How to travel from Germany to Switzerland: quick overview
Travel options Germany-Switzerland at a glance
Route | Travel time | Mode of transport | More information and prices |
---|---|---|---|
Frankfurt - Basel | 2h55 | Train (ICE: direct connection) | More |
Frankfurt - Basel | 5h30 - 7h00 | Bus (commercial company) | More |
Frankfurt - Basel | 3h05 | Car | |
Frankfurt - Basel | 3h00 | Plane (0h50 flight time, plus estimated time for check-in and check-out procedures, and traveling between the airport and city centers of both cities) | More |
Berlin - Basel | 7h20 | Train (ICE: direct connection) | More |
Berlin - Basel | 13h00 - 15h00 | Bus (commercial company) | More |
Berlin - Basel | 08h15 | Car | |
Berlin - Basel | 3h40 | Plane (1h30 flight time, plus estimated time for check-in and check-out procedures, and traveling between the airport and city centers of both cities) | More |
Munich - Zurich | 3h30 | Train (EC: direct connection) | More |
Munich - Zurich | 6h30 - 08h20 | Bus (commercial company) | More |
Munich - Zurich | 3h35 | Car | |
Munich - Zurich | 3h10 | Plane (1h00 flight time, plus estimated time for check-in and check-out procedures, and traveling between the airport and city centers of both cities) | More |
Tickets, prices and discount tips for Germany-Switzerland
Find your train, plane, or bus ticket
Offered by Deutsche Bahn (DB): www.bahn.com
- Official webshop of the German Railways
Offered by Omio: www.omio.com
- Train tickets for Switzerland and beyond
- Compare train, coach, and plane prices for international journeys.
- Extra Support: if you buy here, MySwissAlps can also assist if you have questions about your order.
Offered by Trainline: www.thetrainline.com
- Train tickets for Switzerland and beyond
- Compare train and coach prices for international journeys
What does a Germany to Switzerland train ticket cost?
A 2nd class train ticket from Frankfurt in Germany to Basel in Switzerland can cost about CHF 35 to CHF 90. Munich-Zurich costs CHF 40 to CHF 100. But often, non-flexible tickets for train trips from Germany to Switzerland are available for just CHF 20.
Your exact costs depend on the route you travel, when you book, whether or not you want a flexible ticket with cancellation options, et cetera.
How to find the cheapest train tickets for Germany-Switzerland
- Prices may vary by the date and time of traveling. It helps if your travel date and time are flexible. You can book up to 6 months before traveling.
- Check if there are promotions.
- If you have a Swiss rail pass, you only need a full-fare ticket to the Swiss border. Usually, that's "Basel Bad Bf" (or "Basel SBB") or "Schaffhausen". For example: with a Swiss Travel Pass, you do not need a full-fare ticket all the way from Berlin to Zurich, because the leg from Basel to Zurich is covered by the pass. A ticket to Basel is sufficient. With a Swiss Half Fare Card, you need a full-price ticket for Berlin-Basel in this example, plus a 50% discounted ticket for Basel-Zurich.
- Alternatively, some websites allow you to select your Swiss rail pass and buy a ticket for the entire cross-border trip. This ticket includes your rail pass discount or free travel for the Swiss portion. The price is exactly the same as a full-fare ticket from Germany to the Swiss border plus a discounted or free trip from the Swiss border to your Swiss destination. Do pay attention when buying cross-border tickets with a rail pass reduction: the reduction isn't always applied correctly.
- If you have a rail pass that covers both Germany and Switzerland, you don't need a ticket at all. You only have to make a seat reservation, if that's required for your train.
- The German railways sometimes offer very low tariffs for international trains. Those are called "Sparpreis Europa" or "Super Sparpreis Europa". You'll pay a fixed low fee, for example about CHF 20 in 2nd class, independent of your exact destination in Switzerland. These tickets are not flexible. You can't cancel them and they're valid for specific trains and departure times only.
Are seat reservations required for German trains?
Seat reservations are often not obligatory, but we do recommend them for long journeys to and from Germany. The timetable shows whether reservations are possible or obligatory. It also shows the expected occupancy of each train. Learn how to find such info in our Swiss timetable manual.
Seat reservations for the other trains in Switzerland are rarely required. All information is listed here.
Get a discount with your rail pass
Many rail passes allow free or discounted travel for the Swiss leg of your trip. Some international rail passes even allow free traveling in both Switzerland and Germany. In that case, you don't need a ticket at all. A reservation (if required for your train) is all you need.
The below overview shows where each rail pass is valid. It also also indicates the main points of entry in Switzerland, and the towns from which the validity of the rail pass starts.
Check the validity map of your rail pass for further details.
Pass | Discount |
---|---|
Day Pass |
No discount:
|
Eurail Global Pass |
Free:
|
Interrail Switzerland Pass |
No discount:
|
Saver Day Pass |
No discount:
|
Swiss Half Fare Card |
No discount:
|
Swiss Travel Pass |
No discount:
|
Swiss Travel Pass Flex |
No discount:
|
Map Germany-Switzerland with the main travel routes
The below map shows the main train routes to Switzerland from Hamburg, Berlin, Dortmund, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Munich.
Germany-Switzerland by train: the main connections
Examples of quick connections between German and Swiss cities
There are many quick and comfortable trains connecting Germany to Switzerland. The main Swiss destinations of these trains are Basel and Zurich. From there, you can board another train and continue your journey in Switzerland.
Examples of direct connections and approximate travel times:
- Frankfurt-Basel: 2h55
- Stuttgart-Zurich: 3h00
- Munich-Zürich: 3h30
- Cologne-Basel: 4h00
- Berlin-Basel: 7h20 to 7h50
The types of trains you can travel with
Several very comfortable train types are available:
- Intercity (IC) trains, mostly used for rides within Germany
- Eurocity (EC) trains between Germany and bordering countries
- Intercity Express (ICE) trains between Germany and bordering countries. These high-speed trains offer on-board catering, power sockets at your seat, quiet zones, and free Wifi. Also, you can connect to the “ICE Portal” to enjoy movies and TV series for free.
Overnight trains between Germany and Switzerland: Nightjet
Nightjet trains are available between Germany and Switzerland. They’re labeled “NJ” in the Swiss timetable. The trains are operated by a cooperation of the German railways (called “Deutsche Bahn”) and the Austrian Railways (called “Österreichische Bundesbahnen” or “ÖBB”).
There are two main connections:
- From Amsterdam in the Netherlands to Basel and Zurich. The route is as follows: Amsterdam-Düsseldorf-Cologne-Mannheim-Karlsruhe-Freiburg-Basel-Zurich.
- From Berlin to Basel and Zurich. The exact route is: Berlin-Leipzig-Frankfurt (Main)-Karlsruhe-Freiburg-Basel-Zurich.
You can choose between sleeping cars, couchette cars, and seater cars.
All quick connections during daytime
Lots of German cities offer one or more direct trains per day to either Basel or Zurich. There are three main lines.
1. Frankfurt to Basel
Frankfurt is in south-western Germany. The main stations on the stretch to Basel are Frankfurt (Main), Mannheim, Karlsruhe, and Freiburg. The trains enter Switzerland in “Basel Bad Bf”, just north of the central station of Basel.
Trains from many more German towns north of Frankfurt connect to this route:
- Düsseldorf, Cologne, Dortmund, and Mainz in the north-west
- Kiel, Hamburg, Bremen, and Hannover in the north
- Berlin in the north-east
2. Stuttgart-Zurich
Stuttgart is in the mid-southern part of Germany. The trains enter Switzerland in Thayngen. They travel on to Schaffhausen near the Rhine Falls, and then pass a bit of German territory again (which is covered by the Swiss Travel Pass). The Swiss-German border is crossed once more near Rafz, and the rest of the trip to Zurich is entirely in Switzerland.
3. Munich-Zurich
Munich is in south-eastern Germany. It’s on the route from international trains to and from Austria. The trains from Munich run just east of Lake Constance (the “Bodensee” in German). They enter Switzerland in “St. Margrethen SG”.
Regional trains between Germany and Switzerland
In addition to the quick IC, EC, and ICE trains, you can reach Switzerland by regional trains from towns in southern Germany. Examples are regional trains from Frankfurt to Basel, from Stuttgart to Zurich, and from Munich to Zurich.
Be aware of the following:
- Regional trains stop in more towns, so the journey will often take a bit longer.
- You may have to change trains along the route.
- In some cases, it’s not possible to reserve seats.
If this is no problem for you, you can take any regional train that happens to fit your schedule.
How to plan your Germany-Switzerland journey in the timetable
What to enter for German rail stations in towns
The Swiss timetable helps you plan your international journeys between Germany and Switzerland. For the main station of a German town, enter the official German town name plus the addition “Hbf”. This stands for “Hauptbahnhof”, which means “main train station”. For example: enter “Hamburg Hbf” if you want to depart from Hamburg.
The below names require special attention, because the English name differs from the German name, or because there are towns with nearly the same name:
- Cologne: “Köln Hbf”
- Frankfurt (Main): “Frankfurt (Main) Hbf”
- Freiburg: “Freiburg(Breisgau) Hbf”: this distinguishes the German town Freiburg from the Swiss town that’s called “Fribourg” in French and “Freiburg” in German
- Munich: “München Hbf”
What to enter for stations at German airports
If you arrive at a German airport, you can continue your trip to Switzerland by train. In the Swiss timetable, fill out the main town close to the airport and then add “Flughafen”, which is German for “airport”. This helps you to select the train and bus stations at German airports.
How to plan the Swiss part of your trip
The Swiss timetable will show all details for the last leg to your Swiss destination too. In addition, you can consult the travel sections of our Swiss town guides. They explain how to continue traveling in and from each town.
Bus rides between Germany and Switzerland
International journeys by private bus companies
Buses are not the typical way to travel between Germany and Switzerland. But there are commercial private companies offering town-to-town transfers between both countries. Note that such buses often do not depart from, and arrive in, the center of a town. So you’ll have to add travel time between the bus location and the city center.
You can search if a bus from Germany to Switzerland is available for your travel date and route here.
How to drive between Germany and Switzerland
Can I get from Switzerland to Germany by road?
It’s possible to drive from Germany to Switzerland. You won’t encounter challenging mountain passes. You do need a motorway vignette for Switzerland. And for some German cities and urban areas, an eco sticker is required. Car trips from Germany to Switzerland are mostly not faster than train journeys.
Motorway tolls and eco stickers for Switzerland and Germany
You need a motorway vignette (“Autobahnvignette”) to use the Swiss highways and motorways. There are no tolls for the German highways and motorways. But in some German cities and urban areas, low-emission zones have been created. You may only enter if you have an environmental badge or eco sticker (called “Umweltplakette”). Learn more here.
Rental cars mostly include the vignettes or stickers required for the country you rent them in. But they don’t necessarily contain them for surrounding countries. So if you rent a car in Germany, you’ll probably need an additional Swiss motorway vignette.
How long does it take to drive from Germany to Switzerland?
Germany is large, so it matters a lot whether you drive to Switzerland from a northern or a southern German city. A few examples of travel times, excluding breaks and delays:
- Frankfurt-Basel: 3h05
- Munich-Zürich: 3h35
- Cologne-Basel: 4h40
- Berlin-Basel: 8h15
Find exact driving directions through our helpful links.
Flights between Germany and Switzerland
Traveling by plane between Germany and the Swiss airports of Basel, Zurich, and Geneva
Germany has many airports. Some of the main ones are Frankfurt Airport, Munich Airport, Cologne/Bonn Airport, and Berlin Brandenburg Airport. Most offer flights to the Swiss Airports of Zurich, Basel, and Geneva. In some cases, you’ll have to fly via another airport which significantly adds to the overall travel time.
Examples of flight durations between German and Swiss airports:
- Frankfurt-Basel: 0h45
- Frankfurt-Zurich: 0h55
- Frankfurt-Geneva via Paris: 4h10 to 5h30
- Munich-Basel via Frankfurt: 2h40 to 4h00
- Munich-Zurich: 1h00
- Munich-Geneva: 1h10
- Cologne/Bonn-Zurich: 1h05
- Berlin Brandenburg-Basel: 1h30
- Berlin-Zurich: 1h30
- Frankfurt-Basel: 0h45
Note that you’ll have to add time for checking in, checking out, collecting your luggage, and traveling between the airports and the city centers.
Why we don’t recommend flying between Germany and Switzerland
We don’t travel by plane ourselves, and we don’t think it’s necessary for Germany-Switzerland journeys. Our reasons:
- These are short-distance flights with a relatively large CO2 footprint. They’re harmful to the global climate and the vulnerable Swiss Alps.
- You won’t save much time compared to train journeys. This is especially true for short distances. Direct flight times may be short, but they don’t show the extra time you need to complete your journey (getting to the airport, checking in, getting your luggage, et cetera).
- Flights are more of a hassle. When traveling by train, you can just get on and off without check-in procedures. Arrival and departure are usually from rail stations right within the city centers.
- From many German towns, there are multiple trains to Switzerland each day that make for perfect alternatives.
Germany to Switzerland: how to cross the border
Switzerland and Germany are Schengen countries. There’s no standard border control for travelers within the Schengen area.
However, your passport can be checked at all times in both countries. For example: train staff may want to check your ID to see if you’re the owner of a travel pass. And of course, you to show your passport when checking in for flights.
If you enter Switzerland or Germany from a non-Schengen country, additional procedures apply. Find details in our guide about Swiss visa and entry rules.
Germany-Switzerland travel: FAQ
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How far is Germany from Switzerland?
Southern Germany borders northern Switzerland. Germany is large, so the distance and duration of your trip depend on where you start.
For example: it’s 690 km as the crow flies between Berlin in north-eastern Germany and Basel in Switzerland. A train journey takes about 7h00.
Transfers between cities in southern Germany and Switzerland are much quicker. For example: it’s 242 km between Munich in southern Germany and Zurich. A train trip takes 3h30.
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What’s the cheapest way to travel between Germany and Switzerland?
Train rides between Germany and Switzerland can be as cheap as CHF 20 to CHF 35, even for long routes from northern Germany.
Some commercial bus companies offer similar low fares. However, there are fewer bus connections than train connections. The buses usually don’t depart from, and arrive in, the town centers.
Car trips and flights will rarely be cheaper than CHF 20-CHF 35.
Other websites of interest
- www.bahn.com: the Nightjet sleeper trains from Germany to Switzerland
- www.umwelt-plakette.de: the eco sticker or "Umweltplakette" for your car in German cities
- www.viamichelin.com: plan your Germany-Switzerland car trip
Prices
- www.bahn.com: Sparpreis Europa and Super Sparpreis Europa