If you plan on traveling by
train, you should spend some time researching
the train schedules. Make
note of train departures and arrivals at each
destination as well as seat reservation
requirements. Depending on your
itinerary this may not be an issue but if you
are traveling multiple days to
different destinations you need to give it some
serious thought.
Consider
when you will arrive, how long you will stay to
accomplish everything you want do and when you
think you may depart.
Keep in mind
that you are using your 'best guess' to figure
all this out. Most routes will have
multiple trains every day or even multiple train
every hour and this provides you some
flexibility to adjust your schedule should you
decide to leave a location early or stay longer.
Avoid wasting time waiting at a station for your
train
If you arrive at a
destination and are only planning to staying
a couple hours before departing to your next
destination, upon your arrival make sure you
know departure times of the trains you may
want to take. The goal is to avoid
returning to the station only to find out
that you have just missed a train and have
to wait an hour for the next one when you
could have spent more time doing other
activities.
If there are multiple
train departures and you are not tied to a
specific train, make note of the different
departure times around the time you think
you may want to leave. This will give
you some flexibility to adjust your schedule
should you decide to leave early or stay
longer.
The great thing about
most trains is that you simply arrive and get on.
With exception to trains like the Eurostar, most
trains do not require
you to arrive hours prior to your departure,
check bags or even go through security like you must
do when you are flying. Trains are
timed to the minute, so don't be late or you may
miss it.
When researching trains, consider the following:
- Possible
arrival and departure times
- Determine if the
train you want to take requires an actual
seat reservation
- Make note of the
travel time from your original to each
destination
- Based on your
arrival time, be sure you have enough time
for your planned activities before having to
depart
Train Schedules -
Mobile Application
We highly recommend installing the DB Navigator
App on your phone to assist you with
train schedules.
The app also shows
each stop, time and platform that makes
traveling by train much easier when making
connections.
See our
Trains Tips
page for more information.
Train Seat
Reservations
As you research your
trains, you may find that some require an
actual seat reservation while others do not.
See our page on
Train Seat Reservations showing you how
to check if the train you want to take requires that you make an
actual seat reservation.
Train Direction
Trains work similar
to subways. Each train has a departure
point and an end point. You want to
travel in the direction of the end point
where your train has a stop at an
intermediate point if you are not
actually heading to the final end point.
Your destination may
not be the train's final end point. For
example, if you are travelling from Geneva
Switzerland to Lyon France, the final
destination of your train may actually be
Marseilles France but it stops in Lyon on
the way where you will depart.
Create Trip Activities and enter the train
details into the Pre-Trip Activity Notes
to track your train schedules.
Use Google to Search Train Schedules |
The following example illustrates
traveling by train through Switzerland
from Interlaken to Grindelwald, Gindelwald
to
Zermatt and Zermatt to Lausanne with
several stops in between to explore
some castles in the area. |
|
Use Google
to search train routes and
schedules.
Enter something
like:
Interlaken to Grindelwald
You should
get a display similar to the image
on the left.
Click the
map image to take you to an
interactive page where you can
adjust the travel dates and times and
then select the train you are interested
in. |
|
Interactive Train Schedule Page |
|
This interactive
page allows you to select the date
and time of your train and displays
the schedules.
Select
the 'Details' link to display more
information about a specific train.
|
|
Details Expanded |
|
Details for the
selected train showing primary
stops, platforms and other
information.
Clicking the
down arrow will expand to give you
even more information such as
intermediate stops.
Select 'Schedule Explorer' to show
alternative train times. |
|
Example Switzerland Trip |
Create a Trip
Activity and select the activity
type of Train or Tourist Train as
shown below and give it a title such
as 'Trains Switzerland'. You
can then enter your train schedule
notes in the
Pre-Trip Activity Notes section.
Save important
information such as to
departure-arrival points, date,
duration, schedules and other
important notes. |
|
Interlaken-Grindelwald |
Grindelwald-Zermatt |
Zermatt-Lausanne |
|
Interlaken (Ost)-Grindelwald
26 Sep
Approx: 45m
-Trains every hours at: x:05a and
x:35a
Starting at 6a |
Grindelwald-Interlaken
(Ost)
28 Sep
Starting at 6:22a
-Trains every hours at: x:23a and
x53a
Approx: 45m
Interlaken (Ost)-Spiez-Visp-Zermatt
(Tasch)
28 Sep
Approx: 2h
-Every 30m or so, some trains take 3h
*Arrive in Tasch / Shuttle train
every 20m to Zermatt |
Zermatt to Visp
29 Sep
Approx: 1h
-2 trains every hour
Visp-Lausanne
29 Sep
Approx: 1.5h
-2 trains every hours
-Stops before Lausanne
Visp-Sion (2 castles)
30m
Sion-Aigle (Castle)
30m
2 trains every hour
-maybe for exterior photo only
-15-20 min. walk from Aigle Station
Sion-Montreux (Chillon Castle)
45m
*Lockers in Montreux, then 4k walk
to castle
-2 trains every hour
Montreux-Lausanne
Approx: 30m
-2 or more trains an hour
|
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