Also, Do the trains operate 24 hours a day?

There are others on this site more expert on swiss trains than me. But in the two visits I have had to Switzerland, I have approached the train agents and asked them what would be best for me given my itinerary. I know many people like to purchase their tickets prior to arrival and there may be cost savings with this, but this is not the approach I have taken on my many trips in Europe. You can also visit the Swiss train site at www.sbb.ch/en to get information on the schedules and ticket options from the real authorities.

You can check schedules between cities at bahn.de (it works for all of europe and I have found it the easiest way - but it has prices only for trains starting in Germany).

But overall Switz is not a place for nightlife or late hours except in ski resorts in seasons. Except for tourist shops most shops close at 6 pm and restaurants often close by 10 pm.

Your best bet MIGHT NE either a Swiss Rail Pass or Swiss Rail Flexi Pass. The Flexi-Pass allows you to travel a set amount of days - of your choosing - say 4 or 6 days out of 30. The regular Pass is good for CONSECUTIVE days of travel. The pass will make most sense if the distances you plan to travel are large (and expensive.) Both passes also permit you to get a 50% discount on days you are not using the pass. So, that would be the best option for short distances where you would be getting your money's worth with the full pass. Best description is at: http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/switzerland.cfm. Make sure to note which passes must be bought prior to arrival. Bottom Line is balancing the number of days you anticipate traveling by train with the cost of each segment. Some days the pass might make economic sense, others you'd be better off getting a 50% discount and NOT using one of your pass days because the price of the one day of the pass would be more than the cost of the trip. The one thing to remember is nobody pays full fare! All the Swiss have at least a 50% Off Card. If you are making mostly short hops this might make more sense for you as well. Sit down and list out your schedule, then determine how much each of the individual legs cost. Then compare each day's fare against the cost of 1 day of the Swiss Pass or Flexi-Pass. The results of this exercise will guide you as to which pass(s) make most economic sense for you.

Also, download this worksheet to help you figure out which pass(s) are best for you: http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/pdfs/worksheet.pdf

And download these as well:

http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/pdfs/map_swissscenic.pdf

https://www.myswitzerlandshop.com/index.jp?edge=shop.eItemDetail&catalogID=855

https://www.myswitzerlandshop.com/index.jp?edge=shop.eItemDetail&catalogID=856

nedhaeri on Jul 30, 12 at 6:59am
Also, Do the trains operate 24 hours a day?

Nedhaeir, I am about to travel to Switzerland and have just had my fingers burnt buying train tickets from a particular site, www.sbb.ch I paid 1st class tickets for a "scheduled" train between Paris and the village of Thun Switzerland but was posted tickets (around $85 postage) for a different train 4 hours later. Assuming it was an error, I contacted the rail vendor to exchange tickets but was told the train I wanted (still selling tickets) is not scheduled to run that day! Lucky I noticed the time on the tickets because there was no acknowledgement of it to alert me. I've since looked at other train sites and they don't show my "phantom" train, so as far as I know, only the site I used advertises a train at a time that doesn't exist. Beware of that site, it has cost me dearly in money and time!!

sbb.ch is the Swiss train site. European rail companies typically don't mail tickets except to European countries. You usually have to select a station you want to pick them up on the Swiss site. Additionally, you have to purchase most international tickets from the departure country website. Linblue should have been on the French rail site (either the French site or the TGV) for purchase and only a ticket to a major city (international trains are only between certain cities).The rest of the ticket should have been purchased on the Swiss site. I've had no problems buying tickets on this Swiss site.

The font of European train knowledge http://www.seat61.com/

There are a myriad of regional daypasses and multi-day passes.
Between which two towns will you be travelling, or in which canton of Switzerland will your visits be confined to?

Otherwise use the sbb.ch/en site to enter separate trips to get an idea of point-to-point ticket prices.
You might even do well with a HALF-FARE-CARD, valid for one month at 110CHF and giving a 50% discount on 'most' all trains, buses and boats (limited discounts on some private rails up to mountain destination sites). You will ultimately have to do the math, but if you clearly write out your starting point and destrination point for each day, a train ticket clerk at the counter can advise wheteher any regional passes suit your needs. No need to buy in advance!

If you got your fingers burnt, linblue, it was because you did something wrong.

www.sbb.ch is indeed the official Swiss train authority and I and many other long-time posters have always used without a problem.

I always buy my Half-Fare Card when I am in Switzerland.

I always buy my train tickets whilst in Switzerland; there is no need to pre-purchase tickets.

It really isn't that difficult.



Thin

Interesting responses. Please note the following;

1 I used the http://www.sbb.ch/ website as recommended on http://www.seat61.com/ and this forum. I would be appreciative if someone might refer me to information that would have alerted me that tickets should only be bought from country of departure.

2 The sbb.ch site displays Train tickets in and out of Switzerland for purchase up to 3 months in advance and sells these advertised tickets online accordingly.

3 As a buyer, I was given 2 options for collection of tickets. Either from any station in Switzerland, or by post. As I am not in Switzerland, it had to be post.

4 I have not seen any suggestion anywhere that train tickets shown and sold on SBB.Ch do not exist. How was I supposed to know this?

5 The confirmation receipt sent to me by Swiss rail clearly shows I purchased a different train to the tickets sent to me. I am not confused and did not make a mistake in my selection. It is in black and white.

6 Similarly, all my communications with with Swiss rail have been in writing. I am not confused or mistaken over the above.

7 The phantom train is still showing on the SBB.CH site as scheduled to run with tickets for sale.

. I plan to travel from one city to the next at least once a day>

If you are traveling that much I think a Swiss Pass - a consecutive-day pass may be the best bet. Carte blanche - hop on hop off practically any train, bus, boat, etc in Switzerland that connects any two towns or cities. For lots of great info on Swiss trains, passes and things like Half-Fare cards, etc check out these superb IMO sites - www.swisstravelsystem.com; http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id3.html and www.ricxsteves.com in addition to recommended above www.seat61.com.

No trains do not operate 24 hours a day but typically from about 6am to midnight or so on mainlines and shorter hours up in the mountains.

first of all linblue, there is no direct train between paris and thun.

you would have to take at least TWO trains to get to thun from paris.

for example, gare de lyon to basel to thun

or

gare de lyon to geneva to bern to thun

so i have no idea what this 'phantom' train business is all about.

please give details and maybe someone here can help you.


thin

>>>1 I used the http://www.sbb.ch/ website as recommended on http://www.seat61.com/ and this forum.<<<

The maninseat61 nor anyone on this forum would have told you to buy a ticket on a train departing from Paris, France on a Swiss rail site. You would have been directed to purchase on the French site ( http://www.voyages-sncf.com/ ) or the TGV site ( http://www.tgv-europe.com/ ). You also would have been directed not to use the US as your country of residence so it doesn't rollover to the RailEurope website (more expensive). No where does the maninseat61 website say buy your French ticket from Switzerland. Here is the info from the site and it had links to click.

***Buy French train tickets...in the UK ...in the USA ...in Canada ...in Australia ...in NZ ...in Asia, Africa, S.America ...direct from SNCF***