How to access Swiss timetable without cell phone?

Hello! I will be traveling to Switzerland and will be purchasing the Swiss Travel Pass. I will not be able to use my cell phone (due to international charges). Where does one purchase the complete Swiss timetable (for rail/buses/etc)? Do I order it before I leave or can I pick one up at the Zurich airport or train station? Thank you in advance for your assistance with this!!!

Hi swissiam, welcome to MySwissAlps!

I am not sure if they still sell the complete Swiss timetable on paper. I once had one. It was a set of two rather big books (especially the bus book was large) and not very comfortable to carry around. Many stations provide free booklets with regional public transport timetables. Also you can ask for a printout of your particular trip at a staffed station.

Apart from the paper options, many hotels provide (free) wifi, and there's free wifi at many rail stations as well: myswissalps.com/train/ practical/internet. Also you can get a SIM card with a huge amount of data for a relatively low price so you can check timetables, the weather, etc. at any time: myswissalps.com/simcar d.

Hi Arno,

The same applies for me too. Would have asked this question sooner or later for my April travel. But from what I have read in some blogs, the station wifi or the wifi in trains, requires one to do a one time registration using a OTP (one time passcode) sent as a text and that does not work on international numbers - it has to be a Swiss number. So eventually one has to end up buying a Swiss sim.

Do you have any idea about the Salt simcard for data ? (earlier Orange CH)

Hi sskundu,

The wifi at stations (if available) works on international phones as well. I have updated the page I mentioned with more details. There is no wifi in the trains. It's an amplified 3G/4G signal, so you do need a SIM card for that. It's explained on the same page.

Thank you for your assistance!

Hi Swisssiam -

Please see this thread. Very relevant. Please read it all.

www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/selection-of-a-travel-hub

I bought the complete timetable on paper last December, at Zürich main station or perhaps airport. In theory, you can get it at any manned station, but the large stations are a better bet. They are not so popular anymore. People prefer the simplified version as on this website:

www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

or,

www.sbb.ch/en/home.htm l

However, if you would like the paer versions, for 14 CHF (maybe it is 16 CHF now) you get three large books- one for trains/boats/public transport cable cars (blue). Two for buses (yellow) . I did not get the buses books because my luggage was full. Same price for just one or all three.

They provide a set of information in a form that the usual online timetable does not provide, but can be confusing unless you are very careful. I love them and use them all the time for my trip planning.

Slowpoke

On the timetable site you can create personal timetables. These can cover wide period of dates. These can be saved as pdf allowing you to save and view on phone when not online