Switzerland by Train: Worth the Price

Switzerland is consistently one of the most expensive countries in Europe to visit, and there's no getting around it with clever routing — a coffee and a hostel bed both cost more than almost anywhere else on this list. What that money buys, partly, is a rail network built for scenery: the Glacier Express and Bernina Express routes are genuinely designed as journeys, not just transport between two points.

Where the Alps are most accessible#

Interlaken is the classic base for the Jungfrau region — Lauterbrunnen's waterfall-lined valley and the Schilthorn or Jungfraujoch cable-car and rail routes are all within a short train ride. Zermatt, car-free and sitting under the Matterhorn, is the more dramatic but pricier alternative in the south. Lucerne offers a gentler introduction: a lake, a well-preserved old town, and mountains (Pilatus, Rigi) reachable by cogwheel train without committing to a full Alpine base. Geneva and Zurich work better as arrival points or a single city day than as the centre of a mountain-focused trip.

Getting around#

The rail network reaches deep into the mountains, and cogwheel and cable-car connections pick up where standard track ends. A Swiss Travel Pass covers trains, buses and boats nationwide for a fixed number of days and is worth pricing against a point-to-point itinerary before buying tickets separately — it tends to pay off on trips that move between three or more bases, less so on a single-region stay. Driving is an option but adds little: parking is expensive and scarce in town centres, and the trains already reach almost everywhere a first-time visitor wants to go.

What it costs#

Budget more than for any other country in Western Europe — a modest meal, a dorm bed and a short train ride each cost noticeably more than the same in Germany, France or Italy next door. The upside is consistency: quality is high and reliable across the price range, so the premium buys predictability rather than a wide gap between good and bad options.

When to go#

June–September is the window for hiking and full mountain-rail access, when high-altitude trails and cable cars are open and running to schedule; December–March shifts the same regions into ski season, with resort towns like Zermatt and St. Moritz built specifically around it. Shoulder seasons (spring and late autumn) see reduced cable-car schedules and snow-covered trail closures, so they're the one time it's worth checking specific routes' operating dates before building an itinerary around them.