We are currently in Austria as part of a tour group staying south of Innsbruck at Matrei. When the tour ends next Tuesday, we have 4 nights reserved at a B&B near Interlaken. We bought a Swiss Rail Pass to cover our days in Switzerland but I need to know what the first town in Switzerland would be from here to connect to begin using our pass. We can get to Innsbruck easily from here and then will start the rail journey to Interlaken. I would appreciate your input.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
Buchs (SG) is the first station in Switzerland, and your Swiss Pass is valid from here. All trains from Innsbruck to Zürich stop here (and change crews).
You will need to buy a ticket from Innsbruck to Buchs. You will not have to get off the train there.
Tickets are cheaper the earlier you buy. It is now too late for the really cheap tickets, but if you can buy now, not next Tuesday.
You can see Buchs on the map you should have got with your Swiss Pass: https://www.sbb.ch/content/dam/sbb/de/pdf/freizeit-ferien/ferien-kurztrips-schweiz/internationale-gaeste/uebersichtskarte_synoptic_map_2017_low.pdf
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32746 posts
The RailJet train from Innsbruck to Zurich is the key. If you go to the DB website it will tell you the border crossing, which is Buchs SG. Or you can use the next stop, Sargans, 15 minutes from the border.
Change at Zurich. Takes 5:40. The run from Zurich via Bern is fast but not dramatic. Just over an hour longer - 7:07 - gets you the narrow gauge mountain railway from Luzern (route Innsbruck - Zurich - Luzern - Interlaken Ost) over the Brunig Pass and via Meiringen.
Where near Interlaken do you need to get to? Do you need Interlaken Ost where the little trains run up the mountain, or Interlaken West for much of central Interlaken and Spiez, and the shore of Thunersee?
Posted by
OP
Tyler, TX, USA
162 posts
Thanks for the good advice. We will be staying at a farm at Diemtigen south of Spies so I think we go through Interlake n West.