Guete Morge, My wife and I are planning to visit Switzerland and France during December. So, we're carefully quoting all the most expensive stuff, that includes transportation. That's why I want to ask your help on how to quote the following itinerary: From: Closest station to hotels at Bern Expo (Marriott) // To: Interlaken OST. From: Interlaken OST // To: Closest station to hotels at Bern Expo (Marriott). From: Closest station to hotels at Bern Expo (Marriott) // To: Paris, CDG Airport. From: Paris, CDG Airport // To: Switzerland, Zurich Airport. I've read about the Half-Day and Swiss-Pass, although I'm not sure if those apply for inter-country train travels such as from Bern to Paris? - also I didn't found any SBB train service from Bern to Paris. Your help would be highly appreciated.

@"Roalloophoull18"#p97047 Guten Tag Do you mean the Moxy Hotel in Bern? The closest station is Bern Wankdorf. You have often trains to Bern (main station). If you make a day trip to Interlaken, I think that a Saver Day Pass could be a good idea, Choose the full price and not the half price. https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/tickets/day-passes/saver-day-pass.html If you stay in Interlaken more as one day, Supersaver Tickets could be available, search the timetable to find the prices and the conditions. To and from Paris, it is better to travel via Basel. You will also find discounted prices with some restrictions in the timetable. Please note that tickets and reservations are probably not available now for December, you should try later if you get an error message. Kind Regards Danhiel

Why would you want to travel just to Interlaken, and not beyond? What do you expect to see there in walking distance from the train stations?

@"Danhiel"#p97050 Guten Tag, I am learning along the way while I plan for this trip, so your help and detailed response are really appreciated! I can see that distance between Bern's Moxy Hotel and Bern Wankdorf station is just about 2 miles, this hotel is in a good spot! Now, regarding the Saver Day Pass (Full-Price), I've found it for 39.00 CHF, and it last from one day till 5am of the next day. What are the benefits of getting one of this Saver Day Pass? - like does it allow me to hop into any SBB train and buses as needed, or is it just a discount? The plan is growing as days go by, but initially it would be one day at Interlaken, one day in Bern and then taking a train to Paris. However, per your advice, it seems like for going to Paris it would be better off for us to take a train to Basel and from there to Paris, right? Also, does the Saver Day Pass give me benefits for traveling from Bern to Basel to Paris? Last but not least, as you may noticed, I'm handling this trip really carefully, and there are many reasons, and one of them being budget, so if you could share some details on what are the pros and cons of the Saver Day Pass vs SuperSaver Tickets, then who knows?, we might go one more day to Interlaken, but need to carefully assess if it's budget-friendly! Thanks for your help!

@"RedBaron"#p97053 Guten Tag, Thanks for your reply. I've seen many different forums about the natural wonders and scenery of Interlaken. Plus, as I've mentioned before, budget is a variable I always take seriously, this trip not being the exception, even more after reading the Switzerland is among the most expensive nations in the world. Now, given that we're shaping the plan for this trip as days go by, and since it seems you have good proposals beyond Interlaken, if you could share some of them with me that would be appreciated. I would like to stay in Bern's Moxy Hotel, and from there use public transportation to move around (like going to Interlaken) - taking advantage of Switzerland's famous public transportation service - so given those conditions, could you please share some other places we can visit in a span of 3 days? Thanks for your help.

@"Roalloophoull18"#p97078 Guten Tag The hotel is near the station Bern Wankdorf, not 2 miles away. You can be on the platform in 5 minutes. You have also an Ibis Hotel who could be cheaper as the Moxy Hotel, 15 minutes walk to the station Bern Wankdorf, 4 minutes with the tram. You can also take the tram directly to the main station (16 minutes). I suggest to stay in Bern and to buy Saver Day Passes for the days between your arrival and your departure. With these passes, you can hop into any train and bus as needed in Switzerland, not only SBB, except some mountain excursions. With a Supersaver Ticket, it is not possible to use other trains. With a Saver Day Pass, you can change your plans, for example you can choose another destination if the weather is bad in the Alps. Yes, it would be better to take a train to Basel and from there to Paris. You have also some relations with local trains until Neuchâtel and Frasne, but I think that it easier to change in Basel. The station of Frasne is very "rustic". Some relations could be cheaper, but you must take a regional train from Basel to Mulhouse or Strasbourg and change again. It is also possible to travel via Lausanne or Geneva. On sbb.ch, you can find global prices between Bern and Paris who also include a discount in Switzerland.

@"Roalloophoull18"#p97080 First of all, you won't find any natural wonders IN Interlaken (maybe excepted Harder Kulm, the local mountain peak accessible via funicular), they're located AROUND Interlaken and it can take up to another 2 hours to finally get there. Second, December is not the best season for the Bernese Oberland area, unless you're an avid skier and the snow conditions are already permitting that. In other words, everything related to hiking (free of charge!), wildflowers, green sceneries, animals or waterfalls/gorges (ice on footpaths) will be closed or not accessible then. What will be operating with a high probability are destinations like Jungfraujoch or Schilthorn (= typical reasons why most tourist are getting to Interlaken as a hub or accomodation), but they're a) pretty expensive (up to 4x more expensive than your regular Bern-Interlaken ticket) and b) weather dependent (snow storms, clearing of tracks, avalanche risks, or simply the peaks covered in clouds so you'd only see some very expensive fog up there). So you should first decide about your final destination given the conditions to expect. Lots of websites and Google will help you with that. Maybe the Harder Kulm might be not the worst idea given the weather related and "financial" risks. However that particular peak at 1320m altitude might also be completely covered in a clouds/fog layer while the sun is shining higher up, which is a quite common "inversion" weather situation during winter. Addendum: Forget about Schilthorn, the "James Bond" cable car up there is getting replaced between october and march and therefore not operating this particular winter season.

@"Danhiel"#p97087 Guten Tag, Thanks for your guidance. The Moxy Hotel I picked up because of a loyalty points program - using points helps a lot saving some money. Even before this forum I thought on Bern as an strategic point for our eventual stay in Switzerland, but having you advising this makes it sound even more as good choice. I'm going to be honest, I'm starting to feel a bit discouraged about going to Switzerland or Europe during December, and pretty much any month except between May till October, due to most of the comments I've read aren't any favorable, beyond skiing. Despite of that, for deciding on move forward with the trip or not, I wish if you could provide your advice on the following: 1. I'm a bit confused with what is the advantage of buying a Swiss Pass (Full-Price) with respect to buying standalone one-way tickets from Bern to say Interlaken or going downtown in Bern?, I just know that the Swiss Pass (Full-Price) costs 39CHF, but by buying it does it mean I get a discount on the whole price of the normal cost of a ticket, if so then what percentage of discount I get?, or it is that I can hop on as many trains and buses of any of Switzerland's public transportation (excepting tours) for just 39CHF? 2. I'm assuming that Switzerland's public transportation (SBB, etc) are used to moderate to heavy snow and that the service is reliable, of course with qualified exceptions such as very adverse climate conditions, is this accurate?, I mean if there are 4 train travels to/from Bern/Interlaken those 4 train travels have a great chance of being met? 3. Do you consider Interlaken being a good place to visit during December? - despite of snow and mist? - are there restaurants, stores, Christmas shops and so on open or are most of them expected to be closed 24/7 during December? 4. If the climate is adverse in Interlaken, are there any good outdoors hiking with nice landscapes - of course snowy - if we decided to stay at Bern that day? 5. In case of snowy weather, do museums and art exhibitions and other indoor places remain open at Bern or Zurich? - Zurich being where we would be spending our last vacations day. Your help is highly appreciated!

@"RedBaron"#p97088 Guten Tag, Thanks for your reply. Now I'm starting to feel a bit discourage about visiting Switzerland. I read that kind of comments from a bunch of forums, that's why I came here to ask to the extend of stressing out our on-develop plan to visit Switzerland. I didn't expect to see wildflowers, green sceneries or wild animals on December since winter season is starting, although I did expect to be able to found places where we could have a relax hiking while seeing a nice landscape (covered in snow, certainly). As I've just mentioned on this post, I know what to not expect, although what I was at least expecting may not be likely to occur. And before reaching here naturally I went to Google, that's why I built up some questions, which you guys helped me working around them. I'm not giving up on this trip, yet, but I'm going to keep learning as most as possible to take the best decision. Thanks for all your help!

Hello @"Roalloophoull18"#p97184 Sorry, but I think that you have a false idea of Switzerland. This is not a postcard with sunny snowy landscapes everywhere. The weather is unpredictable, you have sometimes too much snow or sometimes not enough. It were better in January or February. It can happen, but it is rare, that train lines are closed due to bad weather. Stores are generally closed only on Sundays, museums only on Mondays. You can find a lot of Christmas Markets in December. In the big cities, most restaurants are also closed on Sundays, but you can always find fast food… The Saver Day Passes are only available in advance and are not exchangeable and not refundable. The prices and the availability are unpredictable, they could change every day. Alternatives are the Swiss Travel Pass or the Swiss Travel Pass Flex: https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/tickets/guests-abroad/swiss-travel-pass.html

@"Danhiel"#p97202 Guten Tag!, I started to realize my perception of Switzerland might be somewhat influenced by television and books!, appreciate you guys helping out to give a more realistic view of this wonderful country and caveats related to weather. This is going to be a nice adventure that my wife and I are looking forward to do! There are plenty of alternatives, ranging from museums, Christmas markets, etc, not to mention other great stuff which I would definitely like to try like Jungfrau rail train (which includes cable-car commute of about 15 minutes), and going to other nice places by using the great benefits of the Swiss Pass Travel - very likely buying a couple 3-days tickets. Now, about Jungfrau, do you know if the 139CHF that costs the tickets starting from Interlaken OST covers a roundtrip?, my guess is yes but I wouldn't want to reach the "Top of Europe" to realize that we need to pay another 139CHF/each for going back to Interlaken OST and from there to our headquarters in Bern! - I'm also guessing that the cable-car commute is relaxed and 15-minutes long and that the winds doesn't make the car swing heavily? (not a huge fan of feeling unstable!) And last but not least, about the Glacier Express, for buying tickets the webpage prompted to the Tickets for Switzerland Public Transportation, does that mean that a Saver Day Pass and Swiss Travel Pass include the benefit of traveling on the Glacier Express, no extra charges, by just paying for the Pass fare? - for instance, as of today, 244CHF is the cost of the Swiss Travel Pass for 3 days for a single ticket, so I can board without any other charge the Glacier Express and take even the whole route of 8 hours long? Thanks for your help!

Itinerary advice / quote

Roalloophoull18

Guten Tag, Danhiel !,

Thanks for all these great details!
Sorry for getting back this late, no excuses, it just that there has been a lot of work and wanted to take a few minutes to carefully read and reply.

I’ve read that Uber has an expensive rate per kilometer in Switzerland, and walking distance is like 40-minutes from Bern Wankdorf Station to Bern Main Station.
Good thing from what you advised me is that practically we can go without purchasing any route ticket in advance and buy it at the station.

The only thing would be if there’s no ticket office at Bern Wankdorf, where could I get a ticket from Bern Wankdorf Station to Bern Main Station? - so that we avoid the 40-minutes walk.

One other option I was thinking is buying the Bern Wankdorf Station - Bern Main Station tickets ahead of time because for all the 3 days we would be staying at Bern Moxy Hotel, but I’m not sure if the tickets are printed with a data and hour that would give us small margin in case you got some delay, is this how it is or one buys a ticket for one day and it can be redeemed at any time during that date?

On the other hand, yes, I also found that both Jungfraujoch and Harder Kulm Cogwheel/EigerExpress and Funicular, respectively, would be available throughout November, and it’s great to have your confirmation on this!

It seems like Harder Kulm can be done in an hour, and if it’s not because Lucerne’s Mt Pilatus Cogwheel and Cable Car are resumed until November 9th we would consider going there on November 8th, but it wouldn’t be possible.
So, I need to think where are we heading next for the day before we would be going to Jungfraujoch, or probably we just interchange those dates so that while get used to trains, views, weather, etc.

On the other hand, if we decide to wait until the day of our visit to Harder Kulm, Jungfraujoch and Mt Pilatus to buy the tickets, I’ve read that lines for getting a ticket could take a long time.
Would you recommend taking a look at the cameras at Jungrafraujoch and Mt Pilatus, not sure if there’s any for Harder Kulm, and based on this decide early in the morning if buy the ticket online so that we avoid the worst case long lines to buy tickets personally?

There’s also other things we would like to do during our stay at Switzerland.
I’ve read about this nice light show at Bern’s Parliament (Bundesplatz Bern), displaying from Nov 5th all the day to December.
Is there any train from Bern Wankdorf to Bern’s Parliament at any time?
And also, how close is the ice skating ring that it seems to be near the Bundesplatz Bern?

Regarding France, let me take a closer look at the Navigo Pass vs Carte Avantage, just because of the long time, 1.5 hours, to reach Disneyland Paris from CDG Train Station, but if the cost difference is huge then probably we would do the 1.5 hours trip or even rent a car at CDG for those days in France.

I have a few more question but for now let’s leave it here.

I’m almost done with all of my questions and that’s because of your help!
Thanks a lot!

Danhiel

Guten Tag Roalloophoull18

I think that I was not clear, I will try to explain better. This is complicated.

You can buy the tickets at the stations, you have also vending machines to avoid to wait at the ticket office. In Bern Wankdorf you have only vending machines.

But you can also buy the same tickets in the SBB Mobile app on your smartphone.

Ticket Bern - Interlaken:

You can buy a ticket from Bern Wankdorf to Interlaken via Bern main station. This ticket will be valid on every train between Bern Wankdorf and Bern main station and after from Bern main station to Interlaken. A return ticket is delivered as Libero Day Pass because Interlaken is in the same canton as Bern:

Ticket Bern - Lucerne:

To Lucerne, you can also buy a ticket from Bern Wankdorf via Bern main station, but it is a point-to-point ticket:

Ticket only valid between Bern Wankdorf and Bern main station:

Return Tickets are delivered as Day Passes and you can also take the bus to the Parliament (but you can walk). The last trains to Bern Wankdorf leave Bern at midnight, you have also night buses on weekends.

I don’t know if the ice skating ring will be installed this year.

Weather forecast will be better as cameras before the sunrise.

Kind Regards
Danhiel

Roalloophoull18

Guten Tag, Danhiel !

Thank you so much for your detailed reply.
Once again, my apologies for the delay on my response, no excuses it was just a lot of work this week.

I carefully reviewed your reply which also took a bit more time to do research on my own and get the most out of your response.

From what I understood, Libero is kind of a consortium of >22 train brands, including SBB, that covers Bern canton and other canton.
Not sure if there’s any benefit for having the roundtrip journey expended as Libero Day Pass or is it just the way to brand it? - the cost is twice for the return journey (roundtrip) with respect to Single Journey, as expected.

I also saw some videos about ticket vending machines while I was planning to visit Liechtenstein via train from Zurich to Sargans and then via bus to Vaduz roundtrip.
The ticket vending machine interface looked pretty much the same as the web app version so it seems like I can wait until reaching the train station and buy tickets on demand instead of in advance - more safe in case of any delays on our side.

Actually, while making a spreadsheet based on our itinerary and the cost of each ticket I came across this “Supersaver Ticket”. It was super cool seeing that the 1st class can even have cheaper price that the 2nd class for that ticket type.
I’ve found it on the Zurich HB <=> Bern Wankdorf Single Journey, but not sure if there’s a deterministic way to know which routes have that Supersaver Ticket option or if it’s something applying to certain days or else? - it looks like a great option to have available.

Also, if we take the train from Bern Wankdorf to Lucerne, is there a train or bus that can take us to Kriens? - I’m asking because we would like to make the full Mt Pilatus journey from base to top and then return.

Another thing I noticed was that I saw this very similar terminology: Swiss Half Fare Card and Swiss Half Fare Travelcard.
The early being 1-month duration and exclusive to foreigners (120 CHF) and the latter seems like 1-year duration and exclusive to Swiss people (190 CHF).
Is this accurate?, and if so, would it a concern since I can see that the SBB tickets say “Half-Fare Travelcard” (1-year, Swiss people) instead of “Half Fare Card” (1-month, tourists)?

Last but not least, I’ve talked with Bern Moxy Expo Hotel representative about this benefit of paying Tourist Tax on our hotel tariff, and she said that we have free pass access to: zone 100 and 101 in Bern.
What good is this to us if we’re going by train from Bern Wankdorf to Interlaken roundtrip?

Thank you so much for your guidance! - we’re almost there for our planning.

Danhiel

Guten Tag Roalloophoull18

When both stations are in Libero, you have no other choice as to buy return tickets as day passes, but you can also buy two one way tickets. They have however a limited time of validity, you should buy the ticket for the return journey in Interlaken when you know which train you take.

Some machines have on older interface and the timetable is not displayed.

Are you arriving at Zurich Airport and do you continue on the same day to Bern? In this case it is a bad idea to buy tickets in advance, you flight could be late and Supersaver Tickets are not exchangeable and not refundable, you must take the selected trains. In worst case, you could arrive with a delay of 24 hours and point-to-point tickets were also no more valid.

You could check if a travel insurance would covers this case and refund new tickets.

Zurich Airport has an own train station and it were possible to buy direct tickets from Zurich Airport to Bern (or Bern Wankdorf).

With the Bern Ticket, you could buy all your tickets from and to Bern (main station) and travel with this ticket from your hotel to the main station. I think that this ticket could be activated in advance and already valid on the day of your arrival:

https://bern.com/en/inform/tickets-offers/bern-ticket/

Yes, you have a bus from the main station of Lucerne to Kriens, you must walk about 10 minutes from the bus station to the cable car station, an example of the timetable:

Danhiel

Roalloophoull18 I didn’t see your question about the Half Fare Travelcard/Card. To buy tickets, you can choose « Half Fare Travelcard », it is the same price.

Roalloophoull18

Guten Tag, Danhiel !,

Thank you so much for all of your advices!
Once again, I’m so sorry for the late reply - no excuses, is just work multiplying these days!

I just have these follow-up questions:

if buying return ticket when at the station, will price increase or they are usually kept regardless?
if timetable is not displayed then how would I know at what time I’m buying the return ticket?
a delay would be critical in time-fixed tickets, so it seems that pretty much the best option is to buy on-demand right in the station instead of in advance, right?
when saying that the Moxy’s Bern Expo hotel free card allows me to buy all my ticket from/to Bern (main station), does that include even from Zurich to Bern (main station) or is restricted to from/to Bern within the Bern canton?
does Swiss Travel Pass 3-days, for an Interlaken region centered itinerary may be most cost efficient than Half-Fare Card? (itinerary being: Jungfraujoch, Harder Kulm, downtown Bern).
also, I’m attaching the image below for referring about the Half-Fare TravelCard (Swiss Nationals, 190 CHF/Year) vs Half-Fare Card (Foreigners, 120 CHF/month). Based on this my concern would be that when clicking on the tickets’ user name the dropdown menu only lists Swiss Half-Fare TravelCard and not the Swiss Half-Fare Card, the latter is the one I can buy.

why isn’t Swiss Travel Pass not shown in the dropdown menu mentioned in the previous question?
last but not least, does the Indigo Travel Pass from France covers trip starting on Switzerland and going to France (CDG) and viceversa?, and in which page can I consult their timetables? - there’s a lot of advertising/intermediary pages, those I want to avoid and buy from the source (for France I’m considering to rent-a-car but this International Driver Permit, IDP, is overpriced compared to that of US’ AAA IDP, so trains are my first option but want to be sure of taking the best decision).

Beyond that I don’t think there’s much to it, except for any follow-up questions

Thank you so much for all your help!!

Danhiel

Guten Abend Roalloophoull18

The prices for regular point-to-point tickets are the same at the station. They are valid in every train on the day of validity, it is not necessary to indicate which train you take if you buy a return ticket. It is the best option to buy them at the station.

With the free card, you can travel in the city of Bern during your stay, but you must activate it before your arrival, look at the previous link. You can buy all other tickets from/to Bern main station and travel with this card between Bern main station and Bern Wankdorf.

For the Jungfraujoch, I think that the Half Fare Card is better, you have only a reduction of 25% with the Swiss Travel Pass.

You can choose the discount “Half Fare Travelcard” when you buy a ticket, the price is the same.

You don’t need any ticket when you have a Swiss Travel Pass. You can show the pass in the train with your physical passport. Note that you must also show your passport with all other online tickets. If you buy tickets at the station, they are delivered on security paper and they are impersonal.

Sorry, I don’t know what is a Indigo Travel Pass.

Roalloophoull18

Guten Tag, Danhiel !,

I was finally able to get a chance to read and reply back from this great information from yours!

First of all, thanks for all of your help! - down below, my questions!:

So, since I can’t buy Swiss Half-Fare Travelcard, because that’s only for Switzerland residents (190 CHF/year), then the Swiss Half-Fare Card is the one that I can actually buy.
My only concern is that the SBB web app states that the Half-Fare discount is obtained through the “Half-Fare TravelCard”, which based in the literary name is the one that is for locals and not for tourists - please refer to the attached image, at the right side of the image.

So, despite the SBB web app states that the 50% discount is for the “Half-Fare TravelCard” and not for the “Half-Fare Card”, what you’re saying is that even the tourists one, “Half-Fare Card” would be recognized as what the SBB web app states as “Half-Fare TravelCard” and as such the tourist’s “Half-Fare Card” that costs 120 CHF/month would allow me to get the 50% discount by clicking on the “Half-Fare TravelCard” at the SBB web app or at the SBB kiosks at the train stations?

With respect to the trip to France, there’s a lot of this Rome2Rio and Omio websites that seems like intermediary between official France railways companies and the customer, I think that TGV and RER are the main two players over there.
Which of those two would you recommend as more affordable and efficient in terms of meeting schedules?
Also, would you rather advice that renting a car in Paris for moving back and forth our hotel close to CDG airport and Paris downtown and Disneyland Paris would be preferred over train traveling? - I’ve read that train traveling in France is less expensive than Switzerland, but I don’t have certainty because I didn’t reach the equivalent of the SBB page in France.
One other thing, it seems that given that we would be staying at Bern Moxy hotel we’re super close to Bern Wankdorf station, and inside the station I’ve read that there’s a big Coop supermarket. I’ve heard that prices are ok and comparable with those of Migros.
Would you recommend other supermarket in terms of price and quality and variety?
And, last but not least, is there any place in Bern, close to Bern Moxy hotel, that you recommend for getting some fondue and other classic Switzerland dishes that you recommend and which dishes would you recommend? - I know Switzerland is expensive, but if there’s any relatively affordable place to hang out to eat it would be great if you could share about them.

I’m now clear that is preferred to buy tickets at the station in order to not having the chance of losing train trips because of unexpected delays - such as a delayed flight or anything.

I think that if you could help with those 5 groups of questions above that would be good enough for feeling more comfortable with the upcoming trip to Switzerland and also to have enough to get started with the second leg of the trip in France.

Vielen Dank für Ihre Hilfe, Danhiel!! - thank you so much for your help, Danhiel!!

Danhiel

Guten Tag Roalloophoull18

All tickets with the discount « Half Fare Travelcard » are also available and valid with the « Half Fare Card » for tourists.
It is not better to buy tickets on other sites as the official site of the SNCF (sncf-connect.com), unless you find that they are easier to use or you want to compare with other modes of transportation, long distance buses for example. The prices for the SNCF are the same, you get the same tickets. I buy sometimes reservations for my Interrail Pass on raileurope.com, I never had problems, but I think that they add a booking fee for regular tickets.
I would never go to Paris downtown with a car, you have traffic congestion and you must find a car parking near the attractions you want to see. However, I admit that the suburban trains to Paris (RER) are not really confortable.

You could rent a car for Disneyland, but you must add a fee for the parking. If you want to travel with the TGV, you can find the prices on sncf-connect.com.

I would choose the supermarket who is near your hotel, in this case Coop. You can find different prices for the same products, Coop has lower prices with the « Prix Garantie » products. Please note that only supermarkets in the rail stations are open on Sundays.
Sorry, when I am in Bern, I eat at home. I suggest to find a restaurant with TripAdvisor.

Roalloophoull18

Guten Danhiel !,

Thank you so much for your reply!,

Great, so for the sake of 50% discount, “Half-Fare TravelCard” (locals) and “Half-Fare Card” (tourists) are equivalent.
SNCF was really straightforward to use - thanks for sharing this with me.
Understood, I guess I’ll rent a car for going to Disneyland (accounting for parking fee) and then for going to Paris I’ll take RER trains - despite not being really comfortable.
Coop would be our supermarket to visit for groceries then - we’ll look for “Prix Garantie”.
No worries, probably we just hangout to downtown Bern and may also visit Bern’s Casinoplatz.

I only have 5 questions left, 3 of them are regarding our transition from Switzerland to France, and 1 regarding the free train tickets courtesy of Moxy Bern - due to tourist tax:

A. Below you could find the train itinerary for going from Bern Wankdorf to Paris CDG train station (partial destinations being Zurich Airport and Basel SBB). On it the first thing is, what is this Direction Laupen BE that is the starting point when I got train routes recommendations after the first leg of the trip and how can I get to it from Bern Wankdorf by train?

B. I agree with buying train tickets until being personally at the train station in order to avoid any inconvenience due to delays. Now, reading about cross country SNCF trains, it seems that buying tickets under 7 days before the actual train trip would yield on much higher prices. But, if I buy now 2x tickets I can get from Basel SBB to what it seems Paris CDG airport station for 128 Euros.
So, I wouldn’t buy beforehand for any train travel within Switzerland, but for going from Basel SBB to Paris CDG, would you consider that prices will be so high 3 or 4 days before the trip date so that is advisable to buy beforehand soon as an exception?

C. Also, if I buy 1x “Carte Avantage Adulte”, it seems that I get 30% off for any ticket from TGV for me and one more person. So, may I infer that both me and my wife would get 30% over the 128 euros tickets from Basel SBB to Gare de Lyon? - by the way, this Gare De Lyon doesn’t seem like being at CDG airport, do you know how can I get a TGV train from Basel to CDG train station? (my hotel is at shuttle distance from CDG).

D. For the free tickets provided by Bern Moxy Hotel, I know is needed to enter a code in advance, but for the sake of redeeming them, do I need to enter some sort of code to the SBB website/kiosk and if so, where do I enter the code? - this would be useful for going from Bern Moxy Hotel to Bern’s downtown or even for going to this Laupen BE that seems close.

E. Last but not least, do you recommend carrying a few Swiss Francs (CHF)?, and if so, then how many CHFs would you consider is good enough and usually for what kind of buying the cash is best suited?

Thank you so much for all of your help!!

Danhiel

Guten Tag Roalloophoull18

Could you give me an overview of your travel with the dates? I am no more sure if you travel first to Paris and after to Bern or first to Bern and after to Paris.

Roalloophoull18

Guten tag, Danhiel !,

Thanks for your reply.

Sure, on early November we would be arriving to Zurich, and then heading to Bern on that same day.
Then, we would be staying on Bern for a few days, at the end of which we would be going from Bern to Zurich to Basel for finally reaching Paris on the weekend.
Then half of the week in Paris for finally getting back to Zurich which would be the final destination of our vacation.

I hope that overview works out for getting the best word of advice from your side!

Thanks!

Danhiel

Guten Tag Roalloophoull18

Thanks. I don’t understand why you travel from Bern to Zurich (Airport?) and after from Zurich to Basel. Do you want to visit the city or spend a night in Zurich? You have also direct trains from Bern to Basel.

Roalloophoull18

Guten Tag, Danhiel !,

Thanks for your quick reply!,

That Saturday that we’re leaving Switzerland for France, we were planning to go to Zurich and visit the Zoo Zurich or one the museums over there, but not spending the night, is just staying at Zurich a couple of hours before heading to Basel and then to Paris, all in the same day, and arriving to Paris at around 8pm - that’s the reason why I really want to have a train that takes us from Basel SBB to Paris CDG airport, because I’ve heard that moving across train stations in Paris with baggage is not very practical.

However, we planned that way because for some reason I kind of remembered about reading that there isn’t a direct train from Bern to Basel, but I’ve just read from you that there is such a direct train Bern-Basel, so we’re all for that, plus that way we can spend that day mostly on Basel, they also have a nice Zoo and museums, and then our last day we can spend on Zurich, so the best of both worlds!

Looking forward to your advice!,

Thanks!

Danhiel

Guten Tag Roalloophoull18

A. Laupen is the final destination of the train, you can see it on the displays at the station, for example « S 2 11:43 Laupen BE ». Usually some other stops are indicated and you will also find Bern. Between Bern Wankdorf and Bern you have very frequent trains. Please note that you have circles which mean that you have to change. Click on a connection to see the details.

B. The prices of the TGV are unpredictable and can change every time. You will have the cheapest prices when you buy them in advance.

The TGV from Basel terminate only at the « Gare de Lyon » station in Paris downtown. You must take the RER (suburban trains) for the transfer to CDG airport.

You have a possibility to travel to Strasbourg and take a direct TGV from Strasbourg to CDG airport, but unfortunately I don’t find any direct train on Saturday September 9th. They are probably cancelled due to engineering works. Let me know if you travel on another weekend.

C. The « Carte Avantage Adulte » ist also valid between Basel and Paris, but it is not possible to find the prices for you and your wife without the number of a valid card. Are you eligible for an adult card (between 27 - 59 years old)? With a senior card (60+), it is not possible to obtain a discount for another traveller.

D. An activated card will be your ticket, you don’t need any other ticket between Bern and Bern Wankdorf. You can also use this card on the tramway and the bus.

 E. You can use credit cards almost everywhere, but it could be better to have some cash and coins. I think that 90 CHF will be sufficient.

Roalloophoull18

Guten Tag, Danhiel !,

Thanks for all the details from your reply!

Let me add comments to each of the 5 points, plus 2 additional points:

A1. Ok, so based on your attached image, this Bern Wankdorf -> Basel SBB would start on at 11:43am, then seems to stop first at Bern Laupen S2 (Station 2) at 11:48am, right?, and if so then I don’t fully understand what does Bern station Platform 4 means at 12:04pm?, are both Bern Laupen and Bern Station different train stations? - appreciate the details on this since being this the first and only Switzerland non-direct train trip I’m being very careful for not missing anything.
A2. Being this our first time at Switzerland, would you recommend instead of buying the ticket from Bern Wankdorf to Basel SBB complete, or to just buy independent legs separately, that is Bern W to Bern as one ticket at Bern W station, and then at Bern Station (Bern Laupen, depending on A.1) go to a kiosk and buy Bern to Basel SBB, just in case that being us new on this might get delayed out of lack of orientation at the train stations?
A.3. Do I infer correctly that the stopover at Bern is from 11:48am to 12:04pm?, and if so, is that enough time or is that just too tight of a stopover?

B1. Not nice from TGV for them to be unpredictable in pricing. I guess that these tickets would be the only ones we’re buying ahead of time for not getting an overpriced ticket.
B.2. It seems that Hertz car rental is very close to the Gare De Lyon train station, according to Google, if so, it seems like a walkable distance, do you know if that Hertz lies within the Gare de Lyon station of if there are stairs to climb up, go out of the station and then head to Hertz building for renting a car?
B.3. Yeah, we would be heading to Paris on November 9th, is there no train from Strasbourg to CDG to this day?

C.1. Both of us apply for an adult card based on age range, so that’s why I assumed the 30% applied for the two of us with just a single card. And just for double checking, did you mean that this Carte Avantage Adulte is valid for Basel SSB <=> Paris, both directions for the 30% discount?
C.2. Can this TGV tickets, as well as RER, be bought on kiosks and/or with a selling agent at the train station or are they just for sale online?

D. Awesome, so just activating the card and both me and my wife as guests of Bern Moxy Hotel would benefit from free trains/busses within the Bern Canton - thanks!

E. Understood - by the way, do you know if there’s easy to find at Bern Wankdorf or even the same Zurich Airport places with 0% commission for exchanging USD to CHF?

F.1. Could you please review this RER and SNCF train trip routes - file names detail intended route - and see if they look reasonable or if I’m missing something or if they can be improved, or if there’s any tough to meet stopover (I don’t know how big and clear the station is):

F.2. As you may have noticed on the CDG-Disneyland_Paris_SNCF file, I couldn’t find the very fast yet expensive train trip between those 2 locations, do you know where I can find that ticket cost? - would like to consider the cost differences between that and renting a car (definitely 1.5 / 2 hours, each sense, for Disneyland sounds very demanding considering that we would ended up really tired after all that walking).
F.3. Last but not least, can we enter freely to CDG’s train station, even though we don’t have a flight ticket? - I think I’ve read in some rent-a-car webpage that a flight ticket was required to enter CDG airport.

I can’t think on any other major more questions after having all of these above addressed, thank you so much for helping me out reaching this point!

Really appreciate all of your help, Danhiel!!!

Thanks,
Sebastian.

Danhiel

Guten Tag Roalloophoull18

A: Laupen is only the final destination of the train, but you see that you must change in Bern as you indicated it in A3:

11:48 Bern
12:04 Bern

“Bern” without any other location is the main station in the center of the city. If you have the hotel card, you don’t need any other ticket between Bern Wankdorf and Bern and you could take an earlier train to avoid stress. In this case you need only a ticket from Berm to Basel SBB and you could buy it on vending machines or at the ticket office. To buy a ticket in advance is only necessary to obtain discounted prices.

B1: You are right.
B2: I don’t have any information about car rental, you should ask Herz.
B3: I founded a confirmation, it could also impact a travel to Disneyland with the TGV:

From November 9 to 12, the Marne la Vallée and Aéroport Charles de Gaulle stations will not be served by TGV.

C1: I founded a possibility to check the prices with the “Avantage Card” or without this card on trainline.com. I’m now no more sure that this card is really necessary. Compare the NON FLEX STANDARD without the card for € 71 and the AVANTAGE ADULTE with the card for € 53.90.

C2: It is no problem to buy RER tickets just before departure, but it is is better to buy TGV tickets in advance to get the better prices and to be sure that seats are available on the selected train.

D: You get free travel only in the city of Bern, not for the whole canton.

E: You can exchange your money at the airport or at the main station in Bern (at the ticket office), but you have to pay a commission.

F: I only recommend to take the RER line B to the Châtelet-les-Halles station and the RER line A to Marne-la-Vallée for Disneyland. I don’t know where other bus lines arrive.

I think that it is easy to change from RER B to RER A on the same platform opposite side, but check the destination of the train before boarding. Not all trains terminate in CDG airport or Marne-la-Vallée.

It is more complicated to change to the Metro, this is a very big station and you must sometimes walk 5-10 minutes to get a connection.

When you search a timetable in Paris, be sure to select the right time. Your examples are in the night.

A day pass between CDG airport and the center of Paris costs 20,60 €, you can also travel to Disneyland with this pass. Read my earlier posts about the card Navigo.

The RER station is certainly accessible without flight ticket.

Roalloophoull18

Guten Tag, Danhiel !,

I have no more questions.
You have kindly replied to all my questions.

I’m going forward to move on trains in Switzerland and taking flights to the other countries we’re visiting in Europe during our stay - in order to maximize the time available during these 10 days.

Still deciding whether to take the bullet train to Disneyland Paris or renting a car now that we’re heading directly from ZRH => CDG (2h) by flight instead of trains from Basel => Strasbourg => CDG (>7h) - train tickets for the two of us were comparable in price to flight with a 23kg baggage + personal item for each of us and if a third of the time, though I recognize I spent time searching till getting a good price!

You have been really kind and thorough in details in your replies.
Your guidance throughout the process we highly appreciate!

Have a fantastic day and week!

Thanks,
Sebastian.

Danhiel

Guten Tag Sebastian Roalloophoull18

Thanks for your answer. No problem if a flight is the best solution for you, the hints I gave could be useful for other people.

Enjoy your stay in Europe!

Roalloophoull18

Hi Danhiel !,

Indeed, I’m using your advices to move all over Switzerland, and also for going back and forth downtown Paris.

Once again, thank you so much for all of your great advices and guidance.

Have a wonderful week!!

Thanks,
Sebastian.

RomanoS

Hi Roalloophoull18

I’m the SBB Community Manager and I would like to thank you for interacting with us. A special thank to @Danhiel and @RedBaron for giving such a great interaction with you and for all the information given. That’s just awesome!

@Roalloophoull18 can you please mark the best aswear from the 40 posts within this discussion, in order that other can profite from?

Please, tell us if everything has been good 😊 perhaps you could also leave a little résumé of your trip. What has been great? What surprised you? What was disappointing? What was unbelievable?

Would be great.

All the best from our side and take care!

BR
Romano

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