The Swiss Travel Pass gets you to Mürren free, then charges half above it
Schilthorn splits neatly into two parts, and your pass treats them completely differently. Everything up to Mürren at 1,638m is covered outright, from three different directions. The cableway above Mürren, through Birg and up to Piz Gloria at 2,970m, gives you 50% off and nothing more. That's CHF 45.70 return instead of CHF 91.40.
Nobody covers that top section outright. Not the Swiss Travel Pass, not the Berner Oberland Pass, not the Jungfrau Travel Pass. Half price is as good as it gets, so stop hunting for the pass that beats it.
Buy from Mürren, not Stechelberg, and save CHF 11.80
This is the one mistake that costs money.
| Where you buy | Full price | With Swiss Travel Pass |
|---|---|---|
| Mürren to summit, return | CHF 91.40 | CHF 45.70 |
| Stechelberg to summit, return | CHF 115 | CHF 57.50 |
Getting to Mürren is already free with your pass. So paying CHF 57.50 from Stechelberg means handing over CHF 11.80 for a leg you'd been given. Ride to Mürren on the pass, buy your half-price ticket there, and you're CHF 11.80 up on the person standing next to you.
Getting to Mürren is free, from three directions
Two of them put you on quite different machinery.
- Lauterbrunnen to Grütschalp by funicular, then on to Mürren.
- Stechelberg to Mürren by cable car, the steepest in the world at 159.4%.
The classic round trip uses both. Go up via Grütschalp, then come down through Birg and Stechelberg. Same money, twice the scenery, and it puts the Thrill Walk on your descent where the operator recommends doing it anyway. From Interlaken Ost the whole thing is about an hour and a half each way.
Berner Oberland Pass and Jungfrau Travel Pass both stop below the summit
If you're weighing up a regional pass for this trip specifically, here's exactly where each one runs out.
| Pass | Up to Mürren | Mürren to Schilthorn |
|---|---|---|
| Swiss Travel Pass | Free, all three routes | 50% off |
| Berner Oberland Pass | Free | Not covered, excluded in its own listing |
| Jungfrau Travel Pass | Via Grütschalp only, not Stechelberg | 25% off |
So on the summit leg the Swiss Travel Pass is the best of the three, and on the approach it's the most flexible because it takes all three routes. That's a rare clean win. See the full mountain coverage list for how the rest of the country compares.
Piz Gloria, the Bond location at 2,970m
The summit station is the On Her Majesty's Secret Service location, and Piz Gloria was the first revolving restaurant in the Alps. It sits in a new, light-flooded station building.
From up there you're looking straight at the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, the trio they call the Swiss Skyline, plus more than 200 other peaks across the Bernese and Valais Alps.
The Thrill Walk at Birg is free and worth the stop
Get off at Birg, 2,677m, on the way back down. The Thrill Walk is a steel walkway bolted to the vertical rock face, with a crawl-through tunnel, a glass floor, a rope section and a cattle grid to cross. It costs nothing on top of the CHF 45.70.
The Skyline Walk platform sits opposite it.
Eating at the top: brunch until 14:00, Zvieri after
Piz Gloria runs the Schilthorn brunch daily until 14:00, and from 14:00 switches to a Zvieri platter of local meats and cheeses. There's also a quick-meal option and a shop if you'd rather not sit down for an hour.
Be at the top by 9am
Cable cars run every 20 minutes from 09:00 to 17:00, with the last journey up and down at 17:00. Stechelberg to the summit takes about 32 minutes on the new cars, in three stages via Mürren and Birg. Aim to be standing at the top at 9am.
- Leave Interlaken Ost or Lauterbrunnen early enough to reach Mürren before 09:00.
- Buy the half-price return at Mürren, showing your Swiss Travel Pass.
- Ride straight through Birg to the summit and do Piz Gloria first, while it's quiet.
- Break the descent at Birg for the Thrill Walk and Skyline Walk.
- Drop to Stechelberg by cable car to close the loop, then bus and train back on the pass.
Allow five to seven hours from Interlaken for the whole thing. From Zurich it's about 2h 45 to Lauterbrunnen, so this is a full day rather than a morning. No reservation is needed at any point, and none costs anything.
When Schilthorn is closed
It runs year round apart from two maintenance shutdowns: 19 October to 11 December 2026, and 5 April to 29 May 2027. The operator also reserves the right to cut back or stop the service in extreme weather.
One free trip on your birthday
If your birthday falls while you're there, Stechelberg or Mürren to the summit and back is free. That's CHF 45.70 you don't spend, which buys the brunch instead.
FAQ
Is Schilthorn free with the Swiss Travel Pass?
Only as far as Mürren, which is free from all three approach routes. The cableway from Mürren up through Birg to the summit is 50% off, CHF 45.70 return instead of CHF 91.40.
Should I start from Mürren or Stechelberg?
Mürren. Your pass already gets you to Mürren for nothing, so the CHF 57.50 Stechelberg ticket charges you CHF 11.80 for a section you've been given free.
Does the Berner Oberland Pass cover Schilthorn?
It covers travel as far as Mürren but not the final section from Mürren to Schilthorn, which its own listing specifically excludes. The Jungfrau Travel Pass covers the Grütschalp route to Mürren only, not Stechelberg, and gives 25% off the summit cableway.
Do I need to reserve a seat on the Schilthorn cable car?
No. There's no reservation and no reservation fee, just turn up. Departures run every 20 minutes from 09:00 to 17:00.
How long does Schilthorn take from Interlaken?
The travelling itself is about an hour and a half each way from Interlaken Ost. Allow five to seven hours for the round trip with stops at Birg and the summit.
Is the Thrill Walk at Birg an extra charge?
No, it's included in the CHF 45.70 cableway fare. The operator suggests doing it on the way down rather than on the way up.
