There will be an option to reserve seats directly in the purchasing process. It is compulsory to have a seat reservation for some trains/countries and this may already be included in the price of a ticket. Please pay attention to the information about this in the timetable.

Have you already purchased a ticket and want to reserve a seat for your journey?

Please visit a staffed public transport point of sale or contact the SBB Contact Center on 0848 44 66 88 (CHF 0.08/min.).

Booking will become available at varying times depending on the country in question. In some cases, you can book up to 6 months in advance. Please note that bookings are severely restricted in the period before the timetable change (in mid-December and also in June for some countries) and are sometimes only possible a few weeks in advance. 

The booking periods for the most relevant countries:

• Germany: 180 days
• Austria: 180 day (92 days for some trains)
• Italy: 180 days
• France: 120 days or 180 days (TGV/ICE France–Germany).

International tickets for Europe are available online for passengers aged 16 or over. You can buy tickets online for yourself as well as for people who are travelling together with you (e.g. children of any age, other adults etc.).

International tickets for children and young people aged under 16 travelling alone are not available online. These tickets can only be purchased at ticket counters or by calling the SBB Contact Center (0848 44 66 88 (CHF 0.08/min.).

You can see the conditions and validity for offers before you confirm the booking. Please make sure you check them before you make the purchase. 

In many cases, tickets are only valid on the train that you have booked. There are certain offers (mostly saver offers) that cannot be exchanged or refunded – not even in exceptional cases. These conditions are set by the respective railway companies and cannot be changed by SBB. 

For this reason, we always recommend that you take out cancellation costs insurance. It is best to purchase this insurance the same day as you purchase your ticket – either separately online as an additional service or at a staffed ticket counter. The insurance can be purchased for a single journey or as an annual policy.

Buy Ticket Insurance Europe or annual travel insuranceLink opens in new window.
Fare regulations and conditions for travel to Europe

If a train is cancelled due to a strike, the ticket can usually be refunded or rebooked for a train running on the same day free of charge (up to a maximum of one month after the date of travel). Please contact the office that issued your ticket to request a refund.

In the event of a suspension of service on the line, please enquire as to whether your train is being rerouted, whether your ticket is valid on another connection and whether it is possible to get a free refund. Any potential free refund is only available from the office that issued your ticket.

You will be shown or informed of the exchange and refund conditions when making the purchase. Refunds are generally only possible up until one day before departure. The deductible shown at the time of purchase will be applied (this can be as high as 100% depending on the train or offer). 

If necessary, contact your cancellation insurance provider to have the costs covered for insured reasons.

A tip for your next trip: purchase your cancellation costs insurance the same day as your ticket – either separately online as an additional service or at a staffed ticket counter.

For a small number of offers, a partial refund is possible even after a train has departed if a passenger has confirmation of non-use – but usually only up until one month after the travel date at the latest. Please note that the person who was supposed to travel must provide the confirmation of non-use.

Please contact the office that issued your ticket to get a refund. You must have the original ticket to do this. For international tickets purchased online at SBB.ch, please go to a public transport point of sale or call the SBB Contact Center on 0848 44 66 88 (CHF 0.08/min.).

Interrail offers Interrail Passes for both individual and multiple European countries.

We recommend you check the timetable a few days before the journey you have booked or want to make so you can see whether there are any timetable adjustments.

Tip: search the timetable on SBB Mobile and save the connection you have chosen (“Add to My Trips”). You will therefore be automatically notified if there are any changes.

You can receive 25% of the transport price as a refund if the delay was 60 minutes or more. You can be refunded 50% of the transport price for a delay of 120 minutes or more.

You can find international connections that permit you to take your bike on the train (excluding Italy) by visiting the route planer (hafas.bene-system.com) and selecting the number of bicycles from the drop-down menu ‘carriage of Bicycles required’.

In France, bicycles and trailers can be transported free of charge on regional trains, provided there is enough space. Tandem bicycles can only be transported in trains with luggage vans.

Please contact Swiss Post to have your luggage transported from Switzerland to Germany or Austria.

The following shipping options are available for transporting luggage from Germany to Switzerland.

The following options are available for presenting international tickets on the train:

• Printed on white A4 paper (print@homeLink opens in new window.).
• Displayed as a screen ticket/PDF on a mobile device.

Please note that an internet connection is required on the train in order to display your ticket as a screen ticket/open the PDF. To be on the safe side, we recommend that you save the PDF from the confirmation email to your device before you travel.