BREAKING NEWS! The Berner Oberland Pass just got even better!
For real, it was already our favorite Swiss train pass, but two brand new developments have made
it even more valuable than it was before. I'm Brett, one half of Aplins in the Alps,
and I'm going to cover exactly what's changed and why that's good news for you.
But first, let's do a deep dive into what already made this pass so great by
looking into some of the included transportation routes, discount partners, and pricing details.
And don't worry, when I cover those brand new developments, you'll know it, so stay tuned.
As stated in its name, the Berner Oberland Pass is a regional transportation pass focusing on an area
in central Switzerland known as the Bernese Oberland. The most famous part of that is,
of course, the Jungfrau Region, including Interlaken, Grindelwald, and Lauterbrunnen.
And the Berner Oberland Pass is absolutely awesome for your trip there. It covers all the
major cable cars and mountain destinations, including Grindelwald First, Männlichen,
Eigergletscher, Kleine Scheidegg, Wengen, Mürren, Schynige Platte, and Harder Kulm.
In addition, you can ride boats on Lake Brienz and Lake Thun, buses all throughout the region,
and trains to Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Interlaken, Brienz, and Thun. It
covers nearly everything you'll consider doing in this region with just two major exceptions.
First, it does not cover your journey all the way to Jungfraujoch. You'll need a
round trip ticket between Eigergletscher and Jungfraujoch, but you can buy that ticket at
a special price. 99 CHF with a Berner Oberland Pass and no Half Fare Card,
or as low as 63 CHF with the Half Fare Card, depending on when you visit.
Second is the Schilthorn. You have to pay extra to ride the cable car above Mürren.
But round trip tickets between the two come at a 50% discount, even if you have no Half Fare Card.
But for essentially everything else, the Berner Oberland Pass is your ticket. You just hop on
your mode of transportation or scan it to go through a turnstile and enjoy riding all over
this majestic part of Switzerland for no additional cost. Talk about convenience.
You might have also heard about the Jungfrau Travel Pass. And without getting too deep into
comparison, here are a few things that the Berner Oberland Pass covers that the
Jungfrau Travel Pass does not: mountain buses in Grindelwald, buses in and around Interlaken,
the bus in Lauterbrunnen from the train station to the Schilthorn cable car station,
the Schilthorn cable car from Stechelberg up to Mürren, the cable car to Pfingstgg
where you can ride a mountain coaster or fly line, and the funicular up to Allmendhubel
above Mürren where you'll find some of the best hiking and views in the region. That
alone makes it worth the purchase, even if you're just sticking to the Jungfrau Region.
But there's so much more that you can do even far beyond the Jungfrau Region. Here are just
a few other excursions covered by the Berner Oberland Pass: the steam train to Brienzer
Rothorn for sweeping views over Lake Brienz, visit the turquoise waters of Oescheninsee,
catch a view of the entire Jungfrau Region up on the Niederhorn, hike to two alpine lakes on
the Stockhorn, ride to the top of the Niesen (also known as the Swiss pyramid), visit the Aare Gorge.
And here's a little hidden gem for you just because you're watching this video:
one of my favorite spots in the region is a place called Sulwald, which sees a tiny fraction of the
tourists visit places like Grindelwald First. You can get there by riding a bus
from Lauterbrunnen to Isenfluh for free, and then taking the tiny cable car up to Sulwald.
You'll only get a 25% discount on the cable car with the Berner Oberland Pass,
but it's already not very expensive. And if you want to hear more about what you can do
up at Sulwald, let us know and maybe we'll share more in a future video.
But the Berner Oberland Pass is also great for day trips outside of the region. You can ride
all the way to Bern and Lucerne for free. And since trains from Bern are included in the pass,
you'll only have to pay for part of your journey if you're traveling to the area from Basel,
Geneva, or Zurich. Similarly, trains all the way down to Saanen are included,
and that's two thirds of the way to Montreux on Lake Geneva.
And the best part is that you could ride the Golden Pass Express between Montreux
and Interlaken, and you'd only need to purchase a half price ticket from
Montreux on using your Berner Oberland Pass to ride the rest of the way to Interlaken.
And if you're also visiting Zermatt, the Berner Oberland Pass takes you as far as Brig. Finally,
and perhaps most surprising, is that the Berner Oberland Pass covers you
all the way to Domodossola across the Italian border! Know that you have to
ride this specific route though that goes through Kandersteg. But we know
lots of you combine a trip to Switzerland with a visit to Italy. And how crazy is it
that you can travel all the way across the border to Italy for free with this pass?
If you're liking the Berner Oberland Pass more and more with every point you learn,
then hit a like button to let us know. Too bad there's not a love
button because we definitely got a crush on this Swiss train pass!
But guys, these are just the highlights. There are lots of other places that are either free
or discounted with the Berner Oberland Pass. So be sure to check out the maps on their website
for more details. And don't overlook this extremely helpful section of the site that
shows seasonal operating dates for most of the mountain excursions covered by the pass.
All this is super exciting and maybe helps you understand why
we talk about this pass all the time, but we still haven't even covered the
two brand new developments for this year. More on those in a moment.
But first, you might not think about discounted attractions when you buy a train pass,
but there's plenty of potential value here, such as a 50% off admission to Blausee and trottibike
rentals on the Niederhorn, 30% off a visit to the Aare Gorge and the St Beatus Hohlen caves,
20% off entry to castles in Thun and Spiez, and 10% off fun adventures like helicopter rides,
bungee jumping, canyon tours, rafting, ropes courses, and of course, the Mürren Via Ferrata.
In total, there are about 40 bonus partners and around 60 different discounted experiences. Now,
we're doing a deep dive into the Berner Oberland Pass. But if you want to ride
Swiss transportation like a pro from the moment you step foot in Switzerland,
then be sure to check out our Ultimate Guide to Swiss Transportation.
The Berner Oberland Pass is available for 3, 4, 6,
8 or 10 consecutive days as a First Class pass or a Second Class pass.
Some of you might wonder if First Class is worth the splurge, and it's good to know that
there are First Class seats on all of the boats, and some of the trains, especially the ones that
go between towns and cities. But rarely will you find a separate First Class section on gondolas,
cable, cars, funiculars, and mountain trains. Most tourists by the Second Class pass,
and the normal adult price for those ranges from 240 CHF for 3 days to 435 CHF for 10 days.
But you do get a discount if you have a Half Fare Card or Swiss Travel Pass.
And those discounts range from 72 to 119 CHF. Unfortunately,
you do not get a discount with the Eurail or Interrail Pass though. But one of the
two major developments for this year is the new special use price for 16 to 25 year olds.
These rates are the same as the discounted adult rate, but those of you in the youth
age range will not have to buy a Half Fare Card in order to pay this price. Now, you'll have to
do your own calculations to decide whether or not it still makes sense to buy the Half Fare Card for
your trip plans. But this new use price could provide decent savings for some young adults.
In addition to the new youth prices, there are still passes available for children aged 6 through
15 and dogs for just 30 CHF for any length of days. But in order to buy your child or dog one of
these passes, you'll have to have your own Berner Oberland Pass valid for the same number of days.
Just don't forget that you won't actually need a pass for children in this age range if you have
the Swiss Family Card or an equivalent like the Junior Card or Children's Code Travel Card. In
this case, your child can ride with you for free everywhere. Your Berner Oberland Pass is valid
and in either situation with a Swiss Family Card or the Children's Berner Oberland Pass.
You don't have to pay any extra for your child to ride with you up to Jungfraujoch
or the Schilthorn. But unfortunately there are no senior citizen discounts available.
So when and where should you purchase the Berner Oberland Pass? Well, you can buy it at the airport
train station when you arrive in Switzerland or at any train station throughout the region.
But if you'd like to support our work, you can also buy online through our link. The prices
are exactly the same as what you'd pay on the Berner Oberland website and you can refund your
purchase up to 3 days before the validity start date. My favorite reason to buy online is to
get a digital copy that I can show on my phone, which also guarantees that I won't lose my pass.
But if you've made it this far, you're probably dying to know about the second
major development for this year, which we’re most excited about. And here it is:
Beginning April 1st, 2024, the Berner Oberland Pass is now available YEAR ROUND!
Spring, summer, fall and winter! It's the same pass no matter which time of year you travel.
We can't tell you how excited we are to share this with you and to share our Ultimate Guide to Swiss
Transportation, which helps you pick the very best train pass for your trip to Switzerland and
ride public transportation like a pro. So check that out next, and we'll see you in Switzerland.