We have just returned from 8 nights in Wengen and I thought that I would do some calculations to see if we made the right choice of rail card for our trip as that seems to be a common query here.

I kept all of our tickets so the actual costs are accurate. The alternative rail card options that I have calculated are based on web research on the other rail cards available and their validity, so they should be reasonable estimates but won’t be spot on. All prices are in Swiss Francs (CHF) per person, 2CHF = £1, 1CHF = $1 approximately.

What we did:

Sat: Arrived at Basel and bought Swiss ½ fare cards 99 CHF and single tickets from the airport to Wengen 36.10 CHF.

Sun: Wengen - Schilthorn return (via Murren taking the cable car from Lauterbrunnen to Grütschalp and the train from Lauterbrunnen to Murren as this was cheaper than the alternative) 52.10 CHF

Mon: Wengen - Mannlichen cable car, walk Mannlichen - Kleine Scheidegg, Kleine Scheidegg - Wengen train 19.60 CHF

Tues: Wengen – Jungfraujoch return 72.5 CHF

Wed: Wengen - Brienz (boat from Interlaken Ost to Brienz, return by train) 29.30 CHF, Brienz - Ballenberg Ost return (should have bought a through ticket from Wengen) 3.80 CHF

Thurs: Wengen - Trummelbach Falls return 9.60 CHF

Fri: no journeys

Sat: Wengen - Grindelwald (via Kleine Scheidegg) one way 27 CHF, Grindelwald Grund - Wengen (cable car via Mannlichen). Note that Grindelwald can be accessed for 7.20 one way (with half fare card) via Zweilütschinen, but we wanted to stop in Alpiglen on the way over and the cable car seemed a nice way to get back. 27 CHF

Sun: Wengen - Basel Airport (we stopped off for a few hours in Bern during this trip) 36.10 CHF

Total spent on transport within Switzerland 412 CHF.

Alternative calculations:

Berner Oberland Regional Pass 3 free days plus 4 half fare days:

With Swiss Half Fare Card 484 CHF

Without Swiss Half Fare Card 503 CHF

Berner Oberland Regional Pass 5 free days plus 10 half fare days:

With Swiss Half Fare Card 486 CHF

Without Swiss Half Fare Card 513 CHF

http://www.regiopass-berneroberland.ch/

Jungfrau Railways Pass

(6 consecutive days of travel in Jungfrau region, more limited region than Berner Oberland region (Only as far as Interlaken, so would not cover trip to Brienz. Due to the length of our stay one of our days of travel would not have fitted in the 6 day period)

With Swiss Half Fare Card 450 CHF

Without Swiss Half Fare Card 527 CHF

jungfraubahn.ch/en/…

Swiss Pass (8 days, consecutive) 582 CHF, wouldn’t cover return journey to airport due to 9 days in total

Swiss Pass (15 days, consecutive)576 CHF.

Swiss Card (1/2 fare card plus return journey to point of entry to Switzerland to destination) 423 CHF

Swiss Flexipass – I didn’t look closely at this as it was obviously going to cost more when I looked at the website.

These cards all turn out quite pricey as they only give transport on trains as far as Wengen/Murren and cable cars/mountain trains are at 50% discount (25% for Jungfraujoch) which is the same discount as with a half fare card and we used cable cars and mountain trains quite a lot.

www.swisstravelsystem.ch/Tickets.16.0.html…

So, more by luck than judgement, we seemed to do the right thing. There are also various family cards, but I haven’t looked at those as there were only 2 of us.

Other things I noticed about the Swiss transport system:

Although there are multiple train operators between Basel and Wengen (I think that the difference occurs at Lauterbrunnen) you can purchase tickets at the start of your journey for the whole journey, this was also the case for trips involving combinations of buses and trains, boats (e.g. boat one way, train back) and for “open jaw” trips, so just ask for whatever ticket you want and they can do this at the station that you start from.

You can stop off on your way somewhere and just reboard the train on the same ticket to continue your journey.

Particularly in alpine areas there are plenty of railway staff around, the staff are all very helpful and speak good English (better than our local bus drivers in the UK!) so just ask if you have any questions.

Other comments about our trip:

Jungfraujoch took most of a day, start early before the clouds decend (same for Schilthorn), it was well worth going to Jungfraujoch

Trummelbach falls were amazing and would be just as good on a rainy day (11 CHF each).

Ballenberg Museum was quite dull (though we didn't see any of the demonstrations) and there is lots of walking around outside, so might not be great if rainy.

The walk from Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg was lovely.

Be aware that the weather changes quite rapidly - we seemed to have glorious sunshine in the mornings and rain at about 4 pm in the afternoon. If you set off somewhere the weather may well have changed by the time you get there - transport takes quite a while.

Eating out is pretty expensive. Most of our meals cost 50 CHF for 2 people (we chose cheap restaurants and had 1 course + 1 beer). Hotel restaurants seemed to charge 35-45 CHF for a main course. We also self-catered about half of our meals as we stayed in a chalet (cheaper than hotel at 90 CHF per night for the 2 person chalet). There is a Coop supermarket in Wengen (opened to 6.30 pm most days, closed on Sundays).

We had a fantastic trip.