Swiss Travel Pass: Discover all of Switzerland

The Swiss Travel Pass is the gateway to discovering the length and breath of Switzerland. The minute I read about the benefits I had to buy it. If you love variety then this is for you. You pay a fixed price for the ticket and get rides on selected scenic mountain trains, all regular transportation, boat cruises on the lakes and it even takes you to bordering countries. Hop over to the Principality of Liechtenstein and be a part of the rare crowd that has visited this micro-state which lies entirely in the Alps. The Swiss Pass also functions as a Museum Pass for the culture vultures and wannabes. I enjoyed using the pass so much that I am already planning to buy another on my next visit!

Price

I bought my Swiss Travel Pass at Geneva Cornavin Train Station, 8 days at a cost of CHF 398 (paid in euros but can’t remember the exact figure which was less after conversion). You should be able to get one online or in person at the major train stations or transportation offices in Switzerland. I personally find transportation costs high in Switzerland. Why I say this? When you can spend less than $3 on train rides taking hours from Queens to Manhattan or Brooklyn then Swiss prices make you sweat.

From Geneva to Lucerne (my base) a normal one-way ticket on the panoramic Golden Pass train was almost CHF 100 and I still had 8 more days to go of train travels. The Swiss Travel Pass was the most economical way for me to have a fantastic time. I wanted to get the best experiences and hiding in my room eating Ramen in stunning Switzerland wasn’t what I had in mind, so I paid for the pass with the intention of wringing out each cent plus more unpaid cents by using and abusing it (only instance where I can think of using the word ‘abuse’ in a positive light).

First of all, you have to factor in your time frame, must do things that you itch to undertake and money willing to spend then check which would be more economical. For a few days I don’t think the pass is worth it. What I did was go on Viator (pass available here as well) to view the tours on offer with prices and decide what would be the best option for me and since my stay was over a week the Pass was it.

Please note that the cost of a first class ticket (only difference that I observed was being able to sit on the top deck of boats and 1^st class section of trains) or Swiss Travel Pass flexible is more expensive.

Approximate Cost of Swiss travel Pass (in CHF) for consecutive days.

Subject to change of course, to be used as a guide

What I got

When I bought the Swiss Travel Pass I had no intention of paying for any excursion that was not included. Although I got entry to many museums (over 500 museums and exhibits) I didn’t enter one because when I wasn’t on the lake, I was on a mountain or just train riding. The landscape is so spectacular that you just don’t want to be indoors especially in summer with beautiful weather. To add a bit of variety you can mix things up though and add in museums.

Trains

All regular trains and buses included for the entire country. You can get on some scenic rides too. I took the Golden Pass line from Montreux to Lucerne. Regrettably, paid a fiver, I believe, for a seat in advance. This was not needed although it was the height of summer. Switzerland is not as crowded as Paris or Amsterdam. I always got a seat in whichever train I joined.

The Pass even gives you free train and bus rides to and in Liechtenstein, an excellent day trip that I ticked off. At certain parts of the border area in France and Italy the pass works, if you are planning to go there just read up a bit on it.

Some popular scenic trains included in the Pass are the Bernina Express, Glacier Express and the Golden Pass.

Lakes

I loved being on the lake, the water is clear and clean. The lakes are dotted with little picturesque, flower lined villages that you can visit from the boats to experience the Swiss village life.

On Lake Geneva the boats make stops at small French villages, I visited the medieval Yvoire in France.

I took boat rides on Lake Geneva, Zurich and Lucerne. All were included except for a surcharge of CHF 5 on the Zurich boat.  Other boat rides included in the pass are in Basel, Brienz and Thun.

Mountains

The mountain excursions are the most expensive activities apart from sky diving and paragliding, (which are not covered by any of the passes). From time to time these are changed so for 2018 some that were 50 or 25% off last year are now free and the free ones from 2017 are now 50 or 25% off. I did all the ones covered by my pass entirely.

From 2018, the free ones are: Stanserhorn (open top cable car), Schilthorn ( Bond…James Bond, featured in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service), Rigi (Queen of the mountains)

50% off: Titlis, Schynige Platte, Pilatus, Mittelallalin, Brienzer Rothorn, Klein Matterhorn – Glacier Paradise etc

The mountain excursions include transport by boat, train, cable car and gondola depending on the particular ride. It seems that apart from the included excursions discounts are offered for Swiss travel pass holders from 25-50% for the rest.

The Swiss Travel Pass is not the only pass specifically for Switzerland. There are regional passes such as the Tell Pass for mainly the Lucerne area. This pass is cheaper than the Swiss Travel Pass and you do get more included mountain excursions. I didn’t buy it because I had planned on taking day trips to other cities from Lucerne and the Swiss Pass is more comprehensive which in turn offered more variety but the Tell pass is a real steal if you plan to use Lucerne as your base and want to do many mountain excursions.

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