats. However, seat reservations are mandatory for premium scenic trains like Glacier Express and Bernina Express and this is where you need to pay additional fees for the seat reservation, eventhough these particular trains are covered under Swiss Travel Pass.
Is Swiss Travel Pass Really Worth To Buy?
Obviously YES! Although Swiss Travel Pass might seems pricey, but I can definitely conclude that we have no regret of buying this pass cause it's indeed helping us save tons of money, especially when our itinerary is packed with lots of places to visit.
Take a look of the breakdown I did of all the places we went throughout our 11 days trip around Switzerland and this fare is calculated per pax:
From |
To |
CHF |
Mode |
Zurich Flughafen |
Luzern |
30.00 |
Train |
Luzern
|
Engelberg |
18.40 |
Train |
Engelberg |
Luzern
|
18.40 |
Train |
Luzern
|
Vitznau
|
28.00 |
Boat |
Vitznau
|
Rigi Kulm |
45.00 |
Boat |
Rigi Kulm |
Vitznau
|
45.00 |
Cable car |
Vitznau
|
Luzern
|
28.00 |
Cable car |
Luzern
|
Basel |
34.00 |
Train |
Basel |
Bern |
41.00 |
Train |
Bern |
Luzern
|
39.00 |
Train |
Luzern
|
Interlaken OST |
33.00 |
Train |
Interlaken OST |
Iseltwald Dorfplatz |
6.00 |
Bus |
Iseltwald (See) |
Interlaken OST |
16.60 |
Boat |
Wilderswil
|
Lauterbrunnen |
6.00 |
Train |
Lauterbrunnen |
Murren |
11.20 |
Cable car |
Murren |
Lauterbrunnen |
11.20 |
Cable car |
Lauterbrunnen |
Grindelwald via Zweilütschinen |
9.00 |
Train |
Grindelwald via Zweilütschinen |
Interlaken OST |
11.20 |
Train |
Interlaken OST |
Sigriswil |
9.20 |
Bus |
Sigriswil |
Interlaken OST |
9.20 |
Bus |
Interlaken West |
Vevey |
61.00 |
Train |
Vevey |
Geneve |
28.00 |
Train |
Geneve |
Lausanne
|
22.80 |
Train |
Lausanne
|
Interlaken West |
56.00 |
Train |
Interlaken West |
Frutigen |
17.40 |
Train |
Frutigen |
Interlaken West |
17.40 |
Train |
Interlaken West |
Zermatt |
81.00 |
Train |
Zermatt |
St Moritz |
152.00 |
Glacier Express |
St Moritz |
Zurich HB |
76.00 |
Train |
Zurich HB |
Sargans |
33.00 |
Train |
Sargans |
Vaduz |
8.00 |
Bus |
Vaduz |
Sargans |
8.00 |
Bus |
Sargans |
Ziegelbrücke |
14.40 |
Train |
Ziegelbrücke |
Kilchberg ZH |
23.20 |
Train |
Kilchberg ZH |
Zurich HB |
6.80 |
Train |
Zürich Hardbrücke |
Zurich Flughafen |
6.80 |
Train |
Mount Titlis |
|
48.00 |
50% |
CHF |
1,109.20 |
Very informative!!!!
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