Hello all. My wife and I will be in Switzerland for a short time this summer before we go to Italy for the majority of our trip. We were thinking about riding the Bernina Express from Zurich to Tirano. However, we found that the tickets are much cheaper if you buy a ticket from Singen, Germany to Tirano via Zurich. My question is this: If I buy a ticket from Singen to Tirano via Zurich could I "miss" the first leg of the trip, from Singen to Zurich, and just get on at the transfer stop (Zurich) to ride the train the rest of the way down to Tirano? I have been to Europe several times but have never tried something like this. I don't believe there would be a problem but I just wanted to check and make sure. Thanks!
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
That should work. Unlike airlines, trains don't keep records of who is actually on their trains, they just check you have a ticket.
Are you actually starting in Zürich ("Zürich HB" station), or Zürich airport ("Zürich Flughafen" station)? The train from Singen goes through Zürich HB, but not Zürich Flughafen, so you may need to buy a ticket Zürich Flughafen to Zürich HB.
Example:
Singen(Hohentwiel) dep 08:32 IC 181, Zürich HB arr 09:23
Intermediate stops for IC181:
Singen(Hohentwiel) arr 08:25 dep 08:32
Schaffhausen arr 08:45 dep 08:47
Zürich HB arr 09:23
I.e. NOT Zürich FlughafenZürich HB dep 09:37 IC 563, Chur arr 10:52
Chur dep 10:58 IR 1133, St. Moritz arr 12:58
St. Moritz dep 13:48 R 4637, Tirano arr 16:23
Posted by
Washington DC
28073 posts
It should be fine. That technique is recommended on the Seat61 website. You'll need to scroll down quite a way to find the section titled, "Bernina Express from €29.90: How to buy cheap tickets, kids under 15 free!".
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Awesome! Thanks guys. I think that is what I will do.