Which border stations your Swiss Travel Pass reaches
Your Swiss Travel Pass is a Swiss pass, so it does what it says: it carries you to the edge of the country and, on a handful of lines, a bit beyond. Here's where the coverage actually lands, border by border.
Italy: Chiasso, Tirano and Domodossola
- Chiasso on the main southern line, the standard way through to Como and Milan.
- Tirano and Domodossola, which aren't just border points but destinations in their own right. You can ride to either and back on the pass alone.
Germany: Basel SBB, Konstanz, Schaffhausen and Koblenz
- Basel SBB and Konstanz.
- Schaffhausen and Koblenz on the northern stretch.
- Basel Badischer Bahnhof is the odd one out. It sits inside Basel, two kilometres south of the border, but it's German-run, worth knowing before you look at the signage and panic.
Austria: Buchs SG and St Margrethen
- Buchs SG and St Margrethen, both covered.
- Either one is where the pass hands over if you're carrying on into Austria.
France: Geneva and EuroAirport Basel
- Geneva main station and Geneva airport.
- EuroAirport Basel, which physically stands in France. Bus 50 into the city is covered for the whole ride, French section included.
Three cross-border lines that stay covered end to end
These run through another country and your pass never blinks. See the routes for how they string together.
The Centovalli Railway, Locarno to Domodossola
Half its length is in Italy. No reservation, no supplement, nothing to arrange, just turn up. Carry on over the Simplon and you're roughly 3h 30mins through to Montreux.
The Lötschberg, Bern to Brig and on to Domodossola
Bern to Brig, then Brig to Domodossola in Italy, all covered and all reservation-free. Ask for the mountain line rather than the base tunnel, same pass, far better window.
The Bernina Express, Chur to Tirano
The fare is covered all the way into Italy, and the bus leg on to Lugano crosses Italy again. The seat, though, is a separate matter, see below.
Bernina Express reservation costs, high season and low
The fare being covered doesn't cover the seat. High season runs 2 May to 25 October 2026.
| Leg | High season | Rest of the year |
|---|---|---|
| Chur to Tirano | CHF 44 | CHF 40 |
| St Moritz to Tirano | CHF 32 | CHF 32 |
| Bus leg (Tirano to Lugano) | CHF 16 | CHF 14 |
| Both legs together | CHF 60 | — |
The Centovalli and the Lötschberg need no reservation at all, which is a decent argument for taking one of those into Italy instead if you'd rather not book ahead.
Half-price crossings: Matterhorn Glacier Paradise into Italy
From Zermatt up to Klein Matterhorn and on to Testa Grigia for the crossing into Italy, your pass gets you half price rather than free. Still a good deal for a border you cross in a cable car. More on the free-versus-discount split in what's included.
Why Liechtenstein is covered as a whole country
Liechtenstein is the exception that sounds too generous to be true. Postbuses from Sargans and Buchs SG run the entire network, and bus 11 from Sargans takes you straight to Vaduz. The country has no passenger railway at all, so those postbuses aren't a supplement to the transport, they are the transport. Your pass covers them, so it covers the country.
How to buy your onward ticket without breaking the journey
You don't need to get off, queue and re-board. Buy the foreign section as its own ticket before you travel and stay in your seat at the border.
- Work out where the covered section starts or ends, Chiasso, Tirano, Domodossola, Buchs SG, and so on.
- Buy only the non-Swiss portion. Coming from Milan to Interlaken, that's Milan to Domodossola.
- Board with both your ticket and your pass to hand.
- Stay put at Domodossola. Everything from there onwards is covered, so the guard checks your pass and moves along.
Why Tirano and Domodossola count as Swiss destinations
It comes down to who runs the line, not which side of the border the platform sits on. Brig to Domodossola, the Centovalli, and Lugano to Tirano by Bernina Express bus are all Swiss-run services, so your pass carries you the full distance. That's why you can spend a day in an Italian town on a Swiss pass and pay nothing extra.
