Saver Day Pass, Junior Travel Card and Day Pass Children

Coigoufo34

My husband and I are traveling for 2 days in Switzerland in March with our 17, 15, and 12 year old. We will start in Tirano, Italy and head up to Chur, over to Lucern, Interlaken, and end up in Geneva. It seems that the cheapest way for us to travel is for my husband, my 17 year old and I to get the Saver Day Pass. Can my 15 and 12 year old then get Junior Travel Cards, or would they need the Day Pass Children? Are there any other better options I’m not considering? Thanks!

RolandP

Hello Coigoufo34

Phew, I usually I keep my advice limited to public transport related topics, however, with your question, I feel obliged to look into your overall trip planning, if you allow me to do so.

Two days Switzerland whilst you wish to travel from Tirano to Geneva? This is, sorry my French, insane, unless the main purpose of your Switzerland trip is to experience the Swiss trains in full - my brother would definitely fall into that category of travellers.

Although I feel honoured as a train staff that you intend to travel all by train, your travel plan means, you will spend both days in trains solely; to put it bluntly, I am unsure if your kids will still love you after this trip 🙂 . It means further, you will have seen a lot of different landscapes our country has to offer, yet you will not have experienced it at all, including the mountsins - for what our country is totally famous. Plus, I fear that you forgot the needs of your kids; if they love to travel by train or love trains in general, the trip is fine; otherwise, you should remake your plans.

Have you verified the timings and time needed for this trip using the official trip planner for Swiss public transport, www.sbb.ch/en?

I would have suggested, to travel to Lucerne from Italy directly, where a lot of family activities are possible, such as a cruise on Lake Lucerne on the old steam paddle boats - I remember that this was astonishing for me as a child, and still is nowadays as an adult; you can experience the steam engine making the boat move forward. Or, tobogganing near Fräkmüntegg, after having visited Mt. Pilatus using the steepest cog wheel train in the world. Or, simply travel directly to Interlaken from Italy, which also offers a lot of family activities; the near lakes of Thun and Brienz, both offer a great lake experience as well. There, you can also experience the majestic mountains being named Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau. From my own experience, the Youth hostel in Interlaken is a great and budget friendly place for a family overnight stay.

See:

https://media.jungfrau.ch/image/upload/ar_16:8,c_crop,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/c_scale,w_2309/v1479841709/fileadmin/Winteregg_Muerren/Winteregg-Muerren-Restaurant-Sommer-Panorama-Eiger-Moench-Jungfrau.jpg)

https://www.bls-schiff.ch/en/lake-cruise/good-know/about-lake-brienz

To conclude, your trip is fine as such yet would definitely need more time in order to feel the vibes of our country; hence, whenever you can, assign at least 3 to 4 days in Switzerland to experience the beauty of our country.

If you insist and want to stick with your original plans, yes, the Saver Day Pass is the best option for only two days. And, a children day pass for the youngest. The Junior Card for tourists is not available online, you would have to find a railway office in Switzerland to purchase it.

If you need help with planning your trip or want to have a second opinion on your travel plans, I can warmly suggest TripAdvisor’s Switzerland travel forum run by local volunteers. Many of them have or had kids and can give you a more detailed advice on travel in Switzerland with children: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g188045-i336-Switzerland.html

Please let us know if you have more queries.

Best wishes,
Roland

Coigoufo34

RolandP Thank you for your input! Really our trip is to go from Rome to Lyon to Paris, but I thought instead of going straight from Rome to Lyon, we’d experience the beauty of the Alps along the way. And, it would give us a day of rest on the train between several active days in both Rome and Lyon. I’ve read that the train trips from Tirano to Chur and from Lucern to Interlaken are amazing. We had planned to get from Rome to Lucerne one day and then from Lucerne to Geneva the next. The timetables make it look like it should all work out, although sometimes we only have 5-10 minutes to get from one train to the next. Will this be enough? I know it would be amazing to get out and DO things in the areas we pass through, but we will not have enough time since we want to make the most of Rome, Lyon, and Paris. Do the plans still sound overzealous?

Would the Saver Day Pass be best for my 15 and 17 year old?

RolandP

Hello Coigoufo34

Sorry for the late reply, I almost missed answering your additional question.

For the 15 years old, you could simply buy two Children Day Passes at CHF 19/day. By doing so, you do not have to bother with purchasing the Junior Card at the station. The Children Day Pass has exactly the same range of validity as the Saver Day Pass and can be purchased for Children up to one day before their 16th birthday.

https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/tickets/day-passes/day-pass-children.html

For your 17 years old, you simply purchase a regular Saver Day Pass. In Switzerland, everybody has to purchase full fare tickets from their 16th birthday (unless they hold the Half Fare Card).

Kind regards,
Roland

Coigoufo34

RolandP Thank you!