The prime benefit of the Swiss Travel Pass is unlimited travel across Switzerland for 3, 4, 6, 8, or 15 consecutive days. With a single ticket, you can ride trains, buses, and trams, as well as boats, without purchasing separate tickets, which makes travel easy and flexible.
It also includes up to 50% off on mountain railways like gondolas, funiculars, and cogwheel trains, which lets you explore both Swiss cities and alpine regions at lower costs. Prices for the Swiss Travel Pass range from CHF 244–389 for a 3-day pass and CHF 459–723 for a 15-day pass, which offers excellent value for travellers.
A big advantage of the Swiss Travel Pass is that it covers train tickets for all iconic routes in Switzerland. This includes the route from Zermatt to St. Moritz which is covered by the Glacier Express. Then, there is the Bernina Express, which carries you across glaciers and into Italy through a UNESCO-listed railway.
Also, you can also travel between Lucerne, Interlaken, and Montreux with lake views as well as mountain backdrops at every turn with The GoldenPass Express.
The Pass saves you a significant amount as well, like a Glacier Express ticket normally costs CHF 159, but with the Swiss Travel Pass, it is completely free. However, seat reservations are not included and remain mandatory for most of these routes, so they must be booked separately in advance to secure your journey.
The Swiss Travel Pass is not only for trains and buses, but it also covers some of the best mountain trips in Switzerland. You can take a boat from Lucerne and ride the cogwheel train up to Mt. Rigi, or ride the funicular and open-air cable car to Stanserhorn at no extra cost. The pass also covers the trip to Mürren, the Brunni–Ristis cable car in Engelberg, the Klewenalp and Stockhütte lifts, as well as the Stoos funicular.
On top of that, it offers you 50% off on famous excursions like the Gornergrat railway in Zermatt, where you can enjoy clear views of the Matterhorn. This means you can reach popular peaks, take part in fun mountain rides, and still save money.
A Swiss Travel Pass offers you free or discounted entry to more than 500 museums and exhibitions across Switzerland, which makes it a great choice for culture lovers. You can explore famous spots like the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, the historic Château de Chillon on Lake Geneva and the Ballenberg Swiss Open-Air Museum in Bernese Oberland.
In Lucerne, you can make use of the 50% discount on the entry to the Swiss Museum of Transport (Verkehrshaus) as well as Swiss Chocolate Adventure, Media World, Filmtheatre, and Planetarium. From art galleries to dinosaur museums, the pass opens doors to Switzerland’s culture while helping you save.
With a Swiss Travel Pass, children who are under 16 years of age can travel free of cost with a parent. All you need to do is request a Swiss Family Card at the time of booking. This means you do not pay for their train, bus, or boat journeys.
Even on many mountain trips where you get discounts with the pass, your kids can travel for free. For families, this makes the Swiss Travel Pass an excellent choice and a big money saver.
Yes, Grindelwald is covered by the Swiss Travel Pass. This pass allows unlimited travel on trains, buses and boats across Switzerland. While trips to Grindelwald are included, mountain rides like the Grindelwald First Gondola are not free but offered at a 50% discount, which makes it a great value option.
The Swiss Travel Pass does not cover mandatory seat reservations on panoramic trains, which must be bought separately. It also excludes personal expenses like meals, drinks, and souvenirs, as well as optional activities such as sled rentals. Travel insurance is not included along with some mountain excursions, such as Jungfraujoch and Gornergrat, which are only 25%-50% discounted and not fully covered by the pass.
The Grindelwald First cable car costs about CHF 87.4 per adult (around INR 9,421) for an adult round trip and CHF 25.3 (INR 2,727 approx) for children aged 6–15. However, if you are a holder of a Swiss Travel Pass or Half Fare Card, you can receive a 50% discount, which makes it a more affordable way to enjoy this mountain ride.
Cable cars and gondolas are not completely free with the Swiss Travel Pass, except for a few routes which are fully covered, and those include Mt. Rigi, Stanserhorn, and Stoos. For most mountain excursions, including Grindelwald First and Mount Titlis, the pass offers discounts of up to 50% instead of free rides. However, Children under 16, can travel free with a parent holding a valid Swiss Travel Pass.
No, the Swiss Travel Pass does not give free access to Grindelwald First. However, it offers a 50% discount on the gondola ride as well as adventure activities like the First Flyer, First Glider, Mountain Cart, and Trotti Bike. You can buy the discounted tickets at Grindelwald’s valley station.