. I'm a little hesitant about booking trains ahead of time. I will be arriving in Geneva on September 11th and departing from Zurich on September 18th to go back to Korea. I am traveling with my wife and infant (22 month old) daughter. I've been told that the best thing to do is purchase an unlimited rail pass yet we aren't doing a lot of traveling within Switzerland. We need train tickets from Geneva to Zurich and we are going to need some tram/bus tickets while in each city but we aren't doing any adventurous excursions anywhere else. Does it make more sense to land in Geneva and then just purchase one way train tickets to Zurich? Then pay for the occasional tram/bus?

Also, Is mid September a busy time to travel? I've been reading that later September/October are very slow. Is it gonna be really crowded when I get there in mid September?

with that little travel just buy regular tickets as you go - for trains and trams and buses - not doing enough travel to warrant a pass of any kind it seems. For lots on Swiss trains check out these IMo superb sites: www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com. No need to reserve those trains - few Swiss do and they will not be full and anyway you can always board - just buy tickets and optional seat reservations once in Switzerland.

I agree that a pass would not be worth the money since you aren't going to be traveling that much. The SwissPass would also be good for a number of city transport systems but even then I still wouldn't buy one.

I've been to Switzerland in September (and October and November) and 'really crowded' is a very subjective term. This past July when I was in the Berner Oberland there were large numbers of Asian tour groups up there and I didn't in the least feel "crowded" and this was pretty much the height of visitor season.

Your 22-month old kiddo always goes free, being under 5 (or 4?) or whatever age where kids always go free and never need a ticket - but on trains I believe that they cannot occupy their own seat or may need a child's ticket - not sure about that.

for schedules and fares look at the official site of the Swiss Railways - www.sbb.ch - you could book on that site but again there is absolutely no need for that!

September is a wonderful time to be in Switzerland. And agree that any Swiss travel pass seems unnecessary and will end up costing more than if you just pay point to point.

Do you want to visit Switzerland or just the 2 not particularly interesteing towns of Geneva and Zurich?

Note that the Jungfrau Marathon will be staged in 2014 in Interlaken on Sep 13 and IME of being there once during it it is a great sight to witness but that nearly all hotels will be fully booked.

I've always just purchased at the train station as needed. Either on the spot (like getting from the Geneva airport out to Vevey or Montreux) or a couple days before (Vevey to Venice and back). For so little travel, like you are doing, I think it is by far the easiest.