My wife and I will be in Switzerland the last two weeks of August. Plan to travel almost exclusively by train based on a slight variation to the itinerary on page 10 of Rick Steves' Switzerland book. We bought 1st class Swiss Rail passes. Seeing some mixed messages re whether seat reservations are needed. Any thoughts on whether they are needed? Don't want to lock in schedule too much but also don't want to miss some sights just because we failed to plan in advance. Thanks
Posted by
The Heartland USA
8447 posts
CB, I believe that you can't make seat reservations for Swiss Rail trains, except for some of the special scenic trains. Hopefully someone else will confirm.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
Swiss railways don't do reservations. It is a turn-up-and-go service.
All rail lines in Switzerland have at least one train per hour, so just turn up at the station and get on the first train heading in the direction you want.
The only exceptions are the four tourist extra trains (Glacier Express, Bernina Express, Golden Pass and Wilhelm Tell), but these are all in addition to normal hourly services on the same lines which don't need reservations.
For international services, some require reservations to cover the part of the trip in other countries, where other rules apply.
Where did you see you these "mixed messages"?
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
Since you have 1st-class access, you might try to reserve ahead for the nose-cone VIP seats on the portion of the Golden Pass between Montreux and Zweisimmen. See http://www.mob.ch/en/reservation-procedure.
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9100 posts
Seat reservations can be made on most trains in Switzerland:
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
OK Michael, technically they can be made on some trains, but nobody ever makes reservations unless they are a party of 10+, or a school group reserving a whole coach.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thanks to all for the insight. Sounds like this may not be as much a concern as I thought.