Swiss Travel Pass and panoramic train reservations
Mōrena from New Zealand is planning a trip in September and has purchased Swiss Travel Passes. They are trying to figure out whether to book reservations for specific panoramic trains through SBB or the train's own website, as they want to take routes like Vevey to Zermatt and Zermatt to Luzern via Andermatt.
- You can use your Swiss Travel Pass on most trains without additional tickets, just show your pass to the conductor.
- Reservations are only needed for special trains like the Glacier Express; for other routes, you can simply hop on with your Swiss Travel Pass.
AI-generated summary-
Mōrena from New Zealand. Apologies in advance, as I’m sure there is something I’m overlooking in what is probably a simple process.
We have purchased Swiss Travel passes and due to visit in September. What I can’t work is- if I am trying to organise a panoramic train as part of a route ( for example from Vevey to Zermatt, or from Zermatt to Luzern via Andermatt) do I book via SBB or via the specific panoramic train sites? I understand that reservations are required, but what I can’t work out is if I do that as part of the complete journey via SBB or as a separate booking for the particular panoramic train, and then sort other sectors of travel which I understand don’t need reservations.
Hope that question makes sense, and very appreciative in advance of advice. Many thanks
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A Swiss Travel Pass allows you to walk on to any train, bus, boat etc that you wish. You don’t need to book – just show your valid pass to any train conductor that asks for it on the train. Only a few special trains (notably Glacier Express, Bernina Express) require advance reservation (with extra fee). However you can avoid these by taking ordinary trains on all routes.
As 1960man says, if you have a Swiss Travel Pass, you do not need to purchase any ticket from any site (the SBB site or the individual panoramic train site).
However, IF you choose (or are required) to purchase a seat reservation for a panoramic train, you buy that on the specific website for that train.
So, for example, if you are going from Zermatt to Luzern via Andermatt, you would buy seat reservations on the Glacier Express from Zermatt to Andermatt. Then you would switch to a regular train to get to Luzern from Andermatt (no seat reservation needed). No ticket would be needed for either train since you have Swiss Travel Passes to cover that.
Hi Morena from New Zealand 🙂
Yes, so essentially you’d only need to make reservations if the particular Swiss panoramic train required one. Here’s a link to the more popular ones and within you’ll see if a particular route would need an obligatory reservation. If no reservation necessary, as mentioned, you can just hop with your Swiss Travel Pass and enjoy the trip.
- https://www.myswissalps.com/activities/scenictrips/train
- https://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass/howtouse
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Thank you all for your responses- just the information I needed.
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