How To Travel Switzerland By Train

In this article, I will share my experiences of traveling Switzerland by train for a week. This guide is based on my trip last May, where I decided to travel alone through the country of mountains, lakes, and cheese. Let’s hop on board.

In May, I traveled solo from the Netherlands to Thun, Switzerland, using the Swiss rail network as the backbone of my trip. Thun became my base for exploring some of the most beautiful places in Switzerland by train, including Spiez, Lauterbrunnen, Interlaken, Zurich, Geneva, and Montreux.

This Switzerland rail trip was a mix of mountain views, lakeside towns, quiet solo travel moments, and classic Swiss scenery. From the calm shores of Lake Thun and the vineyards near Spiez to the dramatic valley of Lauterbrunnen and the city atmosphere of Zurich and Geneva, traveling by train made it easy to see different sides of Switzerland in one trip.

For anyone planning a solo trip to Switzerland, staying in Thun is a great option. It is peaceful, well-connected, and close to some of the best day trips in the Bernese Oberland.

Because I’m traveling by train and Switzerland is a pretty expensive country, I decided to purchase a First Class Interrail Pass. This is a ticket that gives you access to unlimited rail travel throughout all of Europe.

Not every train is included, but most are. If you want to be sure which transport is included, I recommend you download the Rail Planner app from Interrail itself. You can also add your pass digitally and use it as your ticket.

The complete trip using this pass cost me 227,- EUR. (It was on sale)

It’s going to be worth it.

I chose Thun as my base because it felt like a good balance between accessibility and calm. Interlaken is probably the more obvious choice for a Switzerland train trip, especially if you want to visit Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald, or other places in the Bernese Oberland. But Thun felt a little quieter, more local, and still very well connected by train.

From Thun, I could easily travel to Spiez, Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald, Zürich, Geneva, and Montreux. The train station is central, the lake is close, and the town itself is beautiful enough to enjoy without needing a full plan every day.

For me, that made Thun a perfect base for solo travel in Switzerland. It gave me access to the mountains, but also a peaceful place to come back to at the end of the day.

I’m a photographer, as you know. That usually comes with a lot of gear that I bring to my holiday destinations. I always bring at least a semi-large backpack that fits perfectly. I believe it’s 38 liters, and it’s perfect for trips like this.

But what’s in it? I bring clothes, chargers, a one-liter water bottle, cameras (Fujifilm X-E5 and a point-and-shoot Kodak film camera), film stocks, my MacBook Air, and a book.

I probably forgot something, but that’s the most important for me. I want to hike, swim, and shoot photos. I don’t need more. What’s important is that you don’t overpack. You don’t need to bring your whole inventory on a holiday or trip.

If you’re like me and travel first class, there’s plenty of space for your bags and suitcases in Swiss trains. Overhead storage racks or just below the seats. You won’t have a problem in this country.

Traveling through Switzerland by train is one of the easiest ways to explore the country. The trains are clean, comfortable, and usually very reliable. Even when I had to transfer, it rarely felt stressful. Stations are clear, connections are well planned, and most destinations are easy to reach without needing a car.

What I liked most was that the train rides themselves became part of the trip. You’re not just moving from one place to another. You’re passing lakes, mountains, villages, tunnels, vineyards, and valleys. Some routes feel almost too scenic to be normal public transport.

For solo travel, this was ideal. I could just sit down, look outside, listen to music, read a little, or plan the next stop. Switzerland by train gives you a lot of freedom without making the trip complicated.

Switzerland is known for its many great hikes. Everywhere you go in the country, you can find a “Wanderweg” (hiking trail). In this trip, I traveled to 2 places where I hiked, both very accessible by train.

The first one was the Mürren - Gimmelwald - Lauterbrunnen trail. It starts with taking a train to Lauterbrunnen, one of the fairytale villages of the Bernese Oberland region. Then, after you’ve arrived, you can either take the cable car up to Winteregg or take a bus to Stechelberg and take the cable car to Mürren from there.

The other hike I did was at Grindelwald First. You can get there by traveling to Grindelwald by train. From there, you can walk to the Firstbahn and go up to Grindelwald first. It’s very easy to find and buy tickets online for the cable car to the mountain.

When I arrived on the mountain, it was just a short walk up to the viewpoint, and if you want to hike, you can choose to walk to Bachalpsee. In my case, it was all frozen, and there was snow everywhere, but in summer, you can hike down from Grindelwald First into Grindelwald. Very scenic hike!

Cities are very accessible as well. There are a couple of cities that I visited on this trip: Thun, Zürich, Montreux, and Geneva. One of the best things about traveling through Switzerland by train is how easy it is to move between completely different places in a short amount of time.

From Thun, I could take the train to smaller lakeside towns like Spiez, but also to bigger Swiss cities without much stress. Zürich was easy to reach for a more urban day, while Geneva and Montreux showed a completely different side of Switzerland, with Lake Geneva, old streets, and a more French-speaking atmosphere.

For a solo trip, this made everything feel very manageable. I didn’t have to rent a car, plan complicated routes, or worry too much about connections. Most places were connected by clean, reliable trains, which made it easy to explore Switzerland at my own pace.

After a week of traveling through Switzerland by train, I can honestly say it is one of the best ways to experience the country. You don’t need a car to see beautiful places. You don’t need a complicated itinerary either. With a good base, a rail pass, and a few ideas, you can see mountains, lakes, cities, and small villages in one trip.

For me, this solo trip was not just about seeing as much as possible. It was also about slowing down a little. Taking trains through Switzerland gave me time to look around, think, take photos, and enjoy the small moments between destinations.

If you’re planning a solo trip to Switzerland, I would definitely recommend doing it by train. It is easy, scenic, and flexible, and it gives you the freedom to discover the country at your own pace.