My family is flying into Zurich in July. Before picking up our rental car for Switzerland (we will spend the majority of our trip in Switzerland), we want to take the train to Munich for a few days. I'm having a hard time knowing what type of train tickets to buy. I have looked on SBB.ch but am having a hard time navigating their site since it's in German. Does anyone have suggestions on purchasing tickets? Is there a fast train option? Do we purchase round trip tickets or just one way? How do we reserve seats? Thanks for your help!
Posted by
Minneapolis
1261 posts
Try bahn.de select English at top of page. For a random day (July 11) it looks like direct busses are the best option. 8:16 am arrive Munich 11:59; current advance fare 20 Euros. also 9:46 am arrive 1:29 pm. Looks like trains take longer and cost more. Perhaps somebody with direct experience on this route can confirm or add tips. Generally no discount for buying round trip, so just buy separate tix for each way. Enjoy your trip!
Posted by
The Heartland USA
8967 posts
SBB has a page in English. Go Swiss rail in english very simple
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Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
Most railway company sites are multi-lingual, you just need to find where you select the language, usually in a corner in a small font. On the SBB site it is hiding in the bottom left corner. Logically, SBB would have to be at least in the 3 Swiss languages, German French and Italian.
Direct link to SBB in English: https://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html
Direct link to DB (German Railways) site in English: https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml
There are trains from Zürich to Munich, but this route is slow, and currently even slower as they are upgrading it to make it faster. There are also buses which are slightly faster than the trains (until the upgrade is finished), but obviously not as comfortable.
You can buy tickets on either website (SBB or DB). Note SBB will quote prices in Franks, DB in Euro, you will need to convert.
You buy tickets separately for the two directions. Prices will be cheaper the earlier you buy, the prices go up nearer the departure date.
Seat reservations are not necessary on the trains, but recommended especially to guarantee you all sit together. You will be offered reservations as an option when you buy the tickets, it is not a separate transaction.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
These are great suggestions - thank you all so much!
Posted by
Bern, Switzerland
1043 posts
The site is available in English. To change language you need to scroll to the bottom of the page and look to the bottom left hand corner.