Bookings/ reservations with swiss pass

Steph33

My husband and I are travelling to Switzerland in May and have purchased our 6 day swiss passes. I have been trying to book our trains but it is quite confusing, we are travelling from Como, Italy to Zermatt to start. I have tried booking the tickets but then unable to and then it also says we don’t actually need to book but then the information on the website is stating we do need to book the trains that have an R in a square but I tried to do this and it says I can’t. I am confused, can anyone please help me to understand what do to?
Thank you!

RolandP

Hello Steph33

Please kindly note, your ticket is named Swiss Travel Pass; the SwissPass is a resident product.

That said, you need a ticket from Como to the Italian/Swiss border train station: This is either

Chiasso, if you travel Como-Chiasso-Locarno-Domodossola-Brig-Zermatt
Domodossola, if you travel Como-Milan-Domodossola-Brig-Zermatt

You need to book a ticket to Chiasso or Domodossola, and from there, your Swiss Travel Pass is valid. It allows you to travel at will on all major train lines / buses / tramways / boats; therefore, you can take any train within Switzerland.

In Italy, if you travel in Italy on an EC train, you need a seat reservation. On R, RE trains, you don’t.
In Switzerland, you only need a seat reservation for PE trains.

Purchase the Italian tickets from either trenitalia.com or sbb.ch/en.

You would have to further specify the route you are intending to take to give you more acurate advice.

Kind regards,
Roland

Steph33

RolandP
Thank you so much for clarifying that, much appreciated.
I am wanting to leave from Como S. Giovanni to Zermatt station, we don’t mind where exactly we stop along the way, we would like an early train and the quickest one.
Would this mean with the Swiss Travel Pass that I need to book in all of my trips or only the ones that say PE on them? We are going around Switzerland for 6 days, we eventually end up in Zurich.

Steph

RolandP

Hello Steph33

You can look up the different schedules on sbb.ch/en.

You have to decide:

Como-Milan-Domodossola-(Brig-Zermatt) is faster
Como-Chiasso-Locarno-Domodossola-(Brig-Zermatt) is more scenic (and more reliable), especially the Locarno to Domodossola stretch is very scenic.

In Switzerland, for regular trains, you simply show up at the station, look up for the next train departure, go to the platform, get on the train, find an empty seat (free seating), and have a pleasant ride. We use our trains like taxis, no complicated train bookings and seat reservation needed.

The only train that needs a seat reservation is the PE Glacier Express, which is a touristic train.

Kind regards,
Roland

Steph33

RolandP
Thank you so much for your help.
I will look into booking the train from Como now.
Kind Regards,
Steph

RolandP

Hello Steph33

Great! Get back to us if you need further help.

For your journey, I suggest downloading the SBB Mobile app, which includes a real-time timetable and trip planner, which is very convenient for travels in Switzerland.

Kind regards,
Roland

Steph33

RolandP
Absolutely, will do.

Krist

If you choose to go the Como - Chiasso - Locarno - Domodossola - Brig - Zermatt route you do not need to book anything in advance. You first leg will be on the Como - Locarno RE. That is a regional train that has fixed prices and no reservations. Just buy the ticket at the station. The price is only 1.50, and is the same wether you buy it a minute or a year before departure…

If you choose to do the route via Milano - Domodossola you can do that on regional trains too. When looking up trains on www.trenitalia.com look up times for this week as schedules in the future may not be complete. You will see the different kind of trains. If the only type of ticket offered is “ordinaria” you do not need to buy that in advance. That is mass transit. As trivial as taking the subway.

Steph33

Krist
Thank you. I have just had a look at the prices for the Como to Locarno RE and it is saying its about $AU79. I’m not sure if I am looking it up wrong but I tried it on the website you said and it wouldn’t allow me to select anything so I have tried Rail Europe. I think I would prefer to do the Como-Milan-Domodossola-(Brig-Zermatt) as we don’t have a lot of time in Zermatt and we don’t want to miss out on doing some of the hikes.

RolandP

Hello Steph33

I suggest you to purchase the tickets with SBB, the national railway company and not with any other agency.

Simply go to sbb.ch/en or trenitalia.com and purchase a Como to Domodossola ticket, for a train that goes to Brig. The Swiss Travel Pass is valid from Domodossola.

What date do you intend to do this trip?

Kind regards,
Roland

Steph33

RolandP
Oh okay, so I book Como- Domodossola and then I can use the Swiss Travel pass for Domodossola to Zermatt? Do I need to book the Swiss trains or are we able to just rock up and get on?