Switzerland from munich

It's about a 4-5 hour train ride.

"get to Switzerland"?

That's a little vague. Are you going to Switzerland for a short trip, or continuing your trip? Do you want to go somewhere specific in Switzerland, or just over the border so you can say "Switzerland, check"? Are you using public transportation, or driving?

One of the easiest ways to Switzerland using public transportation would be to take a train to Lindau, then around the east end of Bodensee via Bregenz to St. Margrethen. You could also take a train to Friedrichshafen and a ship across the lake to Romanshorn.

Other routes include a German EC to Innsbruck and an Austria RailJet to Switzerland or trains across Baden-Württemberg to Schaffhausen on the Rhein.

we wanted to go in to switzerland for a few days before returning to munich to fly back to states. was looking for a 'quick' trip in and do the tourist visit with my 4 children (ages 16 - 28)

frank,

A trip to Switzerland is certainly possible from Munich, but as mentioned it will be a bit of a long train ride in each direction.

One possibility you could consider would be a visit to Lucerne, as that's a beautiful city and there should be enough attractions to keep you busy for a few days, even in the winter. Some of the transportation from Munich to Lucerne is via a combination of bus and rail. However, there's a rail departure at 07:17, arriving Lucerne at 12:49 and that's the one I'd use (time 5H:32M, one change in Zürich, reservations compulsory on the first leg). You can see all the details on the bahn.de website. I didn't check details for the return trip.

If you decide to make a visit to Lucerne and are willing to commit to a specific travel time, you can probably save some money by pre-purchasing tickets. It's also very easy to buy them in Munich. The EurAide office in the Munich station has English speaking staff, and they're located at Desks 1 & 2 (on the left as you enter) in the Reisezentrum (Bahn ticket office).

The fastest (under 4 hour), and one of the least expensive ways to get from Munich to Zürich, is via the Bahn Intercity bus. You can find schedules and book tickets on the Bahn website Advance purchase fares start at 29€/person, one way. The bus goes directly to Zürich without stops, so you'll end up there. Zürich is a nice place to spend a day, but rather expensive to spend a night. There are trains from Zürich to other Swiss towns, like Luzern, or Interlaken.

When booking, use "Zuerich" for the town, Zurich will only get you the airport. The bus leaves Munich from the Hackerbrücke bus station (ZOB), which is adjacent to the Hackerbrücke S-Bahn station, one stop west of the Munich Hbf on the S-Bahn. If you specify the Hbf (or any other S-Bahn station in town) when booking, your ticket will include the S-Bahn, and you won't have to pay extra for it.

You don't say why you want to go to Switzerland. If it's just to see mountains, there are plenty in Bavaria or in nearby parts of Austria.

from what i understand - Lucerne or Bern are the places to visit... what is the easiest way to get there from Munich?

from what i understand - Lucerne or Bern are the places to visit... what is the easiest way to get there from Munich?

Why is it that the only places people think are worth visiting are big cities (Bern, Luzern)? Both are about an hour from Zürich (which is accessible by bus from Munich - see above). The Berner Oberland is an hour from Bern (two hours from Zürich via Bern), but it would be more interesting to go from Luzern (2 hours) by way of the scenic, rack-rail Brünig (Golden Pass) line.