For journeys to the countries listed below, you can buy tickets on SBB.ch, SBB Mobile or at the SBB Travel Centre. Depending on the journey destinations and duration, Interrail Passes are a practical and inexpensive alternative.

For journeys to the following countries, you can buy tickets for certain routes on SBB.ch, SBB Mobile or at the SBB Travel Centre. If you want to go to other places or travel around the country, we recommend that you purchase an Interrail Pass.

When travelling to the following countries, it is not possible to buy tickets from SBB (not even at ticket counters or via other channels). As an alternative, we recommend that you buy an Interrail Pass.

If Interrail Passes are not available for a country, you can get tickets through the relevant railway company.

There may be various reasons why it is not possible to make the booking and/or why an error message appears.

No timetable found.

If no timetable can be found, this may be because a timetable change is imminent. The timetable change takes place every year in mid-December (and also in mid-June in some countries). The timetable data for journeys taking place after the timetable change is sometimes only available a few months/weeks in advance (or with even less notice for regional services). 

Train, compartment or class fully booked.

It may be that the train, compartment or class you have chosen is already fully booked. Make sure that you check whether there are any seats available in another travel class or on an alternative connection.

Engineering work.

Engineering work may be taking place on the route you wish to travel and trains may still be closed for booking. In such cases, bookings are often only activated at a later date.

Booking before the timetable update on SBB.ch and SBB Mobile.

The international online timetable is updated every Thursday. We recommend that you try booking again from Thursday evening onwards.

Not possible to book the entire route.

For certain connections, the system cannot make a continuous booking. You should therefore try to split your booking. For example:

• To a larger location before the destination / from a larger location after the starting location.
• When travelling across several countries: 
  • To/from a transfer station en route.
  • To/from a border station.

However, please note that your rights / conditions as specified under international passenger rights may change.

Enquiry outside the booking period.

Depending on the country or train, journeys become bookable at different times (between two and six months). 

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 12 months in advance. 

The booking periods for the most relevant countries:

• Germany: up to max. 365 days.
• Austria: 180 day (92 days for some trains)
• Italy: up to max. 180 days.
• France: 
  • TGV Lyria (Switzerland–Paris)
    Go to the booking period openings for TGV Lyria (English)Link opens in new window.
  • within France
    Go to the booking period openings for within France (French)Link opens in new window.

When the timetable changes in mid-December.

• Please note that bookings are very limited before the timetable change (in mid-December) and can sometimes only be made a few weeks in advance.
• Booking periods open between the end of August and the end of October, depending on the country/train.
• In some countries, the opening of booking periods is staggered – for example, initially only for the Christmas/New Year holidays and/or with priority for international trains, then for long-distance services and later for regional services. It is also possible that the timetables are only published once the trains are open for booking.
• Some countries (such as Italy) differentiate between summer and winter timetables, which is why a second timetable change takes place at the beginning of June.

During engineering work.

Engineering work may be taking place on the route you wish to travel and trains may still be closed for booking. In such cases, bookings are often only activated at a later date.

Tip.

The international online timetable is updated every Thursday. We recommend that you try booking again from Thursday evening onwards.

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.).

International tickets are generally only available digitally (for scanning or as a PDF to print out yourself). As with other transport companies, digital tickets are personal and non-transferable. For this reason, you must also present a current ID document during the ticket inspection, without being asked to do so.

We need your e-mail address so that we can send you a reminder e-mail before departure and inform you of any timetable changes, delays, cancellations or platform changes. 

Therefore, please always provide us with a current e-mail address when booking so that we can send you important information about your trip at any time. Please note any information which may arrive in your e-mail inbox.

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.
• Display on SBB Mobile (only for purchases made with a login - not possible for all countries/trains).
• For tickets to Austria, NJ (Nightjet) night trains, Eurostar trains (to London) and regional trains in Italy, special regulations apply with regard to download/check-in. Please make sure you take note of these before departure.

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.

Yes, that’s right.

Go to the SBB Mobile app
Go to the SBB Preview app

Yes. You can order international tickets by telephone from the SBB Contact Center on 0848 44 66 88 (CHF 0.08/min.), as long as you can demonstrate that you are resident in Switzerland. The tickets will be sent to you by e-mail or, if you wish, by post within Switzerland. The delivery time is three working days.

If you live abroad, please use our online booking options on SBB.ch or SBB Mobile. Alternatively, please contact the railway in your country or the country where you would like to travel.

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

In some cases (depending on the country/train), self-service refunds or exchanges of international tickets are possible. In other cases, it can be done at the counter/by telephone. Please note the conditions and deadlines of the ticket you have purchased.

Help with the refund or exchange of international tickets
Fare regulations and conditions for travel to Europe

You will be shown or informed of the exchange and refund conditions when making the purchase. A refund is usually only possible up to one day before departure, provided the tariff allows for this. 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 further information, please contact a staffed public transport point of sale or call the SBB Contact Center on 0848 44 66 88 (CHF 0.08/min.) Make sure you have your order number ready.

Strikes.

If your train is cancelled due to a strike, the ticket can usually be rebooked for a train running on the same day free of charge or refunded (up to a maximum of one month after the date of travel). Free rebooking or refunds are only possible once the cancellation has been definitively confirmed by the transport company in question. To obtain such a confirmation, please contact the issuing office of your ticket.

Suspension of service on the line / timetable change.

Before your journey:

In the event of a suspension of service on the line or timetable changes published only after you book, e.g. due to construction work, your journey time may be extended and/or your train may be diverted. If the estimated arrival delay (or earlier departure time) is 60 minutes or more, you have the following options:

• You can use your original connection or another connection with the same transport companies. For trains with obligatory seat reservations, please contact the issuing office of your ticket. After your journey, you will be entitled to compensation.
  More information on compensation

OR

• You can withdraw from the transport contract and receive a refund free of charge. Submit the refund request to the issuing office of your ticket before the departure time originally booked.

If you wish to continue your journey with a train-specific ticket, you will need written proof of the cancellation or delay. 

During the journey:

If you are already travelling and are being affected by a suspension of service on the line or a train cancellation, please speak to the staff on site. After your journey, you are entitled to compensation if your arrival is delayed by 60 minutes or more.

More information on compensation
More information on delays / cancellations when travelling to Europe

You must provide written proof of the cancellation or delay. This can be information that you have received via e-mail or app. It can also be a confirmation obtained from the train crew or at a ticket counter/service point. Trains requiring reservations must be rebooked. This is free of charge. To do so, please contact your point of sale. 

The removal of the requirement to travel on a specific train not only applies to the train directly affected by the incident, but also to upstream and downstream connections for the same booking.

If possible, you should continue to use the route specified on the original ticket. If this is not feasible, the new route must be as direct a connection to the destination as possible. Freely chosen unnecessary detours are not permitted and may result in additional travel costs. Only the same transport companies as for the original booking can be used. If there is anything you are unsure about, please contact your point of sale.

Examples of what is permitted:

• Switzerland–Germany: Basel border crossing instead of Schaffhausen border crossing and vice versa.
• Switzerland–Germany: St. Margrethen/Bregenz/Lindau border crossing instead of Schaffhausen or Basel border crossing and vice versa OK provided a Zurich–Munich EC is used between St. Margrethen and Lindau (other ÖBB connections not permitted).
• Switzerland–Austria via Arlberg: St. Margrethen border crossing instead of Buchs SG border crossing and vice versa.
• Switzerland–Italy: Zurich–Milan EuroCity via Gotthard instead of Bern–Milan EuroCity via Simplon or vice versa (reservation required).
• Switzerland–France: TGV Lausanne–Paris instead of TGV Geneva–Paris or vice versa (reservation required).

Examples of what is not permitted:

• Switzerland–Austria: via Lindau–Munich–Salzburg instead of via Arlberg (OK in the opposite direction).
• Switzerland–Italy: Chiasso–Milan by Trenord (regional connection) instead of by EuroCity and vice versa.
• Switzerland–France: Basel–Paris via Strasbourg by TER/TGV instead of the direct TGV and vice versa.

Deutsche Bahn and the requirement to travel on a particular train.

For international services to and from Switzerland, Deutsche Bahn removes the requirement to travel on a particular train in the event of a delay of 60 minutes or more. This applies to Deutsche Bahn domestic services after just 20 minutes.

If the requirement to travel on a particular train is removed for a domestic service in Germany, it is not possible to choose an alternative connection via another country (e.g. from Basel Bad Bf to Munich via Zurich).

DB Goodwill Gesture.

In the event of major incidents (e.g. strike, suspension of service), DB generally offers a goodwill gesture. If this comes into effect, the requirement to travel on a particular train will also be cancelled by Swiss public transport, in accordance with the DB website. With regard to 

• purchased by date XY
• journeys from date XY to date XY
• tickets being used without a requirement to travel on a particular train until date XY

the regulations apply as they appear on the DB website. During this time, tickets for the NightJet night train can also be used for day trains, but not vice versa.

If any timetable changes affecting your journey come into effect between booking and departure, we will notify you from 14 days before departure by e-mailing you at the e-mail address you provided at the time of booking.

We will send you a travel reminder by e-mail approximately two days before departure. This will contain a link to the online timetable with the current connection.

From around one hour before departure, we will also inform you of any known delays or platform changes as well as cancellations and replacement trains. Please check your e-mail inbox for these notifications.

We offer this service for all trains travelling abroad from Switzerland. For connecting trains in other countries, you will (in some cases) receive such information from the foreign railway company itself.

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.

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.

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

Please note that, until further notice, you can no longer purchase tickets and reservations from SBB for travel abroad with bicycles, or only to a very limited extent.

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.

For luggage shipping between Switzerland and Germany, SBB offers a door-to-door luggage service in cooperation with its luggage logistics partner Tefra.

For luggage shipping to other countries, please contact Swiss Post.

When travelling internationally, you are responsible for complying with entry requirements. If you have any questions or uncertainties, please contact the embassy/consulate of the relevant country directly, or contact the responsible customs authority. Further information can be found in travel advice published by the FDFA (Federal Department of Foreign Affairs).