Why The Berner Oberland Pass Just Got Even Better!

BREAKING NEWS! The Berner Oberland Regional 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’s ever been.

I’m Brett, one half of Aplins in the Alps, and I’m gonna share exactly what’s changed and why it’s good news for you. But first, let’s do a deep dive into what already made this pass so great by looking at some of the included transportation routes, discount partners, and pricing details.

And don’t worry — when I cover the two major changes for this year you’ll know it, so stay tuned 😉

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Berner Oberland Pass Area of Validity

As stated in its name, the Berner Oberland Pass is a regional transportation pass focusing on an area in central Switzerland known as the Berner 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, the Top of Europe. You’ll need a roundtrip ticket between Eigergletscher and Jungfraujoch, but you can buy it at a special price: 99 CHF with no Half Fare Card and as low as 63 CHF with the Half Fare Card, depending on when you visit.

Second is the Schilthorn. You’ll have to pay extra to ride the cable car above Mürren, but roundtrip tickets between the two come at a 50% discount even if you have no Half Fare card (42.80 CHF).

But for essentially everything else, your 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!

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Berner Oberland Pass vs Jungfrau Travel Pass

You might have also heard about the Jungfrau Travel Pass. And without getting too deep into comparisons, here are a few things that the Berner Oberland Pass covers that the Jungfrau Travel Pass does not:

• Mountain buses in Grindelwald, for example up and over Grosse Scheidegg, which is one of the most beautiful bus rides in the region
• Buses in and around Interlaken
• The bus in Lauterbrunnen, running from the train station to the Schilthorn cable car station
• The Schilthorn cable car from Stechelberg up to Mürren
• The cable car to Pfingstegg 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 you can do even far beyond the Jungfrau Region!

Here are just a few other excursions covered by the Berner Oberland Pass:

• Ride the steam train to Brienz Rothorn for sweeping views over Lake Brienz
• Visit the turquoise waters of Oeschinensee
• 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 free Travel to Handegg, where you can board the Gelmerbahn (even though it’s not covered by the pass)

And here’s a little hidden gem just for you since you’re reading this blog. One of my favorite spots in the Jungfrau Region is a place called Sulwald, which sees a tiny fraction of the tourists that 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, but it’s already not very expensive. And if you wanna hear more about what you can do at Sulwald, let us know in the comments and maybe we’ll share more in the future!

→ TIP: Check out the detailed maps of the entire validity area of the Berner Oberland Pass!

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Day Trips with the Berner Oberland Pass

But the Berner Oberland Pass is also great for day trips outside of the Jungfrau 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 to Interlaken 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 ⅔ of the way to Montreux on Lake Geneva! And the best part is that you could ride the GoldenPass Express between Montreux and Interlaken, and you’d only need to purchase a half price ticket from Montreux to Saanen, 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. Note that you have to ride the specific route that goes through Kandersteg (not through the Lötschberg-basistunnel). 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 across the border to Italy for free with this pass??

But these spots are just the highlights! Lots of other destinations are either free or discounted with the Berner Oberland Pass too, so be sure to check out the maps on their website for more details.

And don’t overlook the 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 mentioned the two major developments that are new for this year. More on those in just a moment.

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Bonus Discounts with the Berner Oberland Pass

You might not think about discounted attractions when you buy a train pass, but there’s plenty of potential value here:

• 50% off admission to Blausee and Trottibike rentals on the Niederhorn
• 30% off a visit to the Aare Gorge and the St. Beatus-Höhlen caves
• 20% off entry to castles in Thun and Spiez
• And 10% off fun adventures like helicopter rides, bungee jumping, canyoning 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.

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Berner Oberland Pass Price and Details

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 between towns and cities). But rarely will you find a separate First Class section on cable cars, gondolas, funiculars, or mountain trains.

Most tourists buy 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 72-119 CHF.

Unfortunately you do not get a discount with a Eurail or Interrail Pass, though.

But one of the two major developments for this year is the new special Youth Price for 16-24.99 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 a Half Fare Card for your trip plans, but this new Youth Price could provide decent cost savings for some young adults.

In addition to the new Youth Prices, there are still passes available for children (6-15.99) 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 also need to have a 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 Co-Travelcard. 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 a 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.

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How, When, and Where to Buy the Berner Oberland Pass

So when and where should you buy your Berner Oberland Pass? Well, you can purchase it at the airport train station when you arrive in Switzerland, or at any station throughout the region.

But if you’d like to support our work, you can also buy here through our links. The prices are exactly the same as if you buy through the Berner Oberland website, and you can refund your purchase for free up to 3 days before the validity start date.

My favorite reason to buy online is to get a digital copy 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 that we’re most excited about, and here it is:

Beginning April 1, 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 best 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!