Holidays to Switzerland Travel Podcast Episode 17 Transcript
Feeder Line trains to Switzerland and benefits of the Swiss Travel Pass
You can see the full show notes and listen to this episode > here.
Intro
Welcome to the Holidays to Switzerland Travel podcast. Your host is the founder of holidaystoswitzerland.com and the Switzerland Travel Planning Facebook group, Carolyn Schönafinger. On this podcast, Carolyn will be joined by a variety of guests who share their knowledge and love of the country to help you plan your dream trip to Switzerland.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Welcome to episode 17 of the Holidays to Switzerland Travel Podcast. My guest today is Andy Nef, who is the Swiss Travel System’s market manager for Australia, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, and the UAE. For those listeners that aren’t aware, Andy joined me in episode 11, where he gave us a really good overview of the Swiss Travel System. But as there’s so much to know about Switzerland’s incredible transport network, I thought it was worth diving a little bit deeper. In this episode, Andy is going to tell us all about the feeder lines. They’re the train lines that bring visitors to Switzerland from neighbouring countries. And he’s also going to share with us all the benefits of the Swiss Travel Pass. In upcoming episodes, Andy will again join me to share in-depth information about the Grand Train Tour, Switzerland’s premium panoramic trains, some of the wonderful mountain excursions, and off the beaten track routes.
Carolyn Schönafinger
If If you’d like to make use of the fantastic Swiss public transport system when you visit Switzerland, these are all must listen episodes. So let’s get started. Welcome back to the podcast, Andy. It’s really great to have you joining us again for another episode.
Andy Nef
Very happy to be here. Thanks a lot for the invitation, Carolyn.
Carolyn Schönafinger
You’re welcome. So we’re going to start by talking about what you refer to as Feeder Line trains. Most visitors from abroad reach Switzerland by aeroplane arriving into either Zurich or Geneva Airport but it is also possible to get to Switzerland by international train. Andy, can you tell us from which countries those trains arrive.
Andy Nef
Well, before we get into that topic deeper, I just want to do a little bit of geography lesson. As you all know, Switzerland is in the heart of Western Europe. We are surrounded by five neighbouring countries. Four are pretty obvious, but number five is sometimes a riddle. Let’s start in the north. Our neighbour in the north is Germany. In the west, we have France. There is south Italy, and in the east, there is Austria. Now, here we go. The fifth neighbouring country, that’s the Principality of Liechtenstein, a tiny small country between Switzerland and Austria. And there we go. And all these neighbouring countries are linked by train or public transport to Switzerland. And well, that’s how it works. And there are regular international connections from our neighbouring countries coming into Switzerland and going to the major cities of our neighbours. Okay.
Carolyn Schönafinger
And some of the trains that are coming from the different countries are high speed international trains, aren’t they? What can you tell us about those?
Andy Nef
Yes, of course. Well, all neighbouring countries, know high speed by now. And when we talk about high speed, we talk about more than 300 kilometres per hour. And we don’t have much high speed here in Switzerland. That’s a topographical reason. There are just too many hills and mountains in the way. And well, you have to cut straight through the landscape for building high speed lines. Switzerland is just too densely populated with too many obstacles here. But for example, in France, they have the TGV trains, and there is especially the TGV Lyria, who is connecting from Paris to various Swiss cities. For example, from Germany, there are the ICE trains. Ice stands for Intercity Express. By the way, TGV stands for Très Grande Vitesse in French. The ICE ECEs are also connecting from various German cities into various Swiss destinations. From Austria, we have the so-called RailJet connecting Zurich with Vienna, stopping on the way various times. And to Italy, we have the EuroCity trains. And the special thing about those are that many are passing through the new Gotthard Base Tunnel and the new Ceneri base tunnel, which was just opened last December for public.
Andy Nef
Those two tunnels, we are talking about tunnels with a length of 57 kilometres. That’s the Gotthard Base Tunnel. The Ceneri Base Tunnel is under 20 kilometres. But with those base tunnels, the trains can run pretty fast with 250 kilometres per hour. And well, that just made travelling between Zurich and Milan one hour shorter. So previously, the trains had to go up, climb up. And then at the summit, they went through a rather short tunnel, and And then they had to go all the way down again at pretty low speed. And that was consuming a lot of time. And now, instead of four hours or more than four hours by train from Zurich to Milan, it’s just three hours.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Incredible. And what about the time, the time of the journey from Paris to, say, Geneva?
Andy Nef
Yes, that also has, how to say, decreased a lot. The travelling time between Zurich and Paris, for example, is only four hours. Geneva is a little bit closer, only three hours. Also, Basel, the border from Basel, it’s just about three hours. And that obviously has changed travel behaviour of people very much. I know in Australia, you take the aeroplane for travelling from one city to the other. But here in Europe, between many destination, the train is the first choice. The best example is really Zurich to Paris or Basel. There is also an international airport at Basel, Paris. There are no flights between Basel and Paris anymore. It just didn’t pay off anymore for the airlines.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Yeah. As you say, for someone from Australia or even, I guess, the States where flying is always the first choice, that’s quite incredible.
Andy Nef
Yeah. And what What you always have to keep in mind is that the travelling time, the actual travelling time by train, might look longer. But there is no check-in procedure when taking a train. And the trains are leaving from the main or central stations, meaning from the heart of the city. Immigration takes place, well, sometimes there is not even immigration anymore, since Switzerland is also part of the Schengen area. If there is immigration, it happens on the train while travelling and you take your luggage with you. There is space on the train. In the end, when you add all this up, travelling by train is faster than travelling by plane. We talk about a four-hour perimeter where travelling is faster by train than by plane. So within four hours around Switzerland, there are quite a lot of important cities in our neighbouring countries which are very easily connected by train.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Yeah. And not only that, sitting back on a train for four hours is much more comfortable than sitting on an aeroplane for four hours.
Andy Nef
Yeah, there is another big difference. I mean, what do you see when travelling by plane? When you see some clouds, you see one minute of view when you take off and you see another one or two minutes when landing, but not much more, right? And when you travel by train, even at high speeds, you can still enjoy the views. And believe me, especially when travelling through the Alps, they are stunning views.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Definitely another good reason to travel by train. Now, how regular are these services from neighbouring countries? Is there only usually one service a day or are they more frequent than that?
Andy Nef
Yeah, well, that’s a very important question. As you know, in Switzerland, we have a very, very regular public transport service, meaning on the main lines, there are trains like every 30 minutes. And that’s the reason why we don’t book seats here in Switzerland when travelling domestically. Now, when going abroad, when crossing the border, the connections are not that frequent anymore. And it really depends on the destination on how many trains you have per day. But we are talking about regular services still. I mean, there are seven or more trains between Zurich and Paris per day. There is a train every 2 hours between Zurich and Vienna. There is a train every two hours between Zurich and Milan. And there are even various connections a day between Munich. So it’s not that you have only one connection per day. You have several connections per day, but not on an hourly basis.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Yeah, but there should definitely be something going at a time to suit everyone.
Andy Nef
Absolutely. Yes.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Okay, so we’re going to talk in a little bit more about the Swiss Travel Pass and the benefits. But I wanted to ask you about for those visitors who are visiting other countries, countries and then coming to Switzerland, they probably would be considering buying a Swiss Travel Pass, which obviously is only valid in Switzerland. So if they’re coming from one of the other neighbouring countries, where are the stations from where their Swiss Travel Pass either starts or finishes?
Andy Nef
Yeah, that used to be, how to say, a little bit difficult in the past when you really had to get a ticket from the border to the final destination in one of the neighbouring countries, but it has changed a lot in the last few years. You remember I was talking about seat reservations in Switzerland, which are not required, but the very big difference is taking an international train. As soon as you take a train from one of the Swiss cities to a destination in one of the neighbouring countries, you have to book your seat. And on many connections, I’m talking about France, Italy, also some German destinations, you get the ticket and seat reservation in one piece. So nowadays, you receive a passholder fare when travelling with a Swiss Travel Pass. That means for the Swiss part of the trip, you don’t have to pay. But it’s all in one ticket, ticket and seat reservation all in one piece.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Okay. So So when you purchase your international ticket, obviously at the station, they will calculate the distance or the point where you need to pay the fare for so it’s very important. You just mentioned that you buy the ticket at the station. This might be too late.
Andy Nef
Nowadays, I really highly recommend to buy the tickets as early as possible. Most of these trains provide early booking. For example, you can get your seat up to three months in advance on certain lines, even earlier. And I mean, as soon as you have made your travel plans, I recommend to book the trains. And for example, when you decide travelling, I mean, normally you make your travel plans ahead of time. And Should there be a change, a last minute change, you can still do that at the railway station. But some of these trains can be pretty well-booked, and it might be difficult to find a seat on your connection of choice. Sometimes you would then need to take an alternative, like travelling very early in the morning or travelling pretty late in the evening. And that’s why I always recommend to get everything as early as possible with one of our distributors.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Okay. All right. So if, let’s say, someone is coming to Switzerland, they’ve already purchased their Swiss Travel Pass in advance, and they’ve purchased their ticket for the international sector, for example, if they’re coming from Paris to Zurich, once the train gets into Switzerland, do they just need to show their Swiss Travel Pass to the conductor?
Andy Nef
They would probably be asked to show it even earlier. Even the French conductors are very familiar with all the offers. And since it is stating on the ticket that it is a passholder fare, the conductor will ask for the pass beforehand.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Right.
Andy Nef
So just have that in mind. That runs together. Yes. And then once you arrive to Switzerland, you have your Swiss Travel Pass and you are free to go.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Fantastic. So that brings us to the next topic, the Swiss Travel Pass and all the benefits that it offers to visitors. Let’s just start by asking, why should a visitor to Switzerland buy a Swiss Travel Pass?
Andy Nef
That’s a question we get asked quite often because we all know travelling in Europe, and especially in Switzerland, is not very cheap. And when you look, when you have a first glance at the Swiss Travel Pass prices, you might get a little bit surprised because they are pretty high. But maybe then on the second glance, you see what it all includes. The Swiss Travel Pass, well, the name is already different. It’s not just a rail pass. For most other European countries, you receive a rail pass. You get a German rail pass or a France rail pass or a Eurail ticket. But in Switzerland, you receive the Swiss Travel Pass because it includes all the public transport in Switzerland, not only trains. The Swiss public transport network, we call it the Swiss Travel System, is a fully, how to say, integrated network of train, bus, and boat. And when we talk about buses, I mean, in many other countries, the buses are running in competition to the trains, but not in Switzerland. In Switzerland, the buses are complementing the trains, right? Now, just imagine you have these mountains, you have the Alps, and there are many, many valleys, remote valleys, and there are no railway lines leading into these valleys.
Andy Nef
So it’s the bus taking you there. And in many cases, it’s still the postal bus, as we call it, which is taking people to the remote villages up in the mountains. So the first part would be train. And once there is no train line anymore, it will be a connecting bus taking you farther.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Yeah, and you can get to some pretty remote places, as you mentioned, can’t you? I know on my last trip, I wanted to go up into the Verzasca Valley in Ticino. And from Locarno, there’s a bus that runs up there because obviously there’s no train. So you can really get to some very remote places.
Andy Nef
Yeah, you wouldn’t believe to what kind of places you can get by by Postal bus here in Switzerland. Then Verzasca, that’s just one of the most romantic valleys in Switzerland. One of my favourites by the way. And that’s just one of these examples. Yes. I mean, I think there’s hardly any place in Switzerland which cannot be reached by public transport. And just to give you an example, I mean, I’m obviously above 40. And I bought my first car three years ago. And before I was using public transport only. And there are many people living in Switzerland, well, mainly in the cities, who are not having a car because public transport is so good.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Yeah. Now, you mentioned there the postal buses. They’re called that because they were originally used to deliver the mail. Is that correct?
Andy Nef
That’s correct. And in the very old days, it was still a carriage, horse and carriage, right? And then it was… These were… Nowadays, most of them are not even transporting mail anymore, but they’re still called the Postbus. Yeah.
Carolyn Schönafinger
And you can’t miss them with that distinctive yellow colour.
Andy Nef
You can’t miss them with that distinctive yellow colour. And they have a very special horn as well. I don’t know whether you have heard that already. But especially in the remote areas where the streets are pretty narrow, they always have the right of way. And they are announcing their approach with a very special horn sounds.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Something to listen out for on the next trip.
Andy Nef
Absolutely.
Carolyn Schönafinger
So as well as the trains and trams and buses and boats, which are all included with the Swiss Travel Pass, people can also use them on the premium panoramic trains, can’t they?
Andy Nef
We were talking about the premium panoramic trains in the last podcast already. And I mean, especially for people from Australia, it’s a must to take one of these premium panoramic trains here in Switzerland. And there is quite a selection of those. We are considering five of these panoramic trains as premium panoramic trains. To start with is the Glacier Express. That’s probably the most famous one, connecting world famous St. Moritz with Zermatt. That’s also the longest time you can spend on a single train in Switzerland with eight hours. There is another very beautiful connection called the Bernina Express. That’s more in the southeast of Switzerland, connecting Chur and St. Moritz with Tirano. That’s already in Italy. From there, you can take the bus back to Lugano in Switzerland. Then we have the Gotthard Panorama Express. The Gotthard Panorama Express is connecting Luzern by boat to Fluelen across Lake Lucerne, and then by panoramic train across the Gotthard Pass. That’s, how to say, a masterpiece of engineering. When they built this railway line more than 100 years ago, you will see once you travel on this line how spectacular it is. Then we have the Golden Pass Panoramic, which is connecting Montreux in the western part of Switzerland, the French-speaking part of Switzerland with Interlaken.
Andy Nef
And last but not least, we have the Luzern Interlaken Express. That’s a two-hour journey from Luzern to Interlaken. So these are the five premium panoramic trains, but there are so many more scenic routes or theme routes, you name it.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Yeah. So all those premium panoramic trains are included with the Swiss Travel Pass. And we’re going to do another episode just on those panoramic trains. So we’ll speak more about it then. But just so folks know that there is a seat reservation that they have to pay a little surcharge for if they’re travelling on those trains, if they have the Swiss Travel Pass.
Andy Nef
Yeah, that’s a very important point. And it’s the same story as with the international connections. They should be booked as early as possible, especially in summer, in high season. Those premium panoramic trains can be rather full.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Yeah. And And you would hate to miss out.
Andy Nef
Absolutely. That’s the reason for coming to Switzerland, right?
Carolyn Schönafinger
Exactly. Now, there are also some free mountain excursions that are included with the pass. What can you tell us about those three?
Andy Nef
First of all, we all know that Switzerland is in the middle of the Alps, right? And there are countless mountain peaks and then almost many of these countless mountain peaks can be reached either by cable car or mountain railway. And there are a few peaks which are included in the Swiss Travel Pass, so you don’t pay anything. That’s Mount Rigi. Mount Rigi, that’s in central Switzerland in the Lucerne area. A beautiful cogwheel train ride going up to the summit. It’s not too high, meaning that it can be accessed by almost everybody. It’s about 1,700 metres above sea level, and especially in winter, you’re most of the time already above the clouds. And you can do some easy hiking up there. And well, it’s the perfect half day trip out of Lucerne. Another mountain peak which can be reached free of charge is the Stanserhorn. Stanserhorn is also in the central Switzerland area. They have an open air gondola going up there, a Cabrio, as they call it. You can actually ride on the rooftop of the gondola all the way up to the mountaintop. This is really-
Carolyn Schönafinger
That’s for someone much braver than me.
Andy Nef
Don’t worry. It’s all safe, I guarantee for that.
Carolyn Schönafinger
I’m sure it’s safe. I’d have my eyes closed so tight.
Andy Nef
Yes. For the ones like you, there is also space in the cabin.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Yeah, good. Everyone’s catered for.
Andy Nef
Then last but not least, we have the Stoos. The Stoos is actually not a mountain. It’s more like a high plateau with a small village. But there is another superlative. It’s the steepest cable car in the world. And they just renewed the whole thing a few years ago. And you wouldn’t believe, but the cabin is adjusting to the grade so that the cabins are turning. So that you can always stand upright.
Carolyn Schönafinger
And they look like they’re shaped like a barrel.
Andy Nef
Yeah, you’re right. And that’s how they just make the trip more comfortable for yourself. And so these are the mountain tops which can be reached free of charge. But as I mentioned before, there are so many mountain tops. And to most of those, you still get a reduction. It’s up to 50 %, which you get a reduction for. And that’s still quite a lot of money because those mountain top excursions are rather expensive. So with the money you save, you can easily have lunch on top in the restaurant.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Yeah, just sit there and enjoy the views for a little bit longer.
Andy Nef
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Now, another thing that is included with the Swiss Travel Pass are museums. I believe there’s over 500 museums that offer free entry. So I’m assuming they’re not just all little local museums?
Andy Nef
Yes, that’s a huge added benefit. And many people don’t realise what they get, what they have in their with the Swiss Travel Pass. You said more than 500 museums, and those museums are all over the country. And those museums, some of these museums are, you wouldn’t think of museum when you see it. One example is the Glacier Garden in Luzern. I don’t know, have you been there already?
Carolyn Schönafinger
Yes.
Andy Nef
And I mean the Glacier Garden, that’s more like a nature park than a museum, right? But it’s considered to be a museum, so you don’t pay any entrance fee there. And as you know, we have a lot of history in Switzerland, and there are still quite a lot of castles all over the country. And many of these castles and historic buildings are considered to be a museum. Best example is the Chillon Castle, just off Montreux. It’s a castle built in the middle of the lake. On an island, and you just don’t pay anything for going in there. And just to give you an example, a regular entrance fee for an adult there is 13,50 francs. But with the Swiss Travel Pass, you don’t pay anything, right? And there are many other things. And there are quite a lot of UNESCO World Heritage sites here in Switzerland. One is the Abbey Library of Sankt Gallen, UNESCO World Heritage. Beautiful old building with books. I mean, some of these books are hundreds of years old, and you don’t pay a single cent for going in there with the Swiss Travel Pass.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Yeah.
Andy Nef
That’s right. It could go on and on and on.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Give us a couple more examples.
Andy Nef
Yeah. Well, for example, there are quite a lot of international organisations organisations in Switzerland. One is the Olympic Committee, is based in Switzerland. And there is the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, right at the shore of the lake. And again, free of charge with the Swiss Travel Pass. The International Red Cross organisation is based in Geneva. They also have a museum. It’s free of charge. And there are many, many well-known art museums all over Switzerland. For example, the Basel Art Museum, free of charge with the Swiss Travel Pass. For the ones who like football or soccer in Zurich, is the FIFA, the World Football Museum. A very interactive museum, pretty new. It’s worth a visit for the whole family. And the regular entrance fee is more than 20 Swiss francs. But with the Swiss Travel Pass, you don’t pay anything.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Yeah. So you only have to be visiting one museum every day or so, and you’ve really got great value.
Andy Nef
When I go to a museum, I normally spend hours in a museum. But obviously, you’re not in Switzerland for visiting museums. There are so many other things to do. But maybe on a rainy day, and it doesn’t make sense to go up on a mountaintop because you won’t see anything at all, why not visiting a museum? Or once you arrive to the new destination or you return from a day excursion, let’s say at four o’clock in the afternoon, why not having a peek into the museum, maybe for one hour?
Carolyn Schönafinger
Yeah, absolutely. And where do people find the list of all the museums that are included with the Pass?
Andy Nef
Yeah, well, that’s a very good question. There is a website of the Swiss Museums. Well, this is already an existing product. That’s what you have to know. It’s called the Swiss Museum Pass, and it was originally introduced for the Swiss, which could buy an annual pass. And now we are buying this Pass for our Swiss Travel Pass guests. And there is a website which can be visited. It’s museumspass.ch.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Okay. I’ll include a link to that in the show.
Andy Nef
Yes, please do that. Since it’s very German. But there you find a list and you also find a search function. So you can search for destination, you can search for the topic you would like to visit, you can search for the canton. That’s how our states are called and so on.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Okay. Well, it’s certainly, there’s no doubt that the Swiss Travel Pass offers excellent value because as we’ve covered, people can not only travel around the country for free, they can go to all those museums, they can go to a few mountain peaks for free, and then they get excellent discounts on many, many other mountain excursions. So it’s really just the one all in one ticket that people need for their visit.
Andy Nef
Yes. And the Swiss Travel Pass gives you max flexibility.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Yeah.
Andy Nef
As As we mentioned before, no seat reservations required on the regular trains or the postal buses or the boats. You just hop on and hop off. Normally you get this hop on hop off buses in a city. In Switzerland, you get the whole country hop on and hop off. With this travel pass, right?
Carolyn Schönafinger
Great. Okay. Now it’s available in a number of different durations, three, four, eight, and 15 days. And you can also purchase a consecutive a pass and a flex pass, can’t you?
Andy Nef
That’s right. So the consecutive pass is for the people who are travelling day by day. And I’d say that most Australians coming to Switzerland or Americans They would probably get the consecutive pass because they are travelling every day and they make use of the pass the most, right? And the flex pass is valid for one month. And within this monthly period, you can choose the dates of travelling. That’s the main difference between those two passes. And obviously, with the flex pass, you only got all those benefits on the days you have selected.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Sure. Yeah. Okay. And now if people are coming and they’re travelling with their children, there’s a really great offer for children, isn’t there?
Andy Nef
Absolutely. We are very family friendly in Switzerland, so the children don’t pay. At least, they don’t pay for the Swiss Travel Pass, right? So there is a so-called Swiss Family Card. Only the adults require a Swiss Travel Pass, and the children, they travel free of charge with this Swiss Family Card. And the same discount also applies for all the benefits I was mentioning.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Yeah. And the Family Card, whereabouts do they purchase that?
Andy Nef
They get it together with the Swiss Travel Pass. Yeah.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Fantastic. Okay, so I think we’ve covered pretty much everything. Well, we can never cover everything. We’ve talked a lot about the Swiss Travel Pass and all the benefits.
Andy Nef
There are still so many things we can talk about. Yes. So many things to discover, so many things to see.
Carolyn Schönafinger
That’s great. So as I mentioned earlier, we’re going to record a couple more episodes in the future where we’ll be talking about the Panoramic trains, the Grand Train Tour, and another episode where we’ll cover some of the mountain excursions and some of the more off the beaten track routes that the people can enjoy.
Andy Nef
I’m looking forward to share more information with you.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Yeah, that’s wonderful. Thank you very much, Andy. We really appreciate you joining us again.
Andy Nef
Great pleasure.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Until next time, we’ll say take care. Looking forward to our next chat.
Andy Nef
Absolutely. Take good care and very looking forward talking to you again.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Thank you so much for listening. For more great resources on planning a trip to Switzerland, make sure you visit holidaystoswitzerland.com, where you will find trip planning tips, destination guides, information on transport, including Swiss rail passes, and much more. You’re also encouraged to join the Switzerland Travel Planning Group on Facebook, where you can ask questions and chat to other past and future travellers to Switzerland. You’ll find show notes from today’s episode at holidaystoswitzerland.com/podcast, and be sure to subscribe to the Holidays to Switzerland Travel podcast so you never miss an episode.
You can see the full show notes and listen to this episode > here.
