How to take the rail journey from Frankfurt (Main) to north-west Switzerland

Final Destination: Zurich or Chur or Basel or Interlaken or Milano

All trains also call at: Freiburg

Arriving in Basel:

After calling at Basel Bad bf (Basel Baden railway station), these trains all go on to call or terminate at Basel SBB, the city's main station, which is located to the south of the central area

So If you're heading to Basel city centre, the quickest journey is usually to leave this train at Basel Bad bf.
There are easy tram connections from Basel Bad bf station to the central area.

Remain on the train until it arrives at Basel SBB if your final destination is to the south of the city centre, or if you will be connecting into trains to other destinations in Switzerland which don't have direct trains from Germany including Biel (easy connection on to Geneve) and Brig and Visp.

However, because DB categorises the journey on to Basel SBB as an international journey, tickets can be more expensive if you book to Basel SBB.
In contrast, despite its location in Switzerland, DB applies the same fare rules for journeys to Basel Bad Bf as it does to other journeys wholly within Germany, so booking to Basel Bad bf is also a cheaper option,

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date - but this period of time is shorter when looking up journeys in August to October.

A choice of stations in Basel:

These trains call first at Basel Bad Bf station before going on to terminate at Basel SBB station.

If you want to travel to Basel Bad Bf - the city centre station, then select it from the station options in the 'To' Box.
If you want to travel to Basel SBB, select this station in the 'To' box.

However, tickets booked to Basel Bad Bahnhof are not valid to Basel SBB, so work out which of the two main stations in Basel suits your needs BEFORE you buy a ticket.
And because DB categorises the journey on to Basel SBB as an international journey, tickets can be more expensive if you book to Basel SBB.
In contrast, despite its location in Switzerland, DB applies the same fare rules for journeys to Basel Bad Bf as it does to other journeys wholly within Germany; hence tickets to Basel Bad Bf being cheaper.

A choice of tickets

Four types of tickets are available:
Two types of discounted tickets, which will be cheaper the further ahead you book - Sparpreis and Super Sparpreis
Two types of non-discounted ticket - Flexpreis Aktion and Flexpreis

A key difference between these types of tickets is refunds:

• Super Sparpreis tickets are cheapest, but they can't be refunded at all.
• Sparpreis tickets can be refunded for a fee, but the refund will be in the form of travel vouchers to be used for alternative / future journeys.
• Flexpreis tickets can be refunded at no additional charge.
• Flexpreis Aktion tickets can't be refunded either - but their higher cost is due to...

...the other key difference is that both types of Flexpreis tickets live up to their name, as they can be used on any departure on your travel date - in contrast, both types of Sparpreis tickets are only valid on the specific departures selected when booking,

Note that none of the tickets can be exchanged to a different departure.
There's no need for this to be available for both types of Flexpreis tickets, as they aren't train departure specific.
If you book a Sparpreis ticket and want to travel by a different departure you can refund it and then use the travel voucher towards the cost of the new booking.
Super Sparpreis tickets can't be exchanged or refunded.

When travelling to and from the major cities, the Sparpreis, Flexpreis Aktion and Flexpreis tickets also include 'City tickets', for Frankfurt which can be used on public transport between locations in the city centre and Frankfurt (Main) Hbf.

Seat reservations

For ticket holders seat reservations are always optional on this route, but if you will be using a rail pass they are now mandatory when travelling between mid-June and mid-August - check the Train guide for the exact dates.
Regardless of whether you will be using tickets or rail passes they cost €4.90 when travelling in 2nd Class and €5.90 when travelling in 1st class.
They are included within the cost of booking 1st class Flexpreis tickets and both 1st and 2nd class Flexpreis Plus tickets.
Specific seats can be selected from seating plans - you don't have to accept the seat(s) that you will be automatically offered.

When booking Super Sparpreis, Sparpreis and 2nd class Flexpreis tickets, you have the option of purchasing seat reservations later.
It can be worth re-looking up a journey a week or two ahead of travel, because the DB website will indicate how busy a departure will be.
Although if you do book your reservations later and your journey involves more than one train, you will then have to pay for separate reservations per train.

Booking on the DB website

You can find these direct trains more easily by making a proactive selection of 'Direct Trains Only'.

Or to see all the combinations of trains and journey options, some of which may be cheaper, take off the 'fastest connections' default.

Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so if you can be flexible with your departure time use the 'best prices' tool - at the top right on the list of journey options.