If you are thinking of traveling to Switzerland, we tell you if is Swiss Travel Pass worth it, an unlimited pass to use public transport in the country.
Switzerland is an expensive destination for most visitors, so when planning your visit, try to find the best way to save money.
Buying the Swiss Travel Pass can be a good option, depending on the circumstances and the number of days you stay in the country, to spend less. In addition, it has a series of advantages that make it attractive, such as not having to buy individual tickets for transportation and having a large number of attractions included in the pass.
🔝 Thinking about visit the Alps? Check out our article on the best Swiss Alps tours.
What is the Swiss Travel Pass
Basically it is an unlimited pass for travel in Switzerland on trains, buses and boats and also includes transportation within the cities such as metros and streetcars.
This pass can be purchased for 3, 4, 6, 8 or 15 days, which are fixed and consecutive. You select the day you activate the pass and from that moment on it starts counting. If you activate the pass on 01/03, for example, and you have purchased the 15-day pass, you will have unlimited train, bus and boat tickets in Switzerland up to and including 15/03.
In addition, the Swiss Travel Pass has other considerable advantages:
- Free admission to more than 500 museums in Switzerland. Here is a list of the museums that are included with the pass. Each ticket to a museum in the country has a minimum price of € 20, so the savings can be considerable if you are going to visit several.
- Switzerland’s scenic trains are also included free of charge. What you must do, regardless of having the pass, is to make a reservation and pay a supplement. This includes the country’s most renowned trains such as the Bernina Express, Glacier Express or Gotthard Panorama Express.
- Mountain tours to Rigi, Stanserhorn and Stoos are included in the pass. All mountain excursions in Switzerland are expensive, in these cases you do not have to pay anything with the pass. Surely the most recognized is the one on Mount Rigi near Lucerne, where by means of a boat plus the cog railway you reach the top with breathtaking views of the Alps and the Lucerne and Zug lakes. This excursion if purchased separately is priced at € 140.
- Up to 50% discount on other mountain excursions, whose price can reach up to € 250.
🔝 Are you going to visit the country for 4 days? Check out this article on things to do in Switzerland in 4 days.
Swiss Travel Pass Flex
It includes everything that the Swiss Travel Pass has, the only difference is that it allows you to choose the days you are going to use within the same month. In this way you can choose between 3, 4, 6, 8 or 15 days of the same month, without the need for them to be consecutive and fixed.
You can select the days and even change them from the website www.activateyourpass.com.
How the Swiss Travel Pass works
Once you have selected the 3, 4, 6, 8 or 15 day pass and made the purchase, a QR code will be sent to the e-mail address indicated, which will be “the ticket” that will allow you to access all transportation and attractions.
When boarding a train, ship or bus, the conductor will scan your QR code and that’s it! You don’t have to do anything else. For the museums, present the QR code at the ticket office and you will be given a free ticket to enter.
In the case of excursions where you have to pay a percentage of the excursion with the pass, you will have to go to the ticket office, show the QR code and pay the difference.
Swiss Travel Pass Price 2025
| Swiss Travel Pass (price 2025) | 3 days | 4 days | 6 days | 8 days | 15 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adults (over 25 years old) | CHF 245 | CHF 295 | CHF 379 | CHF 419 | CHF 459 |
| Young people between 16 and 25 years | CHF 172 | CHF 209 | CHF 268 | CHF 297 | CHF 328 |
People between 16 and 25 years old have a 15% discount on the price of the pass.
Attention families! Children under 16 years of age, when accompanied by an adult, have the pass for free, which makes the savings even greater. For this purpose, you must also apply for the Swiss Family Card free of charge when you apply for the Swiss Travel Pass.
If you choose the flexible pass theprices increase as follows:
| Swiss Travel Pass Flex (price 2025) | 3 days | 4 days | 6 days | 8 days | 15 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adults (over 25 years old) | CHF 279 | CHF 339 | CHF 405 | CHF 439 | CHF 479 |
| Young people between 16 and 25 years | CHF 197 | CHF 240 | CHF 287 | CHF 311 | CHF 342 |
📷 Buy the Swiss Travel Pass that suits you best here.
🔝 Do you want to save money on your trip? Check out these tips on how to travel Switzerland on a budget.
Other discounts offered by Switzerland for sightseeing
Swiss Half Fare Card
Unlike the pass, which includes free transportation, this pass has a 50% discount for unlimited travel by train, bus and boat in Switzerland, including public transportation in the cities. The duration of the pass is one month.
It also includes a 50% discount on most mountain excursions.
Children under 16 years of age may travel free of charge when accompanied by at least one parent who has purchased a Swiss Travel Pass or Swiss Half Fare Card.
The price of this pass is CHF 120 for those over 16 years old.
Swiss Coupon Pass
This pass is the most reduced and allows you to benefit from a 2×1 and other promotions only in the following cities: Basel, Bern, Lucerne, St. Gallen, St. Moritz, Lugano, Zermatt, Interlaken, Montreux and Geneva.
This is a coupon booklet that can be physically sent at the time of purchase and includes discounts on the following attractions:
- Mountain excursions
- Entrance fees to museums, theme parks and other attractions
- Citytours
- Restaurants
- Castles and other Unesco World Heritage Sites
- Rental of cars, motorcycles and sports equipment
So, is Swiss Travel Pass worth it?
The answer may be ambiguous and you have to do the math. Depending on the number of excursions you want to make around the country, the amount of transportation you use and the attractions you visit, it will be convenient or not. The more you use trains, buses or boats to travel , the more convenient it is to buy a Swiss Travel Pass.
It should be noted that a single train ticket for a short trip in Switzerland has a base price of between CHF 20 to CHF 25. The scenic trains are more expensive, with the Bernina Express costing more than CHF 50 for the full journey.
Mountain excursions are very expensive, generally starting at CHF 100. With the pass you can access for free or paying half price.
So, if you travel for 4 days to Switzerland, a Swiss Travel Pass is priced at CHF 295. Traveling by train and boat during those days, using two scenic trains and doing at least two mountain excursions will probably be more expensive, not counting access to museums and transportation within the city, which is free with the pass.
On the other hand, if you are traveling with your family and you have children under 16 years old, the pass is really convenient, since children have the pass for free when accompanied by an adult.
As an advantage, the Swiss Travel Pass allows you to board trains, buses, boats without having to go to the ticket office and wait in line to buy a ticket, saving time.
📷 Buy the Swiss Travel Pass that suits you best here.
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