zermat from geneva or milan?
 

australians living in the uk. traveling to zermat in the 2nd week of jan 06. with 2 children under 5 , what would be the best way to get to zermat from either geneva or milan . this is our first snow holiday, i found some web links are in german, my german is very poor. love advice..thanks.

By train either from Geneva or from Milano. Geneva is easier because the airport is connected to the train station. Then the trains go direct to Visp/Brig where you will change the train for Zermatt.

Get the timetable on the following site for both from Geneva and from Milano. It may just not be ready for January 2006 yet though.

http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en?

rawfish

Zermat<b>t</b> (2 Ts) is much easier to reach from Geneva than Milan airport, due to better train connections. There's a station right at Geneva airport, easy change in Visp.

Train schedules and prices at:
www.rail.ch

It's definitely cheaper for you to buy 2 Swiss Transfer Tickets before leaving the UK - GBP 57 for each adult return, kids are free. Order at:
https://www.swisstravelsystem.com/uk...ng=en&amp;ch=1

Hope this helps,
Andre

Reaching Zermatt from either Geneve or Milano Centrale is a 4 hour trip.

HOWEVER, as a previous poster said, it is 4 hours from the Geneve airport.

The train from Geneve leaves from the airport train station, and you make only one change to get to Zermatt with most of the connections.

Unless the cost was far, far less to fly to Milan, I would take the route from Geneve in a heartbeat.

If you are traveling with 2 children, there will be much less fussing with luggage and other travel odds and ends if you take the Geneve route because you can go directly from baggage claim and passport control to the train station.

The Geneve airport train station is smaller than Milano Centrale, and more easily navigated in my opinion.

I have not traveled recently with a small child, but the Geneve route strikes me as being easier.

Swiss trains even in 2nd class are comfortable and punctual.

The connection you must make is from the Swiss National Rail system to the privately owned line that serves Zermatt.

There are trains leaving the Geneve Airport at 7:27, 8:27 and hourly thereafter until 16:47.

You did not say what time you planned to arrive, but the rail schedule is shown in detail on the Swiss website at
www.sbb.ch. I would not fool with other sites. The Swiss site is in 4 languages, including English. Just look for the little letter en and click on those.

You can also read up on the various rail passes. I don't know how long you will be in Switzerland and how much train travel you will be doing, but don't automatically assume that a rail pass will save you money. There is a good chance it will, but the savings is not an automatic function of a pass purchase.

I see no need to buy a ticket in advance. Swiss trains are usually not full to the brim with people.

If you are traveling on a weekend, you can expect more ski tourists and vacationers.

I do suggest that you buy something to eat before boarding the train. That way you will have what you want.

I put in the date of Jan 6, 2006 and got a schedule. There were no substantive changes that I saw for the new year.

You can check again a little closer to the actual departure date to make sure that nothing has been drastically altered.

Trains are frequent enough that I would not worry. You cannot predict when you will arrive and precisely how long you will need to clear customs and passport control. Usually, passport control is routine and without incident.

I remember once landing in Z&uuml;rich and &quot;passport control&quot; consisted of a man in uniform waving people onward with both hands. At any rate, even if more formal procedures are in effect, I don't think it is anything to be concerned about. In 8 entries, I have never had other than a routine event.

Zermatt is a great place for a family snow holiday! For info in English on ski areas, cable cars, and links to other Zermatt info go to http://bergbahnen.zermatt.ch/e/

Agree with the others that the train from Geneva is much less hassle, unless the price difference to Milan is very great, in which case take a taxi from Milan airport to Milan Centrale station and get the super-fast Cisalpino train to Brig and then the little red train up to Zermatt. You would of course have to compare prices on the train from Milan versus the train from Geneva to see if the cheaper airfare is worth it. You can see prices and schedules on the Cisalpino website at http://www.cisalpino.ch. (These same trains also show up on the Swiss Rail website abbreviated as CIS.) You can also call Swiss Rail and they will quote you prices for both Cisalpino from Milan and trains from Geneva, and will tell you the best discount pass options for you, which may include an Italian discount pass. The number is 41-900-300-300. They have English speaking operators. You can also send them an e-mail with questions, take a look at the Swiss Rail site mentioned above.

Do you need lodging reccos?

January tends to be very cold in Zermatt so bring lots of warm clothes.

thank you all for your great information.

Please be aware of two things.

IF you take a Cisalpino train which is about 15 minutes or so faster than the regular trains on this route, and requires seat reservations, you will have to go all the way to Brig to change since it will not stop in Visp.

The easier way would be to take a slightly slower IC train to Visp and change there.

You will be changing to the Matterhorn-Gotthard Bahn which runs the trains up to Zermatt from Visp.

The M-G station is directly behind the regular SBB train station in Visp..it is hard to miss.

If you go on to Brig to change instead, the M-G station is directly across the street from the front of the SBB station.

voyager, on the trains going west from Milan to Geneva, Brig is the stop BEFORE Visp, so I don't understand your comment about &quot;having to go all the way to Brig first&quot;. My comment above was about taking the Cisalpino from Milan, not Geneva. (I wouldn't want to see rawfish get on the wrong train. . .) You can go without changes from Brig to Zermatt, although there is are 4 trains a day that do require a change in Visp. (at 5 am, 7 am 9 am and 8:30 pm, he is unlikely to be on those coming from Milan)

rawfish, the Cisaplino we keep referring to plys a roundtrip route between Geneva and Venice, stopping at various points en route.

Careful with the phone number Cicerone gave : 41-900-300-300. That costs CHF1.19 per minute though I'm not sure how it works when the call is made from outside Switzerland.