Using Public Transportation in the Alps
It may seem daunting at first, but public transport is a great way to get to and from your hike. That’s how the Europeans do it! If you aren’t used to using public transportation, it can seem intimidating at first. But, it’s almost always possible to find an English speaker who is happy to assist with your questions.
Understanding the lay of the land:
- Trains are a great way to get from the big cities and airports to local towns, serving as regional hubs. You are likely to need buses or a combination of trains and buses to get between locations in the Alps.
- Due to the topography of the mountains, moving between Alpine valleys and towns will often require several connections. Due to this, taxi services are also expensive. Just one more reason to use public transport!
Get to know timetables!
Trains are generally reliable and run on regular timetables. Bus timetables, particularly in the Alpine regions, can be complex, and change based on the time of year and day of the week!
During peak season (July and August), there are usually more buses available. At the shoulder ends of the season (June and September), fewer buses are available, with some lines not running. Bus timetables may also differ depending on the day of the week – work week, weekend, or holidays. Some are only applicable during the school year.
Always make sure you are looking at the timetable applicable to your dates. The validity period is often printed at the top of the timetable. The column headers usually indicate the days it is applicable to. Timetables will have an index at the bottom explaining what each header means.
Alpenventures Tip: Google Translate or Google Lens are great tools for deciphering timetables. Before starting your trip, download the language pack for your destination country. This way, Google Translate will work even if you have no connectivity.
Ok, so how do I find the best way to get to my destination?
- Start by looking up your journey on journey-planning platforms such as Google Maps or Rom2Rio.
- Select the date of your travels to see the most relevant information. Sometimes, particularly if you are looking for information for many months in advance if no applicable timetable is available, there will be no information for the date you entered. Don’t panic! Select a closer date to see your options. In our experience, bus timetables are often incorrect on these platforms, so we are just using this to get an overview of the options. Continue on.
- Note what options you have and the service provider for each leg.
- Visit the service provider's website to find the correct timetable applicable to your travel dates. You might need to use Google Translate to translate the page.
How to book and pay for your travels
- In some countries (see below) the train company will provide information on local bus services as well as trains.
- In others, you will need to purchase tickets separately for each leg.
Buses
- Unless expressly stated, it is not possible to book a bus ticket in advance. Simply board the bus and pay the driver directly.
- Pay the driver in cash. For this purpose, small denomination euro notes or coins are recommended.
- Some operators offer digital payment options. To pay with your credit or debit card, tap your card when boarding and when boarding.
- Many buses will have a voiceover announcing the next stop, and/or a digital display of the journey.
Alpenventures tip: If unsure, use a text-to-voice app to understand how the name of your destination stop is pronounced. We also recommend downloading an offline map in your favorite map app, and following along during the drive, so you know when you are approaching your stop.
- Many small stops are on-call, meaning the driver will only stop if requested. Watch out for the bus approaching and raise your hand to indicate to the driver you would like the bus to stop.
- To get off the bus, press the buzzer to indicate to the driver you would like to get off the bus at the next stop.
Alpenventures Tip: In some areas, accommodations (not huts!) will provide you with a free transport pass for your stay, which can be used in the local bus network. Simply show it to the driver when boarding the bus.
Trains
- Across Europe, train tickets can be purchased online via the ticket machines at the train stations or at the ticket office. Most of the time, the ticket machines have a language setting that will allow you to change the language to English.
- Most train companies offer 1st and 2nd class tickets. The difference in experience is usually not that big, while the difference in price is.
Some local knowledge by country...
Italy
- Train tickets can be purchased online at trenitalia.com, via the Trenitalia app, at the ticket machines in the train stations, or at the ticket office. You can pay with cash or card.
- Some train tickets need to be validated before you board the train. Read your ticket carefully to see if that is the case. Validation is done through machines that can be found on the platforms or on the way to the platforms. They are either green or yellow, with a credit card-like slot. Enter your ticket into the slot – the machine will print the date and time of your journey on the ticket. Once done, take the ticket out and keep it somewhere safe in case of inspection.
- Train ticket prices may increase closer to the travel date. This is particularly the case for longer inter-city travels. With that said, Your train ticket is likely valid only for the exact train you book. For this reason, we recommend not purchasing your tickets too far in advance for shorter journeys.
- There are multiple bus operators in the Dolomites, and they all operate independently of one another without any visible collaboration. In addition, there are different bus timetables during school periods (‘Scolastico’) than during school vacations. In July and August, you are safely in the school vacation period. Schools are usually back around September 10, when many bus companies change their timetables.
- Seasonal bus timetables are often published on the day they take effect. Nothing to be done about it. You can look for last year’s timetable to get an idea of the frequency of the buses, but it is not guaranteed that the same timetable will be applicable again this year.
Switzerland
- sbb.ch, the website for the Swiss train company, and their app, provide information about both trains and buses throughout the country.
- Train prices do not change closer to the travel date. Occasionally, half-price ‘super-saver’ tickets are offered several months before a trip, but these are sold out quickly.
- When buying a ticket on the SBB website, it always displays the ‘Half Fare,’ which assumes you have a travel card. You will not have a travel card unless you are a local or travel a lot in Switzerland. The full price will be displayed on the next screen, which will be double the price you initially saw.
- Tickets are often sold as ‘Point to Point’. This means that you are not locked into the specific itinerary you booked but are free to use the ticket in any way you want to advance from your starting point to your endpoint. The ticket is applicable for the entire day and can only be used one way. When buying a Geneva – Interlaken ticket, you can use any combination of trains and buses to get from Geneva to Interlaken, but you cannot use it to go from Interlaken to Geneva.
- Bus timetables are often challenging to understand (even for us!). It is best to use the SBB website for information.
Austria
- Use https://www.oebb.at/en/ to plan your journey and buy tickets. Their journey plan is particularly good, with detailed information on your journey.
- Train tickets are either full price and cancellable/changeable or discounted but not exchangeable or refundable.
France
- https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/ is the website for the French train company.
