Good Evening All:)
We are taking our very first trip to Europe. We are making our way from Rome to Milan for 5 days, then turning in our rental cars and wanting to catch a train from Milan to the closest destination in Switzerland where we can buy Swiss Rail passes for the next week in Switzerland.
Is there a location in Switzerland that’s recommended to head to from Milan where we can buy Swiss Rail passes and then use those the rest of the way to Lauterbrunnen where we will be staying that week?
Any advice much appreciated!
Thank you
Posted by
Green Bay
20238 posts
You can buy Swiss Travel Passes in advance, so you don't have to stop along the way to purchase them. From Milan, you will take a train(s) going to Domodossola, Brig, Spiez, Interlaken Ost, then to Lauterbrunnen. Even though Domodossola is in Italy, it is the start point of validity of the Swiss Travel Pass. So if you had passes in your pocket that began their validity on that date, you could buy a ticket from Milan to Domodossola, and just stay on the train and show your passes to the conductor beyond that point.
There are a few trains that go direct to Spiez (actually continuing on to Basel), where you would change to a train to Interlaken Ost, then change there to a train to Lauterbrunnen.
https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/travel-in-switzerland/international-guests/swiss-travel-pass.html
Posted by
OP
USA
3 posts
Fabulous!
Thank you so much for your help!
Each time I’ve looked at buying passes before we go, there’s not enough time to receive them before we leave and they offer no option for ordering a Swiss family pass card, which we need. Or, alternatively, they have an online purchase price and will send you the Swiss Family pass but they offer the tickets at $400+ more than the sites that mail your tickets.
For that reason I was thinking buying it there is probably better.
Do you happen to know if one can buy Swiss Rail passes in Domodossola Italy?
Thank you for your helpful advice :)
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16894 posts
Your previous research doesn't sound right. You can buy passes at https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/switzerland-rail-passes for US delivery (which will probably be free if you're paying for two adults). They can be purchased up to 6 months before your planned start-travel date. Only Swiss stations sell passes in person and it doesn't make sense to get off a train for that purpose.
Posted by
Green Bay
20238 posts
If you want continuous passes, you can buy them on-line and print them at home as well as the free Family Card.
https://swissus.mytraintravel.com/pass/swiss-pass-5934
Posted by
11205 posts
We picked up our car in Milan and visited Grindekwald in the Berber Oberland and Pontresina, bear St-Mortiz, Switzerland and the Italian Lakes, very easy to do.
Posted by
OP
USA
3 posts
We are actually leaving on our trip next Friday, 12/14, so too late for the mail:)
I will check again for print at home options that are not more expensive than mail options. It may not make sense to some that I ran into that difficulty, but alas, I did.
I will happily check the websites listed! Hopefully I’ll have luck there.
Thank you so much for all of the replies :)
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16385 posts
If “print at home” does not work for you, you can buy a ticket in Italy from Milan to Brig, the first stop in Switzerland. This is a large manned station and you can buy your Swiss passes there for the rest of the journey.
There are “smart fares” offered for this cross-border trip that are quite inexpensive. If you see those, take it. But they do sell out so may be gone at this late date.