How to Reach Switzerland by Flight, Train, Bus or Car

How to reach Switzerland from outside countries? Simple it can be reached via Air, Land or Train route. Here are the descriptive details.

By Flight/Airplane - Major international airports are in Zurich, Geneva and Basel, with smaller airports in Lugano and Bern/Berne. Flying into nearby Milan (Italy), Lyon or even Paris (France) or Frankfurt (Germany) are other options though rather expensive and time-consuming (3h Frankfurt-Basel, 4h Milan-Zurich, 5h Paris-Berne) by train. Some discount airlines fly to Friedrichshafen, Germany which is just across Lake Constance (the Bodensee) from Romanshorn, not too far from Zurich.

By Train - Trains arrive from all parts of Europe. Switzerland is together with Germany one of the most central-lying countries in Europe, making it a center of railways and highways to the rest of Europe.

Some major routes include:

1. The TGV, with several trains daily from Paris, Avignon, Dijon, and Nice.

2. Hourly trains to/from Milan with connections to all parts of Italy

3. Hourly ICE (German high-speed trains) from Zurich to Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Frankfurt in Germany, many continuing toward Amsterdam, Hamburg or Berlin.

4. Regular ICE trains from Zurich to Stuttgart and Munich

5. Night trains from Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Hamburg, Prague, Vienna, Belgrade, Barcelona Rome and Venice to Basel, Geneva, Zurich and some also to Lausanne. These trains are either "EuroNight" (symbol: EN) or CityNightLine (symbol: CNL) services.

By Bus

1. Eurolines has incorporated Switzerland in its route network.

2. Due to the Bosnian war in the 1990'ies there are several bus companies serving the Bosnian diaspora, which provide a cheap and clean way of getting to the Balkans. Turistik Prošić runs from various destinations in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Switzerland.

By car - Common tourist destinations within Switzerland are easily reachable by car, e.g. Geneva from central eastern France, and Zurich from southern Germany. Although Switzerland is now part of the Schengen agreement, it is not part of the EU customs/tariff union. Therefore EU/Swiss border posts will  have checks on main roads. Swiss motorway vignettes can and should be purchased at the border if your car does not already have a valid one for the year and you intend to use the Swiss motorways which is almost unavoidable. Keep in mind when choosing means of transport that most cities do not have free parking. 

Also Read - 

• Entry In Switzerland. Visa and Passport Details for EU and Non-EU Countries 

• Travel in Switzerland by Flight, Train, Bus or Car 

• Luxury Train Service in Switzerland for Scenic View

• Travel to Switzerland. Best Holiday Destination.