Switzerland · Passes compared 2026Swiss Travel Pass, Half Fare Card or Lucerne Travel Pass?

What each card is worth on each mountain

The advertising says "50 % off mountain excursions". The operators say something else, and each one something different. The table shows, for the seven Swiss destinations on this site, what you pay at the ticket desk with which card: per person, 2nd class, return, summer or high season 2026. The train ride to the valley station is not included.

Three patterns sit in the table. Rigi is fully included in the Swiss Travel Pass, like the Stanserhorn and Stoos. Pilatus, Titlis and Gornergrat give the pass the same 50 % they give the Half Fare Card. And Jungfraujoch takes only 25 % off for the Swiss Travel Pass but half for the Half Fare Card: there, the cheaper card is the better one. On the scenic trains the pass counts as your ticket, but you still pay the reservation, and on the Glacier Express that CHF 54 is a quarter of the price.

Rule of thumb: For a single mountain no card pays off. The Swiss Half Fare Card has paid for itself once you buy CHF 300 worth of full-price fares within a month – two days, Jungfraujoch and Gornergrat, are enough. The Swiss Travel Pass earns its keep not on the mountain railways but on the trains in between. The Lucerne Travel Pass pays off as soon as you stay three days in Central Switzerland.

Honestly: The table shows only the mountain railways. We have not priced the train journeys between Zurich, Lucerne, Interlaken and Zermatt – and those are exactly what the Swiss Travel Pass covers in full and the Half Fare Card halves. If you change town every day, the pass does better than these numbers show. If you spend a week in Grindelwald, it does not.

Swiss Travel Pass: 2026 prices

The Swiss Travel Pass is valid on 3, 4, 6, 8 or 15 consecutive days for train, bus and boat throughout Switzerland, for the scenic trains without the reservation, for public transport in more than 90 towns and for more than 500 museums. Rigi, Stanserhorn and Stoos are fully included; other mountain railways give up to 50 % off. Under 25 you get it as the Youth version, 30 % cheaper.

The Swiss Travel Pass Flex covers the same number of days, but freely chosen within one month. It costs CHF 35 to 20 more: 289, 349, 424, 459 and 519 in 2nd class, CHF 461 to 819 in 1st class, Youth CHF 204 to 370. Each travel day has to be activated before the first ride; discounts and museums apply on activated days only.

• Children. Your own children aged 6 to 15 travel free with the complimentary Swiss Family Card, under 6 always. Children under 16 travelling without a parent pay half.
• Who can buy it. Only people whose permanent residence is outside Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Buy up to 11 months ahead, online at SBB or at a staffed counter.
• Inspection. Valid only with your passport or ID card, the original, not a copy. You can show it in the SBB app only if you bought it with a login – the Flex not at all.
• Not included. Seat reservations and supplements on the Glacier Express, Bernina Express, Gotthard Panorama Express and Palm Express. The discount on mountain railways is "up to" 50 %.
• Promotion. For journeys from 1 October to 15 December 2026, up to 50 % off SBB luggage services.

Rule of thumb: From three days with a change of place every day, the pass is the simplest card, because you never buy another ticket. If you stay in one place and only ride mountain railways, it is the most expensive one.

Honestly: SBB writes "50 % off mountain excursions", the sales arm writes "up to 50 %". At Jungfraujoch the operator's price calculator makes it 25 %, and on the Titlis Ice Flyer zero. Work with the operators' figures, not the brochure. How the pass compares with the Jungfrau Travel Pass and the Berner Oberland Pass at Jungfraujoch is on Jungfraujoch: passes and Half Fare Card.

Swiss Half Fare Card: CHF 150, one month, half price

The Swiss Half Fare Card is the visitors' version of the Swiss Halbtax: CHF 150, valid for one month, and during that month you buy every ticket at half or a reduced price – train, bus, boat, scenic trains, mountain railways, gondolas, city transport in more than 90 towns, in 1st as well as 2nd class. The Swiss Family Card for your own children aged 6 to 15 comes free here too. As with the pass: only for residents abroad, purchase up to 11 months ahead, valid only with ID.

It is the card that works most reliably on the mountains. All seven destinations above give it half, including Jungfraujoch, which gives the Swiss Travel Pass only a quarter. What it does not halve are the reservations: on the Glacier Express CHF 213 becomes 133.50, because the CHF 54 reservation stays at full price.

Rule of thumb: The CHF 150 are covered once you buy CHF 300 worth of full-price fares. Jungfraujoch plus Gornergrat come to CHF 403.20 – the card saves 201.60 there and has paid for itself with the second mountain. After that every further ride is half price, including your train journeys.

Honestly: For a single day at Jungfraujoch it is not worth it: 150 plus 140.60 is CHF 290.60, the normal ticket costs 271.20. And it is valid for one month from the date you choose at purchase – buy it for "some time" and you throw away days.

Lucerne Travel Pass, formerly Tell-Pass: CHF 240 for three days of Central Switzerland

The Tell-Pass has been called Lucerne Travel Pass since spring 2026. It is valid on 3, 4, 5 or 10 consecutive days for train, bus, boat and numerous mountain railways in Central Switzerland – and unlike the Swiss Travel Pass it fully includes Pilatus, Titlis and Stanserhorn, plus Rigi, the paddle steamers on Lake Lucerne and, according to the operator, more than 50 further destinations as far as Engelberg, Andermatt and the Brienz Rothorn.

• Children and dogs. Children aged 6 to 16 pay a flat CHF 30 whatever the number of days, accompanied by an adult with a pass – grandchildren or the neighbours' kids included. Under 6 free. A dog ticket also costs CHF 30.
• Where it starts. From Zurich at Pfäffikon SZ or Baar, from Ticino at Göschenen, from Bern via Interlaken at Interlaken Ost, via the Emmental at Langnau – provided the train stops there.
• Not included. Reservation surcharges – the operator recommends them from June to October for Pilatus, Stanserhorn and Brienz Rothorn –, winter-sports day passes, bike transport, class upgrades.
• No discounts. No reduction for Half Fare Card or GA holders, no groups, no seniors. The pass is personal and not transferable; carry your ID.
• Cancellation. Not possible. Refunds only for illness or accident with a doctor's certificate, pro rata. Bad weather is not a reason.

Rule of thumb: Three days in Lucerne with Pilatus, Rigi and Titlis cost CHF 270 in mountain railways alone without a card. The Lucerne Travel Pass costs CHF 240 and already includes the boat, the bus and the Zentralbahn to Engelberg. On those three days it beats every other card.

Honestly: The pass buys you three consecutive days, and in Lucerne the mountain depends on the weather. If it rains for two days, you have spent CHF 240 on one Rigi. Buy it on the spot once the forecast is in – the more than 80 sales points are at stations, boat piers and hotels. And add the reservation at Pilatus, that is not included.

Four trips, four sums

The same operators' prices, added up four times: the price of the card plus what is left to pay on the mountain railways. Per adult, 2nd class, high season 2026. The train journeys between the places are not in here – they are free with the Swiss Travel Pass, free within Central Switzerland with the Lucerne Travel Pass and half price with the Half Fare Card.

The rows say what the table above already hints at: on the mountain railways alone the Swiss Travel Pass never wins. It wins once the travelling is added – on the trip with Gornergrat and Jungfraujoch, Zurich, Zermatt and Interlaken are on the route, and all those trains are in the pass, only half of them in the Half Fare Card. Whether that makes up the CHF 298 gap to the Half Fare Card depends on how often you move. For the two scenic trains no card helps, because the reservations come to CHF 98 and nobody discounts them.

Rule of thumb: One place, one mountain: no card. One place, several mountains: Half Fare Card – or in Lucerne the Lucerne Travel Pass. A different place every day: Swiss Travel Pass.

Where to buy the passes

SBB sells all three cards online in francs, up to 11 months ahead, with no surcharge; the Lucerne Travel Pass is also sold at more than 80 points in Central Switzerland. If you would rather book in euros or dollars, GetYourGuide lists the same passes – with a mark-up, but in your currency and under the platform's booking terms.

Honestly: At SBB the 3-day pass costs CHF 254. Check the exchange rate before you book – the gap is more than a fee. And check which validity, class and age group the "from" price refers to. The pass is the same; the only advantage is billing in your currency or the platform's cancellation terms, if you need them.

Honestly: This is SBB's Swiss Half Fare Card at CHF 150. Whether the euro price sits above it depends on the rate on the day. Think of the Swiss Family Card for your own children – whether the platform includes it is stated there; at SBB it comes free.

Honestly: CHF 240 for three days from the operator, and you can buy it on the morning you see the weather. 32 reviews are a thin basis. The only reason to book ahead online is arriving outside counter hours – the pass comes as print@home.

And the regional passes?

For the Bernese Oberland there are two more cards deliberately missing here: the Jungfrau Travel Pass from CHF 210, which ends at Eigergletscher, and the Berner Oberland Pass, which gives 25 % at Jungfraujoch like the Swiss Travel Pass. Both are worked out on Jungfraujoch: Travel Pass, Half Fare Card, Swiss Travel Pass. The GA and the Swiss Halbtax are sold only to residents of Switzerland; for visitors the Swiss Travel Pass and the Swiss Half Fare Card are their equivalent.

What each mountain costs is on its own page: Pilatus prices, Rigi, Titlis, Gornergrat, Jungfraujoch prices, Bernina Express and Glacier Express. And if you are torn between Pilatus and Rigi: with a pass, Rigi is free and Pilatus is not.