My family of 4 will be basing ourselves in Bern for a few days the first week of July. We'll have Swiss rail passes to use for daily excursions outside Bern as well. We hope to make it to Zermatt & will need to travel there on a Sat or Sun. Would you recommend making a seat reservation for the Bern to Visp leg of the route (which appears to be reservable according to the SBB website) or will we likely find room in the second class section on an early morning train in July on a weekend? Thanks in advance for your helpful advice.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33848 posts
I've never not had a seat on a Swiss train. Came close on a Friday afternoon going from Bern to Thun but still (just) found a seat - and it was only 10 minutes anyway. Watch out for the dinosaur in the last carriage. Dinosaurs are only in the double deckers, though.
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9110 posts
Unless you're purchasing tickets for a group of 10+ you can't make seat reservations on regular domestic inter-city trains in Switzerland. When the Swiss Rail site says "reservations possible", that's what it means.
Posted by
OP
Portland, oregon, usa
21 posts
Thank you Michael. I wasn't aware of the 10+ rule. Good to know. Sounds like we'll be fine.
Posted by
OP
Portland, oregon, usa
21 posts
Thanks Nigel...aw, if only my children were a bit younger (teenagers both). Maybe I'll go look for the dinosaurs for myself anyway...still a kid at heart
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17438 posts
We have spent about 8 weeks riding trains in Switzerland, over four trips, with a family gout of 6 to 9 people. Never had a problem finding seats, although maybe not all together, apart from the one time we rode from Bern to Zurich on the dY of the Street Parade, when a million or so people descend on the city. We did have to ride in the vestibule for the short trip. That is usually the first wwwekend in August so should not be a problem for you.