Sherikovic
Traveller
5 comments
Posted 8 years ago
Hello everyone,
I'm planning a visit to Switzerland next April from Munich. First I will drop at Schaffhausen for the Rhine Falls and then will go to Zurich for a day and a half and then will have another day in Lucerne and one more day in Lugano before hopping onto Italy. I looked up so many places for cheap train/bus tickets from Zurich to Lucerne and then Lugano but couldn't find any. Do you know where I can book these tickets? Appreciate your inputs...
Sherikovic
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
You can buy a Sparpreis Europa München - Schaffhausen - Zürich - Luzern from Deutsche Bahn at [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux] - you have to enter Schaffhausen and Zürich as via destinations to get the ticket for the correct route.
For Luzern - Lugano I would buy a Sparbillet from SBB (Swiss Railways) at [u]http://sbb.ch/[/u]
Flo 8)
Sherikovic
Traveller
5 comments
Hey Flo,
Thanks a lot for these super helpful tips!! I didn't know they even exist. However, the via stops do not show up on the list, there are only the start and the destination. Got any extra tip for that?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
You're welcome. :)
On [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux], click on Zwischenhalte hinzufügen (Enter stopovers in the english version).
Sherikovic
Traveller
5 comments
Ah now it's there! Thanks!!
One more, last I hope, question. Won't then my ticket be valid only on the day of the travel I booked it for? Like if I chose the date to be on 20.03.2016 which then will be printed on the ticket and then stopped at Zurich for couple of days and then wanted to drive to Lucerne on 22.03.2016. My ticket will still be valid?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
You are officially allowed to enter two stops of up to 48 hours each (these would be Schaffhausen and Zürich then). You have to use the trains printed on the ticket in Germany only - in Switzerland you can use any train you want along the booked route, the ticket is valid 15 days.
You can see that in the example - I had to take train EC 196 to get to St Margrethen, from there I could take any train I wanted to get to Tirano.
[u]https://rail.cc/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/DSC_5312.jpg[/u]
Sherikovic
Traveller
5 comments
This is precious!!
So within Germany I'm restricted with the date and the train I've booked. But in Switzerland, I can freely choose any train to my destination as well as my stopovers as long as my ticket hasn't aged past 15 days from the day I bought it. Am I getting it clear and correct?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Officially, you can only make two stopovers of up to 48 hours each. However, in my experience no one will bother in Switzerland if you'd make an extra stop or extend the stopovers.
Sherikovic
Traveller
5 comments
I don't really want to extend my trip more than that, I just wanted to make sure that I understand the rules properly to avoid any hassle that would come along the way. Thank you so much. I appreciate your help! :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Your planned route is entirely within the official rules (two stays in Schaffhausen and Zurich). :)
BTW, the Rhine Falls are not directly in Schaffhausen itself - there are two stations close to the Falls: Neuhausen Rheinfall and Schloss Laufen.
Sherikovic
Traveller
5 comments
Yes I figured there are buses and trains that go there. It even takes about 45 mins walking, wouldn't be a bad idea to bike the way up to the falls on a sunny day though. I will just go to Schaffhausen to add it to my already seen Swiss cities, people say it's nice ;) Thanks again!
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Yeah Schaffhausen is a pretty little city itself too. :)