GA card vs Swiss Rail pass

Lisa R.

We are traveling to Switzerland and will start in Zurich, Lucerne, Interlaken, Murren, Grindelwald,
Wengen, Kandersteg, Zermatt and St. Moritz all by train, funicular, cable car, chair lift, etc. and will be there for 17 days. Is it better to have the GA card or the Swiss rail pass to cover most of the costs? We do not care about the museums. And if we do the swiss rail pass, do we do the flex or no flex?

NicolasK

Hi Lisa R.

Thank you for your request.

For trips of more than 15 days through Switzerland, I recommend our 1-month GA Travelcard. You will find all the information, the area of validity and the possibility of purchase under the link here.

I wish you a nice Sunday.

Kind regards
NicolasK

Lisa R.

NicolasK
Thanks for the quick reply. So we can use the GA travelcard not only on trains but funiculars, ski lifts (summer), gondola rides, etc? and this GA card will help with costs better than the swiss rail pass?
And we can use this on the Glacier express? Thanks again.

RolandP

Hello Lisa R.

The GA, as the Swiss Travel Pass, are valid to inhabited places only. With a very few exceptions, such as Mt. Rigi, the GA travel card does not offer any free travel on mountain transportation, no matter being mountain train, cable car, chair lifts, etc. For these, you will have to pay extra.

When you will primarily stay in the Berner Oberland, the Berner Oberland Pass might be another option. It works well with the Swiss Half Fare Card.

https://www.berneseoberlandpass.ch

In order to give you better advice, you should list your itinerary in detail. What are your bases? O I am sure there is some potential for optimisation, too. My personal advice: finish your planning first, then bother with tickets. The ticket selection & purchase should be your very last step of your entire planning process.

If you need more help with planning your trip, for example if you are unsure which places to visit (for example, I personally would skip Kandersteg), check the TripAdvisor Switzerland travel forum, there you will find a lot of advice from locals on what to see & visit: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g188045-i336-Switzerland.html

Here, on this platform, we are the ticket experts.

Kind regards,
Roland