How to get to Switzerland: airports, flights and border crossings

Switzerland has three airports that matter for most trips: Zurich, Geneva and Basel. Zurich carries the most long-haul flights and sits on the main east–west rail line, so you can be in Lucerne, Bern or Interlaken the same day. Geneva is the natural landing point for Lake Geneva, Lausanne, Montreux and the Valais, and it is a short hop from Chamonix in France. Basel serves the Rhine, the Jura and southern Germany, and its terminal has a French and a Swiss exit.

Fares swing more by season than by airport. July, August, Christmas and New Year are the peak; late January to March and November are the cheapest months for flights. Long-haul return fares from the US east coast commonly land in the USD 600–1,100 band outside peak weeks, from the UK GBP 80–250 on low-cost and legacy carriers, and from Australia or New Zealand AUD 1,400–2,400. These are 2026 estimates and change weekly; the table below is a planning guide, not a quote.

Book the airport that matches your first base, not the cheapest fare on its own. A USD 150 saving into Milan can cost you a four-hour train and a tired arrival. If you are heading straight to the Jungfrau region or Zermatt, Zurich and Geneva both work; Zurich is usually faster for Interlaken, Geneva for Zermatt via Visp.

Land at Zurich or Geneva and follow the signs to the station inside the terminal. Both airports have trains every few minutes into the city, and you can buy a ticket at the machine or on the app before boarding. From Basel, a bus or a short train ride reaches Basel SBB, the main station.

If you arrive by land, you simply walk or drive across. There are no routine passport checks at the French, German, Italian, Austrian or Liechtenstein borders, though spot checks happen. Trains from Paris, Milan, Munich and Vienna cross without a stop at the frontier; keep your passport handy anyway.

From London, the train route runs via Paris or Frankfurt and takes roughly 8–9 hours door to door, which is competitive with flying once you add airport time. From the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, flying is the only realistic option; see the FAQ for flight times.

Once in the country, buy a rail pass or point-to-point tickets and leave the car behind. Driving adds a CHF 40 annual vignette, winter closures on mountain passes and parking costs in every village.

Switzerland is in the Schengen area but not the EU, so the 90-days-in-any-180 rule applies to most Western passports and customs rules are Swiss, not European. Check your own passport's rules before booking; the visa page below covers the detail.

The currency is the Swiss franc. Some businesses near the borders take euros, but you will get change in francs and often at a poor rate, so carry a card or withdraw francs on arrival. Cards work almost everywhere, including ticket machines.

Mountain roads and some rail lines close in winter, and heavy snow can delay flights at Zurich and Geneva. Build a buffer day before a fixed onward flight if you are travelling in December to March.