How far in advance for Swiss train timetables
A traveler is planning a family trip to Switzerland at the end of May and is looking for information on how far in advance train timetables are available. They want to prepare for their day trips as they are not experienced with train travel.
- Check the SBB Timetable online, which is updated annually in early December for accurate train schedules throughout the year.
- Consider purchasing the Swiss Travel Pass for 4 days to save on transportation costs, especially since you will be using trains and cable cars.
- Be mindful that some destinations, like Zermatt, may require long travel times from Grindelwald; plan your itinerary accordingly to maximize your experience.
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Hello-
My family will be traveling to Switzerland at the end of May. I was wondering how far in advance the timetables for trains are posted? I would like to have an idea for timing of our day trips. Being we are not familiar with any kind of train travel I want to be sure to be prepared. Thank you.
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The SBB Timetable (http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable) covers the entire year and is updated annually in early December.
You might want to read http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/practical and “How to choose the best travel pass” (http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass).
European railway timetables run from early December to early December, so the 2019 timetable has been in force for just about a month.
You can use the various point to point timetables on line or you can see PDFs of the official Swiss timetable.
Another alternative is the European Railway timetable which shows European train schedules in an easy to use format:
Swiss railways run what is called ‘taktfahrplan’ or regular interval timetable, this means that you can seldom go wrong. The idea of a taktfahrplan is to make it easy for travellers as each route will have trains running at the same times throughout the day, either on a 2 hourly, hourly or half-hourly sequence. The trains meet at important nodal points where you only have to wait a few minutes for the connecting train.
The graphic is actually published free to air:
http://www.fahrplanfelder.ch/ fileadmin/fap_pdf/Netz grafik/Netzgrafik2018. pdf
I realise the graphic is overwhelming but you can zoom in. The huge grey square in the upper right centre is Zürich which as you can see is the biggest nodal point (for obvious reasons)
Would like to see some idea of your itinerary before showing direct examples of these timetables.
Thank you. I have read it and it has helped immensely!
Thank you. We have 4 days in which we will be using trains and cable cars:
1.Schiltorn
2. Zermatt
3. Rigi
4. Pilatus
We have rented a chalet in Grindelwald. Our plan is to buy the 4 day STP because after filling out the spreadsheet on this site it would save us a lot of money. Thank you.
Three of the four destinations are distant from Grindelwald, especially Zermatt which will be a long day. I’m not sure you need to do the Rigi and the Pilatus (you see the same scenery from both) if you are not staying locally to them in the Luzern area
Pilatus was a “maybe” so we most likely will not do that one. Thanks for the information. It is hard to decide when there are so many different choices with different offerings of each. I know that Zermatt will be a LONG day! My father-in-law was from Switzerland and passed away 2 years ago. My mother-in-law has been to Switzerland numerous times over the 45 year marriage but never made it to Zermatt. The weather was just never cooperative enough for my father-in-law to make the trip. Being this is most likely the last time she will travel to Switzerland, she is insisting to make it to see the town of Zermatt this time, regardless of weather. 🙂
Yes, personally I love Zermatt, and would stay there over Grindelwald
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