Zurich airport to Munich to St Moritz in Jan 2020

Hi,

I am arriving Zurich airport on 19 Jan 2020, 07:00hr and intent to go straight to Munich from there. Stay for a few nights from 19 Jan to 23 Jan and then make my way to St Moritz.

Any recommendations on the best way to travel this route - Zurich to Munich to St Moritz? And if advance purchase of ticket is necessary (will price fluctuate for any portion of this journey)?

I have checked the SBB timetable and I am unable to select dates after 9 Dec 2019. Hence am using the current information as reference for 19 Jan 2020 trip. There is no direct train to Munich and if I were to take the fastest route, it involves taking the bus. I searched online and came across Flixbus but reviews were no good. Are there any other bus operator that is reliable? Also, taking a bus requires a car seat for my child (3 year old). Do the bus operator provides FOC or rental because A car seat is too bulky to carry around for my trip.

My tentative itinerary : Zurich to Munich to St Moritz to Zermatt to Milan

Thank you!

Hi Micheleang17,

as you are traveling to Munich, please have a look at www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/germany/, where you can find tips on travel and how to buy the cheapest tickets. You can travel from Zurich to Munich via train or Flixbus (https://www.flixbus.co .uk/coach/zurich) or Intercity bus (https://www.bahn.com/e n/view/offers/bus/inde x.shtml). I suggest to buy your tickets and reserve your seats online in advance to make sure you'll have the place, especially as you are traveling with a little child. You can do that at www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/germany/pri ce.

I recommend you to travel by train, as it is more comfortable, you can stand up and stretch your legs, also your child would have more space.

There is no need for a car seat on busses or trains, so do not worry about it.

Hi micheleang17

We have used Flixbus a couple of times.

Once to get from Innsbruck to Munich Airport and once to get from Copenhagen to Lund in Sweden. We found them to be reliable and cost effective.

We would use them again.

Jane

I have checked the SBB timetable and I am unable to select dates after 9 Dec 2019. Hence am using the current information as reference for 19 Jan 2020 trip. There is no direct train to Munich and if I were to take the fastest route, it involves taking the bus.

You can't select dates after mid December 2019 as the new timetable is not yet in the computers. It is due to be published on 15 October.

In fact at present there are three direct trains per day between Zurich and München

The reason there are so many buses shown at present is because the railway is undergoing major rebuild into a fast electric railway with tilting trains, to be launched in late 2020.

In the meantime I suggest you wait until 16 October to see what trains they are running in the 2020 timetable

If you do use a train to come back to Switzerland, you can change at St Gallen and take a train to Chur to connect into another train to St Moritz

Thank you everybody for the advise! I’ve decided to take the train from 1.Zurich airport to Munich

2. Munich to St Moritz. Staying in Sils-im Engadin area and train or tram to St Moritz for sightseeing/exploring. Planning to stay for 5 days 4 nights, 24 Jan to 28 Jan

3. St Moritz to Zermatt (still deciding between Glacier Express or Normal train). Staying In Tasch area and train or tram to Zermatt for sightseeing/exploring. Planning to stay for 7 days 6 nights, 28 Jan to 3 Feb

4. Zermatt to Milan

Based on the above travelling pattern, Eurail don’t seems to be worth it. For the travel days in St Moritz, I’m considering between the Sleep+Ski pass and the graubünden pass. Are there any other pass or cards for traveling within the Graubunden area? Similarly for Zermatt area, I’m considering between the Adventure card and Peak pass. Are there any other pass or cards for traveling within the Valais area? Thank you once again!

A few comments:

1) I’ve decided to take the train from 1.Zurich airport to Munich

Great news - much nicer than the bus. I see there are still three direct trains in the new timetable which is a good compromise with the ongoing improvemnet work.

2. Munich to St Moritz. Staying in Sils-im Engadin area and train or tram to St Moritz for sightseeing/exploring.

Sils (Engadin) is not on a railway line. You will have to take the local bus

There are no trams in any of the places you are visiting, just trains

3. St Moritz to Zermatt (still deciding between Glacier Express or Normal train). Staying In Tasch area and train or tram to Zermatt for sightseeing/exploring.

As per previous there are no trams.

For Täsch to Zermatt (for me Täsch is spoiled by the huge car park - I prefer staying in Zermatt village) you either pick up a normal MGB Visp - Zermatt train or you get the car drivers shuttle service train

4. Zermatt to Milan

Based on the above travelling pattern, Eurail don’t seems to be worth it. For the travel days in St Moritz, I’m considering between the Sleep+Ski pass and the graubünden pass. Are there any other pass or cards for traveling within the Graubunden area?

You may well get a tourist card from your accomodation for use on the buses in the immediate St Moritz area, otherwise Graubünden pass may be best, although a Swiss travel pass flexi might be better for you in the long run for the whole trip

4a. Similarly for Zermatt area, Are there any other pass or cards for traveling within the Valais area?

Nothing else practical for the Valais region

Hi Michelang17!

In addition to 1960man's solid answers, here are some more thoughts and links:

• you'd best consult the SBB timetable to plan each of your trips from, to and in Switzerland: www.myswissalps.com/ti metable;
• the differences between the Glacier Express and regular trains are explained at www.myswissalps.com/gl acierexpress. Personally, I think the Glacier Express trains are worth the seat reservation costs as you'll enjoy the comfort of an ongoing trip without changing trains, large panoramic windows, information about the route, etc..

As for rail passes: please find information about the graubündenPASS at www.myswissalps.com/gr aubundenpass,, and about the AdventureCard for the Valais region at www.myswissalps.com/ad venturecard. I think you're better off getting a rail pass for the entire country though, as you'll also be making inbound trips from Munich, the transfer St. Moritz-Zermatt and the outbound trip to Milan. All of those would be discounted or even for free if you use a nation-wide pass such as the Swiss Half Fare Card (www.myswissalps.com/sw isshalffarecard) or the Swiss Travel Pass (www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass)/Swiss Travel Pass Flex (www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpassflex). You'd need additional tickets for your trips from and to the neighbouring countries. Please refer to www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/germany and www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/italy.

This page explains how to find the pass that best suits your plans: www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass.

Thank you again 1960man and Annika for all the advise! Taking all the informations provided and did some calculations on transport expenses with the different type of passes, I think I'll go with a Swiss Half Fare Card.

1960man - After I read up more on Zermatt and Tasch, I finally understand what you meant by Täsch is spoiled by the huge car park. Hence we decided to stay in Zermatt village instead. Accommodation is more expensive but hopefully the view and atmosphere makes up for it!

For convenience, I've also decided to take the Glacier Express from St Moritz to Zermatt. I was trying to purchase the ticket for my trip but was not allowed. I am guessing tickets for my travel date (28 Jan 2020) is not open for purchase yet. I checked the Glacier Express website as well and they allow me to make the seat reservation but not the purchase of tickets.

Question -

I input an earlier date (23 Dec 2019) to check the price of Glacier Express from St Moritz to Zermatt on SBB website and realised that it shows Saver Day Pass. CHF 52 for normal fare and CHF 39 with Half Fare Card. Do the price includes seat reservation? Or do I need to make the seat reservation at the Glacier Express website separately since reservation is compulsory on the Glacier Express.

I used the same date (23 Dec 2019) and went to Glacier Express website and it says insufficient seats available. Will there be such situation where SBB website has tickets and Glacier Express website do not have on the same date? Should I then make my seat reservation on Glacier Express website now for my upcoming trip (28 Jan 2020) and then check back again on SBB website for ticket purchase, assuming the Saver Day Pass price do not include seat reservation.

I am confused and I hope my question is not too confusing...

Thanks again!

Hi Micheleang17,

To answer your questions:

No, those are ticket prices only and you would need to pay a surcharge for a seat reservation. You could reserve a seat using the Glacier Express website or book online with one of the retailers from the following link. If you click on the green button (online tickets), it will take you to Glacier Express seat reservation.

Glacier Express seat reservation: www.myswissalps.com/gl acierexpress/tickets

Regards,
Anna

Hi Micheleang17,

In addition to Anna's information: correct, the Glacier Express seat reservation has to be arranged for anyway. It's a separate product and has nothing to do with the ticket or pass you use to pay for the journey (see "The difference between tickets, passes and seat reservations" at www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/reservations/howto use).

A Saver Day Pass would be a good option to pay for your Glacier Express trip. If bought well in advance, it will cost CHF 29 (lowest price) with a Swiss Half Fare Card, whereas a regular 50% discounted ticket costs about CHF 75. You can already buy your Saver Day Pass for January 28: https://www.happyrail. com/en/pass/europe/swi tzerland/swiss-saver-day-pass. Using HappyRail's pre-booking service, you can buy your Saver Day Passes sooner than the regular 60 day booking window and get a refund for the price difference as soon as the low fares for early bookings become available. It's explained at the page I linked to.

Thank you Anna and Annika!

I've purchased the saver day pass via Happyrail as per what you have shared. Thanks again for the tip =) However when I tried to reserve the seat on glacier express website, it says reservation can only be done 90 days in advance. That's weird because initially when i enter my travel date (28 Jan 2020), the system says I can only make seat reservation for this date. When I have selected my seats and going to make payment, the system then say I can only make reservation 90 days in advance. Is there something that I'm not doing correctly?

Also, I selected the "Standard Delivery" option on Happyrail and after payment is completed, it says tickets will be sent via email but I have not received it. Am I understanding correctly that I will need to wait for the tickets to be sent to me via email only after the lowest fare is released? If that's the case, how soon would that be and meanwhile I need to keep checking my email for the tickets to come in?

As for the refund for the price difference, it would also be processed after the tickets are emailed to me?

Thank you and sorry for the many questions!

Hi Micheleang17! Good to hear your Saver Day Pass has been arranged for. Yes, the pass will be sent by e-mail as soon as the lower fare has become available, which is usually about 60 days before your travel date. The refund will be paid then as well. You'll find the process explained under the retailer information at www.myswissalps.com/sa verdaypass/price and at the HappyRail page: https://www.happyrail. com/en/pass/europe/swi tzerland/swiss-saver-day-pass.

I'm not sure what's going on at the Glacier Express website; it might still be a bit too early indeed. But you can arrange for your Glacier Express seat reservation through HappyRail as well: https://www.happyrail. com/en/pass/europe/swi tzerland/passholder-fares-glacier-express. That seems to work fine for January 28.

Thank you Annika! I have just tried again on the Glacier Express website to make the seat reservation however it is still not available for purchase.

I went to Happyrail and realised that the seat reservation is slightly cheaper (by CHF3) as compared to Glacier Express website however I am not allowed to chose my seat. I guess that's why it is slight cheaper maybe. I'll wait a few more days before trying again on Glacier Express website since I would like to select my own seat just in case the system allocate me 3 different seats if I make the seat reservation on Happyrail website.

Thanks again for all the helpful advice!!