8 days in Switzerland

Hi, my wife and I will be in Switzerland from 10th Juneto 17th June. so first I am sure I missed the boat for the 2 for 1 offer..

Anyhow I am taking the overnight train from Budapest to Zurich and will bereaching Zurich in 10th June ay 7:30am . I wanted to buy the 8 days pass but amnot sure if I should buy it from the US or once I reach the Zurich station..which is beneficial?
If I buy the pass from Zurich on 10th Junebut right now I need to book the seats in the Golden pass and Bernina express,so when I book them online do I need the pass?
thanks

Hello syatrip,

Although it's possible to buy your passes in Zürich, I would recommend to buy them online. Information can be found on the Swiss Pass page. You can fill out the information asked for in the right hand top corner. I know from experience that it's very handy to have the passes beforehand, you don't have to spend any time buying them at a railway station and you can use your pass immediately without any delay.

You will not need the passes to make reservations for the Golden Pass Line and the Bernina Express. More information about reservations can be found here.

Enjoy your trip!

Just a wee contrarian note to Olga, but this may be only my personal experience. I visited Zurich last month from the USA, and bought my Swiss Pass at the Zurich airport train station. I got in line at about 8 a.m. and had my pass in hand about 7 minutes later. This may vary based on your primary currency, but for me, the online purchase would have cost me about $50 US more than buying in person, I didn't investigate why.

Regardless, I adored having my 15 day pass, I visited 20 cities/villages in that time from my base in Rapperswil. It was so liberating to decide on the spur of the moment to do things like say "hey, it's sunny in Arosa today, let's go there!". By the way, you should go to Arosa. And Bremgarten. And Solothurn. And Stein am Rhein. And Sankt Gallen. And Chur, which the guidebooks really do not pay proper respect to (pardon my grammar). I went there twice!

Enjoy!

Hi all,

The best point of sale of a Swiss rail pass depends on many factors. It's indeed a matter of your willingness to spend time at a station to purchase one, and whether you're able to visit a manned rail station during opening hours before boarding your first train. Online and local prices are different and vary all the time due to exchange rates, promotions and price changes by resellers. Most of the time it's cheaper to buy in advance, but currently there are some examples that are the other way around. You don't have to look into all of these details yourself as you can visit the Swiss Pass page as Olga suggested. It lists the current prices (and more details like shipping options) of the resellers that are relevant to your situation: your pass type, country and number of travelers. Local prices are included in the list as well, i.e. if they apply, as some passes (like the 2-for-1 offer syatrip mentioned) can only be purchased in advance.