The Swiss Travel Pass is an amazing way to see Switzerland using public transport. It is the ultimate pass over and above the other pass options on offer. However, it doesn’t come cheap. So is the Swiss Travel Pass worth it? Here are 7 reasons to choose the Swiss Travel Pass.

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What is the Swiss Travel Pass?

The Swiss Travel Pass is the ultimate addition to any Swiss adventure. It allows the holder to travel on buses, boats, trams and trains throughout Switzerland. You can opt for first or second class (obviously, we are first class kids these days). There are two variations of The Swiss Travel Pass:

• The Swiss Travel Pass – The Swiss Travel Pass can be used on consecutive days (3, 4, 6, 8 or 15). Be sure you have big journeys planned on these days, or a big discount on a trip up a mountain planned to ensure it is good value every day.
• The Swiss Travel Pass Flex – The Flex pass can be used for the same number of days (3, 4, 6, 8 or 15) but at any time within one month. It costs more but means you can split the expensive journeys up and relax between them.

7 Reasons to Choose the Swiss Travel Pass

1 – The Swiss Travel Pass Provides Plenty of Flexibility

The best-laid plans of mice, men and tourists often go awry…that’s the poem, right?

Happily, not being tied for certain trains means you have a bit more leeway. If you miss a train, no dramas, you can hop on the next one. In fact, in St Gallen, we left so much contingency time to walk to the station that we were on time for the one before…so we got that. No faffing changing tickets or having to bag a train conductor to accept a different train time, we just hopped on and flashed our pass when the tickets were checked.

Of course, there are trains you will want or need to reserve but day to day, you have so much more flexibility.

2 – The Swiss Travel Pass Doesn’t Just Cover Trains

The Swiss Travel Pass doesn’t just get you passage on the trains of the country. These will probably be the primary way you travel around Switzerland, and it’s the main way to make The Swiss Travel Pass worth it, but you can use other forms of transport too.

Trams, some funiculars and boats too are all included! It’s such fun discovering new ways of getting around. For example, when we visited Aare Gorge from Interlaken, we caught a train and bus from Interlaken. However, on the way back, we travelled on the boat that crossed Lake Brienz from Brienz to Iseltwald, had a little look around and then caught a different bus back to Interlaken. It was much more exciting and being on the water, in the sun just makes it feel so much more like an adventure.

3 – The Swiss Travel Pass Includes Amazing Scenic Trains

Some of Switzerland’s most iconic trains are included on the Swiss Travel Pass. The country is crisscrossed with the most beautiful train journeys, carving through picturesque valleys, skirting glittering lakes and climbing over mountain passes. The most renowned routes have panoramic trains which extend the views up to the mountain peaks. All you need to travel on these, you only need a Swiss Travel Pass. You can pay for a reservation for some but you don’t have to. (If you are travelling in high summer and want a window, you might want to).

When it comes to the two biggest hitters, the Bernina Express and the Glacier Express, you just need to pay the reservation fee in your fare class. Travelling on these two trains alone will cover the cost of A three day pass so it is absolutely worth it if this is part of your Swiss trip.

Check out our reviews for the Bernina Express and Glacier Express trains here.

4 – The Swiss Travel Pass Also Includes Museums

If you love museum hopping, and discovering those small and charming museums that every town seems to have, then you are going to be thrilled with your Swiss Travel Pass. It includes free or discounted entry to around 500 museums, galleries and historic buildings. To find a full list, check out the Swiss Museum Pass website here. Some of our favourites were:

• St Gallen’s Museumstrasse has three big museums that are all included so you can spend most of a day popping in and out, soaking up culture along the way. You can also access the absolutely beautiful Abbey Library which is worth travelling to St Gallen for.

• Lucerne has some weird and wonderful museums (especially the Glacier Garden and nearby Bourbaki Panorama) which are included. However, the Swiss Museum of Transport or Verkehrshaus der Schweiz is not. You will get 50% off with the pass though.
• In Montreux, Chateau Chillon is included. This medieval castle right on Lake Geneva is so imposing and interesting.
• Sadly, we missed the Matterhorn Museum in Zermatt but we have heard great things!
• Zurich has a fair few museums included. The Swiss National Museum in Zurich is interactive and you can lose half a day there for sure. A couple of other notable museums included are the FIFA Football Museum, the Swiss Finance Museum (more interesting than it sounds).
• Finally, head to Gruyere where you can visit both the Maison du Gruyere (the cheese museum) and the castle in the medieval town. It is the perfect cheesy day trip!

Just remember, it has to be a travel day to use the pass so if you are excited to visit a certain museum, ensure you are travelling early or late that day to allow plenty of time.

5 – The Swiss Travel Pass Grants Access to Discounted Mountain Excursions

One of the most popular things to do in Switzerland is hop on a cable car or railway and go up. Viewpoints, mountain visitor centres and fun activities galore are on offer at the top of several famous mountains. These are not cheap excursions though. Happily, the Swiss Travel Pass gets you up to 50% off at many of Switzerland’s funiculars, cable cars and mountain railways.

• If you are planning to visit Jungfraujoch from Interlaken Ost for example, travelling up by cable car and train, and coming back via the older trains, you are going to save CHF 76. It goes from 223.80 to 147.80. That’s not insignificant!
• To reach Pilatus, near Lucerne, you can get to the funicular station for free. Then, to head up on the cogwheel railway and back down on the cable car, you are going to save CHF 39 (78 to 39).
• Harder Kulm in Interlaken comes down 50% from CHF 38 to CHF 19.

You can see that travelling into or out of the area on the same day as making one of these large savings, really bumps up the value of the pass.

6 – The Swiss Travel Pass is Good for Budgeting

Switzerland is an expensive country so anything you can do to help you plan your financials is a good idea. You are quickly going to find yourself spending more than planned unless you really sit and make a budget. Paying for the pass is a big layout initially but once you have paid for your Swiss Travel Pass, it is settled. It doesn’t have to cost you an extra penny for transport around Switzerland unless you are planning to pay for reservations.

7 – The Swiss Travel Pass Gives You Spontaneity

The possibility of taking fun day trips and side quests is greatly increased when you feel like you want to make the most of your Swiss Travel Pass.

Found a great deal on Too Good to Go that is about to end a tram ride away? Had a sudden craving to capture a photo at a famous viewpoint before the sunset or visit a museum before the last entry? No dramas! The Swiss Travel Pass has it covered and doesn’t cost you a penny more. If it starts raining, your feet are freezing or you are just really tired, you can board a nice warm, dry bus or tram at the last minute without stressing about the added cost. Now, I know that many hotels and hostels give you a pass to use local transport when you check in but getting to your accommodation in the first place can be a chore, and it doesn’t cover as many options as the Swiss Travel Pass does.

We were in Montreux and found out that the Gruyere annual cheese festival coincided with our visit. Well, this gave us the chance to try both the Belle Epoque (the 1930s style train) on the way up and the GoldenPass Panoramic train on the way back and it didn’t cost us anything. We may not have done the trip if we had to pay for each of those trains individually and just stayed put in Montreux. Similarly, we found a fun wine tasting around the lake from Montreux and could just hop on the train to get there.

Final Thoughts on Why to Choose the Swiss Travel Pass

So is the Swiss Travel Pass worth it? Definitely! If you can afford it, you should absolutely be picking up a Swiss Travel Pass. It is going to make your trip to Switzerland so much more enjoyable and if you use it well, you can get great value from it too. Next time we are in the country, I will be clutching mine, ready to see more of stunning Switzerland!

Rosie xx