How to get around Switzerland with the bus network
Richard is planning an 8-day trip to Switzerland in early October 2025, using the Eurail Pass to travel through Europe. He wants advice on getting around using buses since he plans to visit areas that aren't accessible by train, especially around Lake Geneva.
- Consider investing in a Swiss Travel Pass for unlimited access to all public transport, including buses and boats, which will enhance your flexibility for spontaneous trips.
- Many accommodations in areas like the Upper Engadin provide guest cards for free travel, so check if yours offers this benefit.
- When staying in the Montreux area, you'll receive a Riviera Card for local transport coverage—make sure to use it!
- There are numerous highly scenic bus routes in Valais and Graubünden; don't miss the spectacular 811 route between Zernez and Mals.
AI-generated summary-
Hi there! Next year I will be using the Eurail Pass to cover a few European countries including Switzerland. For the latter, it will be my 4th visit! As the pass only covers train travel, I would appreciate any information on how best to get around using the bus network as I intend to explore places where the trains don’t go. Thank you.
Richard
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Hello Richard
Welcome to MySwissAlps
Congratulations on your realising that the world’s best public transport system is ‘Not Just Trains’. There are numerous beautiful places in Switzerland which are not on the rail network. Saas Fee, Adelboden, Lenzerheide, Iseltwald, Beckenried, San Bernardino, the north side of Thunersee, Tschiertschen and Flims near Chur …. I could go on and on and on.
I would suggest a very bold solution to your problem. For your period in Switzerland forget your Eurail and INVEST in a Swiss Travel Pass (https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/swiss-travel-pass/). The STP (full details on this website) is valid on all forms of Swiss public transport. The only exclusions are lines which simply go up mountains. On those lines you usually get a discount, though there are now a number of lines in the Lucerne area where the STP does give free travel.
The STP gives you enormous flexibility with what you can do. Suppose you are in Bern with an hour to spare. You suddenly think, ‘lets go and see the bears’. With your STP you just hop on the next number 12 trolleybus bound for Zentrum Paul Klee and get off a few minutes later at Barenpark. You arrive at Lucerne and see that there is a paddle steamer about to depart. You rush across the bus station (ignoring a double-deck bus bound for Altdorf) and wave your STP at the crew just as they are pulling in the gangplank.
I am British and I have been visiting Switzerland regularly since 1971. Ever since its introduction in 1972 (under another name) I have always INVESTED in a (first class) Swiss Travel Pass.
https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/swiss-travel-pass/
Best wishes
Roger
Hi Richard,
It depends on a number of things, and we don’t know enough about your plans to provide good advice.
Will these be short local trips to places of interest, or longer excursions?
Whereabouts do you plan to stay, and for how long?
In some places such as the Upper Engadin (St Moritz area), Saas-Fee or the canton of Ticino, local guest cards are provided for free by your accommodation provider: e.g. Engadin guest card, SaastalCard, Ticino Ticket. These passes will grant you free travel by bus and train over an extensive area in those localities. The Engadin guest card and SaastalCard also provide free mountain transport, and the Ticino Ticket provides discounted travel on some mountain transport.If you are staying in the Haslital, the local guest card provides free travel on assorted local bus routes.
What time of year will you be travelling? (Some PostBus routes don’t run all year, especially if they travel over high mountain passes).
It may well be that point-to-point tickets bought as you go would be cheapest. You can buy them in the SBB App.
Another option could be the Swiss Half Fare Card (https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/swiss-half-fare-card/) if your bus transport costs would otherwise be a minimum of CHF 240.
For longer trips, a Saver Day Pass (https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/saver-day-pass/) bought up to 6 months in advance (if it is cheaper than point-to-point tickets for the day).
To get the most relevant and useful advice, please provide more detail about your itinerary and plans, including dates and locations, and what bus trips you are considering.
Hope this helps!
Alpenrose
Hello Richard, (and Alpenrose and everyone else who realises that Swiss public transport is ‘Not Just Trains’).
I do not really disagree with what Alpenrose is saying. We do not know the details of your travel plans. However, if you are going to do a lot of multimodal travelling in Switzerland, then I still say invest in a Swiss Travel Pass. The STP may seem ‘Pricey’, but I find the flexibility it gives to be priceless.
Alpenrose is of course right when she says that some bus routes are seasonal. But the vast majority of Swiss bus routes run 365 days a year, and most run at least hourly (like the train services). There is even the spectacular 811 bus route from Zernez to Mals which runs hourly 365-days-a-year. (I have been on this route on 1st January!) I single out this route because it crosses the The Ofen/Il Fuorn pass which is 2149 metres above sea level. That is significantly higher than many pass roads which are closed in winter, and only 100 metres lower than the Bernina pass traversed by the Unesco world-heritage railway.
I do not know any other country which has a multimodal public transport pass for tourists similar to the STP. Austria did briefly have one, the ‘Austria Ticket’, in which I invested in 1976 and 1980. It disappeared soon afterwards. Since 1980 I have visited Austria just four times, while I have visited Switzerland at least forty times. Why? The fabulous public transport all covered by the Swiss Travel Pass.
Best wises
Roger.
To Roger and Alpenrose, thank you heaps for your enlightening replies!
My apologies for being short on details. I have always depended on the STP on my previous trips lasting 10 – 15 days because of its flexibility!
Many a time, I have, on the spur of the moment, head off in a different destination simply on a whim or a suggestion by “locals”. That’s the beauty of being a solo, free & easy traveler, and not having too many plans written in stone! The only reason I mentioned the Eurail Pass is because they have a “special” on at the moment.
Actually, I have a 8 day “window” to visit Switzerland early Oct 2025 but I have to start and end in Frankfurt, Germany. So, my plan is to concentrate on visiting interesting (they all are!) places around Lake Geneva (e.g. Chamonix, Emosson Dam, Great St Bernard Hospice etc). I guess, on further reflection, STP is the way to go!
If you have any other suggestions/comments, I would love to hear it.
Thank you.
Hi richardhbh,
Based on your travel plans, getting a Swiss Travel Pass might be a better choice than relying on regional guest cards and the Eurail Pass.
You might also want to consider using a Swiss Half Fare Card as suggested by Alpenrose. I suggest doing the math to determine which rail pass would work best: https://www.myswissalps.com/travel/tickets/compare/
Regards,
Anna
Hi again Richard
If you want to explore Romandie (French-speaking Switzerland) with an STP, base yourself in Lausanne or the Montreux/Vevey area or Martigny
STP to/from France.
STP is valid on all Lake Geneva boats, even those serving French harbours. BUT boats going east-west along the lake are infrequent and very slow.
The STP is not valid on trains into France, except that it is valid to Annemasse, which is only JUST over the border!
Chamonix
Remember that coming from Martigny with an STP you will need a ticket from Le Chatelard Frontière
Emosson
Coming from Martigny, both Eurail and STP will take you to the bottom station of the funicular at Le Chatelard.
Grand St Bernard.
Forget it, the last bus is on 28 September.
Sion and Sierre
There are a number of very attractive bus routes from these two towns, and most run all-year-round. The STP is also VALID for free travel on the Sierre to Crans-Montana funicular.
Saas Fee
If you have never visited this fabulous village, now is your chance. Train to Visp, then 511 postbus (every 30 minutes). Walk across the Panorama Bridge and get the cable car + funicular to Mitelallilin, 3462 metres above sea level! I did this trip on October 5th. Cost just 39.80 Franks with the STP discount. Lots of snow (and some skiers) at the top!.
Leukerbad
Another fabulous village, reached by bus from Leuk station.
Best wishes
Roger
Hi Roger,
Thank you very much for the suggestions. I will try to do them all and then some!
As I have 6 nights I will base myself in Montreux and one other place.
This trip I am going to be very “bus-y”!Pity about Grand St Bernard. It will go on my KIV list for future reference.
Thanks, once again.
Regards,
Richard
Hi Richard,
Just to add to all the replies, maybe you already have done so but take a look at the Eurail validity map and cross reference with your Swiss plans. On the map you will be able to view all the routes that are included with the Eurail Global Pass, they are primarily train routes though.
You can find the map and download in the link below:
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Hi Yolanda,
Thank you for your input.
This time round I will not be considering the Eurail Pass as I intend to concentrate on destinations accessible by bus and other types of transportation other than trains.
Regards,
Richard
Hello again Richard.
If you are looking for highly scenic bus routes, then there is a whole collection of them in Valais canton, some of which I have mentioned in reply 6.
There are also a large number of Scenic routes in Graubunden canton – for those base yourself in Chur. For example Chur-Lenzerheide-Davos; Chur-Thusis-San Barnardino-Bellinzona;; Chur-Tschiertschen. The last named route takes only 26 minutes, but is absolutely hair-raising! But the most remarkable route is the 811 Zernez to Mals/Malles. This route runs hourly 365 days a year, crossing the 2149 metres above sea level Il Fuorn/Ofen Pass. Mals/Malles is in Italy, but the STP is valid right the way through to Mals/Malles.
(All the routes I have mentioned in this reply are approximately hourly, 365 days a year.)
Best wishes
Roger
If you are going to use Montreaux as a base, your accommodation will give you a Riviera Card which covers a good bit of transportation in the area, buses, trains, even some boats.
Montreux guide with sightseeing, accommodation and travel tips: https://www.myswissalps.com/town/montreux/
See https://www.montreuxriviera.com/en/Z12398/montreux-riviera-card
Take this into consideration when deciding which pass to purchase.
Hi Roger,
Thank you very much for your recommendations (noted for future reference). Regretfully, I won’t be able to visit them as they are all quite faraway given the time I have. I am not only a solo traveler but a “slo-mo” one as well! I am not a great believer in cramming too many activities in one go, lest I miss the forest for the trees!
Hence, for this trip, I will focus on the French-speaking areas.
Regards,
Richard
Hi dayhikers,
I am aware of the Riviera Card and will take that into consideration as you suggested.
Thank you.
Richard
Hello again Richard
I perfectly understand your reply 12! Just make a note that on your next visit to Switzerland after October 2025 you consider basing yourself in Chur, only 75 minutes from Zurich on an intercity train.
One thing I am sure of is that if in October 2025 you base yourself either in the Montreux area or in the adjoining Rhone Valley, you will have plenty to do! More than can be done in six days….. !
Best wishes
Roger
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