Raileurope is part owned by the Swiss Railways so you should ask are the Swiss Railways a rip-off perhaps - not always - to wit Swiss Passes sold by RailEurope at about 15% below what the same exact passes are sold for in Europe by Swiss Rail there (last time i checked) - but on point-point they often are significantly higher than you'd buy at the station. You will have NO problem buying first-class tickets on the spot in my experience so just show up and buy there.

Tourfan,

As PalenqueBob says, you will have no trouble just booking your ticket when you arrive. We have traveled in Switzerland many times, always without reservations, always in second class. The only time we couldn't find seats was when we were heading into Zürich on the day of the Love Parade, when a half-million or so colorfully-dressed people converge on the city. And even then, first class still had plenty of room.

Besides, what if your plane is late? You could lose the seat you so carefully reserved in advance. I suggest you print out the schedule for the day from bahn.de or sbb.ch, and take it to the ticket window. The morning schedule for Dec. 23rd looks like this:

http://tinyurl.com/yavac8



You can see that the best choices (with only one change) leave from the airport at 9:20 and 9:28; one goes via Innsbruck and one via Munich. For the Innsbruck one you could take an earlier train from the airport to Zurich Hauptbahnhof if you like, to allow more time to find your train there. But if your plane arrives too late for you to collect your luggage and take one of these trains, there are other options.

Upon arrival, when you know which train you will be able to take, take the printed-out sheet to the ticket window (I'd do this in the airport rather than at the downtown station---no lines), and show the agent which train you would like, tell him or her first-class, one-way, and buy the ticket. A reserved seat will cost a bit extra.

Is Rail Europe more expensive?? YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just checked RE prices. The price for a first class ticket from Zürich to Salzburg is $223.00 per person.

If you go by way of Munich, first class, and buy from the Deutsche Bahn, the price is €126 which converts to about $165.00. So I say it is more expensive.

I could not find a price on the Swiss server or the Austrian server. I pursued the Austrian one to the point where it wanted a credit card number.
I balked there because I did not know if that left me locked in to buy the ticket.

I tried to approximate the cost by looking up the price of a ticket from Buchs to Linz. That ticketis €83. . Buchs to Vienna is €93.10, which is a longer distance. From this data, I think RE is more expensive.

That has been my experience at any rate.

When I took the train from Zürich to Vienna via Innsbruck and Salzburg, I rode first class on the Maria Theresia. Fancy name, but relatively worn equipment for 1st class.

The coach had an aisle along one side of the coach and compartments with sliding doors along the other side. At that time each compartment had 6 seats.

When we made the trip in early September, 1st class was not crowded. We shared the compartment with 2 other people part of the trip and had the compartment to ourselves for the other part.

I suggest purchasing seat reservations so you can ensure that you will have window seats. I would also have something to occupy my time, such as an IPOD or CD player and/or reading material.

Of course after an overnight flight, you might sleep most of the trip!!!!

PS the German site does NOT give the Gleis number for the trains at the Zürich main station. Neither does the Swiss site.

The Austrian site gave track numbers for the Transalpin and the Maria Theresia, which I cited in my first posting.

Actually, the Swiss site USUALLY does give the Gleis (Platform) number. Usually but not always.

True. The site gives the Gleis in most cases. For some reason, the site does not often list the Gleis for trains in Zürich.

I have run into this situation before when I had to change in Zürich. The only way to find the track number for the connecting train was to look at the board after arrival.

Well I see that the actual page I put up disappeared through the magic of tinyurl. But tourfan can find it on www.sbb.ch and print it out.

But to resolve a dispute---it did show the track ## within Switzerland: the 9:20 from the Flughafen arrived at Zurich Hauptbahnhof at 9:33 on track 53; the 9:40 EC to Salzburg departs from track 11. It did not show the track numbers in München.

As much as I love bahn.de for the rest of Europe, I use sbb.ch within Switzerland, because it does show the track numbers--plus that cute little map of Switzerland to show which stops are inside the country, and which are not.

Grützi, Schuler!

Hoi Enzian,

Wie geht es in Seattle? The weather has been fantastic here. We've had up to 20 Celcius in some places today.

Who said November is a terrible month to travel to Switzerland?

Schuler,

Wir haben hier sehr schlechtes Wetter--zuviel Regen!

It is actually nice today, but we've had record rainfall for November, and worse than usual flooding. The saddest part is what happened at Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park---a huge debris flow down the Nisqually River wiped out Sunshine Point campground and parts of the Wonderland Trail. The road up to Paradise is closed.

So enjoy your nice weather there in Switzerland. Do you celebrate Thanksgiving with your family there?

I'm so sorry to hear that! I know that Washington had experienced a long dry spell this past summer and now this.

I've made turkey, dressing and the works in the past but I'm not sure about this year. You can now buy frozen turkeys at most major grocery stores but stuffing still has to be homemade. No Stovetop stuffing here!

If you can see Gleis numbers for the SBB and other national system trains in Zürich, you have better eyes than I.

I looked again, and they are not there at www.sbb.ch. The S Bahn Gleis is listed, but not the IC or EC type of trains.

bob_brown---it depends on what day you put in. I tried November 27, and you're correct---no Gleis number for the 9:40 departure to Salzburg. But if you put in December 23, it shows Gleis 11 for the 9:40 EC to Salzburg.

Go figure!

Some are, some aren't published, but those that are (like traditionally Gleis 11 for east-bound trains) cannot be counted on these days, either. ZRH HB is in flux due to construction, so track assignments have to remain flexible as per the SBB website that says

Wichtige Information.
Gleisänderung Gleis 3–18 aufgrund von Ausbauarbeiten Passage Sihlquai.

(Important info - track changes 3-18 due to expansion work Passage Sihlquai.)

Go with the flow, that's why they have signage and announcements.