30 reviews for Ultimate Guide to Swiss Transportation
Customer photos and videos
David Gerlach
My wife and I completed a 16-day trip to the Jungfrau Region in August 2026. I became familiar with the Aplins back in 2021 as we began to dream of visiting Switzerland. It all looked so beautiful and their descriptions and video footage of the trains, boats, funiculars, trams and gondolas looked so exciting. I purchased the Swiss Transportation guide as we began to do our research in anticipation of the trip. Of course we had been watching their YouTube videos, but the guide gave us the specifics of which pass to purchase. Based on the Aplins’ insights, we ended up buying the Swiss Half Fare card and the Berner Oberland Pass, as well as several point-to-point tickets. We also took the GoldenPass Express to Montreux and to Luzern based on the Aplins’ recommendation. On our train ride from the Zürich Flughafen to Lauterbrunnen, we were asked to show both our first-class tickets and our half-fare cards. We were prepared for that moment, thanks to the Aplins. The ticket inspector was satisfied with our documents and we breathed a sigh of relief--we passed the test! Thank you, Brett and Jana! I appreciated Brett’s SBB app tutorial and all the work he put into the transportation spreadsheet. The SBB app is by far the easiest way to purchase tickets, plan routes and get departure times, even for the local buses. Combined with the SwissTopo information for each form of transportation AND real-time schedules, we navigated the region with ease. It was so nice to just get on board, without having to fuss with tickets. Transportation can be intimidating at first and it sure looked complicated before our trip. This guide gave us the confidence we needed to not only book our transportation, but how to save money and time. After a few days in-country, we felt like locals. For what it’s worth, we would recommend spending the extra money on first-class tickets and passes. We felt like it was worth the extra cost to have more space and better seats/views (especially on the boats). We highly recommend this guide to anyone traveling in Switzerland. It is well worth the cost!
Chris Dickenson
10 Reasons to Use Jana & Brett's Guides 1) Their recommendation for what travel passes to use based on locations and how many days at a location were invaluable. We spent 2 nights in Lucerne, 5 nights in Grindelwald, and 1 night in Zurich. Our Half Fare card and Jungfrau Travel passes were the perfect combination and I never would have figured that out on my own. The Swiss Transportation guide is worth its weight in gold! 2) All of the little tips you shared throughout all of the videos - like where to sit on the Lucerne to Interlaken Express. Also, loved their recommendation to get a corn dog from Betty’s in Lauterbrunnen. Yummy! 3) How to note little things like, if it says “1” inside the train car, that’s First Class. My husband started to sit down in that section and I immediately told him we couldn’t. We saw lots of people being told to leave that section, too. I never would have noticed that if they hadn’t specifically mentioned that in one of their transportation videos. 4) The video for how to use the SBB Mobile app - SO GOOD! We did not rent a car the entire time we were there and I felt like I became a pro using that SBB Mobile App. Their video showed how to use it and even how to expand the route to see the stops, etc. 5) Their recommendation to to only bring carry-on bags - another great suggestion (especially as we are in our early 60’s)! Luggage storage on the trains was at a premium, but we were able to put our carry-ons on their sides and stick them behind/between the train seats. They fit perfectly there and were within sight. We saw so many people struggling with immense suitcases on the trains and had to stand as there was nowhere for their bags. 6) Stacey was amazing at answering my questions and concerns - their customer service is A++++. 7) I don’t know that Thun would have been on our radar if not for Jana & Brett. Thun was our favorite city to visit by far! It is like Lucerne but far quieter and more charming. For us it had a bit of a dreamy quality. 8) I appreciated that their videos weren’t just factual - they were fun and often amusing to watch. :) 9) We saved money! The money spent on our guides was easily recouped by all of the valuable information shared. Tips about which travel passes to use was key, but also the advice of eating out for only ONE of the meals and utilizing grocery stores, GoodToGo, or "breakfast included" hotels. 10) The guides gave my husband and I so much peace before and during our Switzerland vacation - and that's invaluable.
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Ultimate Guide to Swiss Transportation
We had a very successful trip and really appreciated the learning we did ahead of time with the Swiss Transportation packet we purchased from you. It helped us pick out the ideal pass combo (Half fare cards and Berner Oberland pass, holiday cards for Appenzell). AND it helped us feel (pretty) confident as we started our public transportation journey after a overnight flight from the US. It was pretty easy to catch onto after that.
We will surely direct others to your site and other resources. Thanks for being our Swiss friends.
Carol and Tim
North Carolina
My wife and I completed a 16-day trip to the Jungfrau Region in August 2026. I became familiar with the Aplins back in 2021 as we began to dream of visiting Switzerland. It all looked so beautiful and their descriptions and video footage of the trains, boats, funiculars, trams and gondolas looked so exciting. I purchased the Swiss Transportation guide as we began to do our research in anticipation of the trip. Of course we had been watching their YouTube videos, but the guide gave us the specifics of which pass to purchase. Based on the Aplins’ insights, we ended up buying the Swiss Half Fare card and the Berner Oberland Pass, as well as several point-to-point tickets. We also took the GoldenPass Express to Montreux and to Luzern based on the Aplins’ recommendation.
On our train ride from the Zürich Flughafen to Lauterbrunnen, we were asked to show both our first-class tickets and our half-fare cards. We were prepared for that moment, thanks to the Aplins. The ticket inspector was satisfied with our documents and we breathed a sigh of relief–we passed the test! Thank you, Brett and Jana!
I appreciated Brett’s SBB app tutorial and all the work he put into the transportation spreadsheet. The SBB app is by far the easiest way to purchase tickets, plan routes and get departure times, even for the local buses. Combined with the SwissTopo information for each form of transportation AND real-time schedules, we navigated the region with ease. It was so nice to just get on board, without having to fuss with tickets.
Transportation can be intimidating at first and it sure looked complicated before our trip. This guide gave us the confidence we needed to not only book our transportation, but how to save money and time. After a few days in-country, we felt like locals. For what it’s worth, we would recommend spending the extra money on first-class tickets and passes. We felt like it was worth the extra cost to have more space and better seats/views (especially on the boats). We highly recommend this guide to anyone traveling in Switzerland. It is well worth the cost!
We watched so many of their videos, I’ve lost count. They were all so well done and super informative/helpful. We purchased this travel guide becuase transportation in this area is so different than what we typically experience. So this guide and mastering the SBB app was incredibly helpful in ensuring our time was well spent (hiking) vs waiting in lines and wasting time trying to figure things out. Time and money well spent learning and taking tips from Jana and Brett!
I just returned from two weeks solo in Switzerland and this guide was key to a great trip! I was worried ahead of time about taking trains abroad alone, but I was determined to figure it out and thanks to the Ultimate Guide to Swiss Transportation I was able to! I read it twice and it gave me the confidence I needed – and everything went smoothly, too. The visuals and tips were really helpful. I especially found the section about the SBB app very useful. Although I work in tech, I never would have taken the time to explore that app ahead of the trip if I had not read about all of the features it’s loaded with in this guide. I especially found it useful to see the entire journey ahead of time, stops, changes, train configuration, etc. I also really liked being able to follow the journey real time while on the train, especially on a couple occasions when I couldn’t see the screen in the train car. Great job on pulling this together. Highly recommend. Also love your videos with so many other tips!
I’m always a little apprehensive about using public transportation in a foreign country. This guide made me feel totally confident in using Swiss transportation. We saved money and time following Jana and Brett’s suggestions. The tip to know to press the green button to open the train door made us the envy of many fellow travelers time after time! The tutorial on using the SBB was easy to understand and very helpful in navigating the system. We never missed a connection nor got on the wrong train thanks in part to this guide. Buy it now!