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Hello community & thanks in advance for your insight.

We are a family of four (2 adults, 2 children aged 4 & 6) planning our summer holiday. Our itinerary is as follows:

Arrive Amsterdam, stay 4 days

Train from Amsterdam to Basel (OBB Nightjet)

Basel to Jungfrau region (Wengen), stay 5 days & explore region

Wengen/Lauterbrunnen → Interlaken → Basel → Strasbourg

Strasbourg stay 3 days

Strasbourg → Paris CDG Airport

We are planning to purchase a Amsterdam City Card for transit/sightseeing in that city.

We are looking for advice regarding purchasing a 4 Day Global Pass strictly for our destination-to-destination travel + Swiss Travel Card for our intra-Switzerland travel, or a 10 Day Global Pass to cover all of our train/tram/bus travel on the journey. Which of these would be the better option, given our itinerary?

NB we are aware that the Global Pass will not cover seat reservations, which we will need for our Nightjet & TGV journeys. If there are other trains on our itinerary which you feel we will need reservation, would kindly take that advice.

Thank you again!

Hello ​@bb17 

If you visit only the Jungfrau Region in Switzerland, this pass could be better as the Swiss Travel Pass, most mountain excursions are included:

https://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/jungfrau-travel-pass/

​@bb17 

I forgot something, another pass is also available with an extended area of validity and more choices for excursions:

https://www.berneseoberlandpass.ch/

Your child aged 4 doesn’t need any ticket in Switzerland.

When do you plan to travel?

 I’lld only go far the Swiss travel pass when combining it with cheap advance fares - normal tickets, rather than interrail. Book about 3 months in advance for best prices for ordinary tickets.

I find the swiss travel pass rather pricey - especially combined with Interrail/Eurail passes. Most mountain railways and busses in the Jungfrau region are not included and are just discounted, same as Interrail/Eurail. You’ll pay a lot extra + Eurail basically gives the same discount as the Swiss travel pass on the mountain routes in the Jungfrau region.

If you decide for a pass, use a 10 days pass and no Swiss Travel pass.

If you go for cheaper advance tickets for your trains in NL, (Germany) and France, it makes more sense to combine it with a swiss travel pass. Use www.bahn.com to check tickets Amsterdam-Basel and www.sncf-connect.fr/en for Basel-Strasbourg and Strasbourg - Paris CDG 

But compare prices well. With the discount now going on, a 10-day pass might be a better deal, (but maybe you should choose day trains then instead of the Nightjet, to avoid rather pricey nightjet reservations)

When do you plan to travel?

 

Many thanks Brendan, we are travelling in mid-late July. Our travel days will be a Friday-Saturday for the overnight from Amsterdam to Basel, Thursday from the Jungfrau region to Strasbourg, then Sunday or Monday from the TGV from Strasbourg-Paris CDG Airport.

We are weighing the benefits of Nightjet against day trains, and the reservation fees are one of our concerns. Is there a definitive schedule of fees for the Nightjet routes for Eurail pass holders, or is it varied/flexible based on day of week/time of year?

We are weighing the benefits of Nightjet against day trains, and the reservation fees are one of our concerns. Is there a definitive schedule of fees for the Nightjet routes for Eurail pass holders, or is it varied/flexible based on day of week/time of year?

They're dynamic between an upper and lower limit, see:

https://www.interrail.eu/en/book-reservations/reservation-fees/night-train-reservation-fees

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