Swiss Alps in summer
© 123rf.com / Britvich Julia
Travel to Switzerland
Flying to Switzerland
Flights to Switzerland are served by the national airline, Swiss (LX) (www.swiss.com). From the UK flights to Switzerland can also be booked through British Airways (BA) (www.britishairways.com), EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) and KLM (www.klm.com). There is also a good selection of flights to Switzerland from other countries, including direct flights from North America.
The flight time from London to Basle, Bern, Geneva or Zürich is 1 hour 50 minutes. From New York to Geneva it is 7 hours 40 minutes and to Zürich it is 7 hours 50 minutes.
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Travel by rail
Travelling from the UK, the quickest way to get to Switzerland by rail is to travel by Eurostar through the Channel Tunnel to Paris (journey time: 2 hours 15 minutes) and, from there, to Switzerland. For further information and reservations contact Eurostar (tel: 0870 518 6186, in the UK or +44 1233 617 575, outside the UK; www.eurostar.com); or Rail Europe (tel: 0844 848 4064; www.raileurope.co.uk).
Other connections from London via the main channel crossings are available (minimum journey time of about 14 to 15 hours to Basle and Lausanne, the main points of entry). There are also through trains from Spain, Italy and Germany.
There are a number of passes available. InterRail offers unlimited first- or second-class travel in up to 30 European countries for European residents of over a six month period with two pass options. The Global Pass allows travel for 22 days, one month, five out of 10 days or 10 out of 22 days across all countries. The One-Country Pass offers travel for three, four, six or eight days in one month in any of the countries except Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro. Travel is not allowed in the passenger's country of residence. Travellers aged 25 years or younger on the first day of travel receive a reduction. Children's tickets are reduced by about 50%. Supplements are required for some high-speed services, seat reservations and couchettes. Discounts are offered on Eurostar and some ferry routes. Available from Rail Europe (www.raileurope.co.uk/inter-rail).
Eurailpass offers unlimited first-class train travel in 17 European countries. Tickets are valid for 15 days, 21 days, one month, two months or three months. The Eurailpass Saver ticket offers discounts for two or more people travelling together. The Eurailpass Youth ticket is available to those aged under 26 and offers unlimited second-class train travel. The Eurailpass Flexi allows either 10 or 15 travel days within a two month period. The Eurail Selectpass is valid in three, four or five bordering countries and allows five, six, eight or 10 travel days (or 15 for five countries) in a two-month period. The Eurail Regional Pass allows four to 10 travel days in a two-month period in one of nine regions (usually two or more countries). Children receive a 50% reduction. The passes cannot be sold to residents of Europe, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia or the Russian Federation. Available from The Eurail Group (www.eurail.com).
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