Trains $

www.sbb.ch/en

Click on the train you want, and put in "full fare" and click on "point-to-point". That is the everyday full fare. There are ways to reduce cost, like buying a Half Fare Card, or buying a nonrefundable Saver Day Pass well in advance for a specific date.

I just walk up and get tickets at the ticket booth. Sometimes things come up and a train at a specific time cannot be met.

Sometimes I go by the train station the day before I leave and pickup tickets. That minimizes any confusion around the time the train's stopping.

My train tickets are seldom very expensive because I refuse to go longer than 2.5 hours on any train. Otherwise, I'm flying on a budget airline.

Rick Steves’ Book on Switzerland has a map with the cost$ of point-to-point train tix for major cities and destinations travelers are often interested in. You also can get a ballpark idea of the costs by going to the websites of Omio or The Trainline and entering a departure town and arrival town to see the approximate costs of rail travel. That is how I would start.
Switzerland has the most expensive train tickets per-mile-traveled in the entire world. Walk-up ticket costs that some buy at the train station just before boarding a train will add up quickly and drain your wallet. You can save a boatload of money by figuring out how much time you have for your trip and if a Train Pass such as the Swiss Travel Pass, a Swiss Flexi-Pass or a Berner Oberland Pass makes sense for your trip.
The “Saver Day Pass” which covers all train travel on SBB trains for an entire day is one of the best ways to save money. Some travelers buy 3-4 Saver Day Passes for their 10-12 day itinerary and find it covers most of their itinerary.
The savings in strategizing how best to travel at the least cost will go a long way to pay for meals and accommodations for the rest of your travel budget while in Switzerland.
Have a great Trip!

If someone were asking for prices in Switzerland, why in the world would someone use the RS guesstimate map when they can, in about the same amount of time, go to the actualy rail company and get the actual price?

Once you get out of Switzerland the price of rail tickets is somewhat equivlent to the price of a taxi to the airport (usually less); so you really arent planning your holdiay around where is a train ticket 10 euro cheaper.

If you have a trip to many countries in mind, then best thing is to make a list of the national companies, put the links in a word document or somehting similar and then use it as you layout the trip so you know the REAL cost, not the RS estimate cost, and so you know the REAL time between destinations and the REAL options for trains. Its just not that hard to do it correctly and accurately.

I just walk up and get tickets at the ticket booth. Sometimes things
come up and a train at a specific time cannot be met.

Fortunately train tickets are typically good for any train on a route for a day. So if you can't "meet" a specific train you just take the next one.

WengenK,

Fortunately train tickets are typically good for any train on a route
for a day. So if you can't "meet" a specific train you just take the
next one.

Thats good to hear. I didnt know that about all the Swiss tickets. I am plannning a trip in the early Spring and I would have assumed that the tickets were like the tickets here ... the discounted ones are train specific. Good to know that about OBB too. In the past I have gone through a lot of touble choosing a train before buying a ticket. Good to know it doesnt matter. In the future on my trips into Austria I will just buy the cheapest train ticket knowing I can use it on any train on the same route during the day.

And I guess you are saying no need to buy the seat assignment or if you do, wait till you are at the train station when you are certain which train you will get on?

Mr E and others traveling to Switzerland might find it helpful to read up about Swiss trains and tickets here:

https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-switzerland.htm

Carrie, thats excellent ... thank you. So the only tickets that are good all day for any train are the expensive tickets. Good to know and not surprising as thats how it works with some other train lines as well. Thank you for the clairification.

I am not a huge fan of trains, but I did just spend close to 40 hours on trains in the last 6 days .... which did nothing to change my opinion, but often its the only or at least the best option so I need to learn more.