Breaking news! The Top of Europe Pass is DEAD.
For real, it no longer exists.
So what should you do if you were going to buy the Top of Europe
Pass for your trip to Switzerland? Which pass should you buy instead?
I'm Brett, one half of Aplins in the Alps. My wife,
Jana ,and I create content designed to help you travel Switzerland with confidence.
And based on the sheer volume of views, comments,
and downloads of the Swiss Train Pass content we've already made,
we've learned that choosing the right train pass is one of your biggest obstacles.
So today's video is going to be short and sweet. We know that lots of you are already planning
trips for later this year and we wanted to get this update out as soon as possible.
Now to clarify, there's a Top of Europe Winter
Pass that can still be purchased for trips through April 30th of this year.
But for trips later, this spring, summer, or fall,
the Top of Europe Pass pass is no more—nada, zilch, gonzo.
And we're really not sure what's going to happen yet with the Winter
Passes after this year, but our guess is that those will be adjusted too.
For starters, here's a quick review of the old Top of Europe Pass if you're new here.
Sold by Jungfrau Railways, the Top of Europe Pass quickly became the most popular train
pass for visitors to the for region because it offered completely free travel to almost all
of the important destinations in the region, including—and here's the kicker—Jungfraujoch!
So our recommendation was pretty simple: If you were spending 3 to 5 days in the Jungfrau Region
and planning to visit Jungfraujoch, you'd buy the Top of Europe Pass plus a Half Fare Card—which,
if you don't understand why, be sure to check out our Ultimate Swiss Train
Pass video. But that's beyond the scope of what we're covering today.
So why has Jungfrau Railways discontinued the Top of Europe Pass? From what we understand,
the Top of Europe Pass was never intended to be more than a temporary promotion.
These past few years have been really tough on the travel industry and just
on people in general. And this pass was a way of kickstarting travel again,
especially among Swiss residents. But international travelers loved it too.
And after just a few short years of life, it feels like an untimely death.
So how do you adjust your plans and what's going to be offered instead? Well,
we're basically just turning back time to the pre-2020 days,
back before there was ever a Top of Europe Pass, the Jungfrau Travel Pass was the
king of the region and it's waiting in line to take that throne once again.
To be honest, the Jungfrau Travel Pass is very similar to the Top
of Europe Pass. But here are the key differences. First,
the good: boat rides on Lake Thun and Lake Brienz are fully covered. The train from
Interlaken to Brienz is covered. And the local bus lines in Grindelwald are covered as well.
But now the bad.
The trip to Jungfraujoch is not included in this pass. It'll cover you all the way up
to Eigergletscher, but you're going to have to buy a return ticket between there and Jungfrau.
One thing to note, they've based the price of this journey on seasonality. So during the peak summer
season, it'll cost you 75 CHF. But outside of June, July, and August, the price drops to 63 CHF.
So with the Jungfrau Travel Pass, a trip to you to Jungfraujoch isn't crazy expensive. In fact,
it's a way better than the full price of nearly 240 CHF. But it's not completely free either.
As far as routes and validity, those are the major differences.
But you'll also notice some changes to the pricing structure. The cost of the
Top of Europe Pass started at 249 CHF for three days and went up to 349 CHF
for eight days. But a for our travel pass will be cheaper, 190 CHF for three days,
up to 310 CHF for eight days, with the difference in price largely compensating
for the fact that it no longer covers you all the way up to Jungfraujoch.
So those of you planning a short trip and not wanting to go to Jungfraujoch
will actually be thrilled with this pass. You can spend less money and still have a
quality pass that will also cover boat rides on both lakes. But I mentioned
that we almost always recommended pairing the Top of Europe Pass with the Half Fare Card.
If you purchased the Half Fare Card, you could get the Top of Europe pass for between 159
and 279 CHF, which represents a savings of between 70 and 90 CHF,
with the biggest savings were actually on the shorter pass durations.
Well, this is probably the most disappointing change to me. If you purchase the Half Fare Card,
the Jungfrau Travel Pass will now cost you between 145 and 235 CHF, saving you just 45 to 75 CHF.
If you're thinking, “Who cares, I'll just buy it without the Half Fare Card!” Then make sure you
go and watch our Ultimate Swiss Train Pass video and you'll see why. You're probably
going to want to buy that Half Fare Card anyway. And even though it still makes sense to do so
in almost every case, the savings just aren't quite as big as they were before.
So now that you know all the details about the Jungfrau Travel Pass, here's the all
important question: Should you buy it? For short trips to the Jungfrau Region of 3 to 5 days,
we think the Jungfrau Travel Pass is a great buy.
This would be the case whether or not you're planning to visit Jungfraujoch,
but it's especially true if you're going to go up there outside of June, July, and August.
And if boat rides on the lakes are in your plans,
then this pass just might give you more value than ever before.
But what if you'll be staying longer than five days? Or you'll also be exploring
outside of the Jungfrau Region on your trip to Switzerland? Well,
for that we've teed up our Ultimate Swiss Train Pass Guide.
We do a deep dive into the confusing world of Swiss train passes to help you decide which is
best for your next trip to Switzerland. So watch that next, and we'll see you in Switzerland.