Bus Travel

Switzerland's famous yellow postbuses (called Postautos, cars postaux, autopostali), with their loud tritone horns, link main cities with villages off the beaten track and even crawl over the highest mountain passes. Both postbuses and city buses follow posted schedules to the minute: you can set your watch by them. For schedules, check the Swiss PostBus website or the Swiss train web site (www.sbb.ch). Watch for the yellow sign with a picture of the distinctive curly horn. Postbuses are handy for hikers: walking itineraries are available at some postbus stops. The Swiss Travel Pass includes unlimited travel on postbuses. However, be sure to ask whether reservations are required, as is the case for some Alpine pass routes.

There's also a special scenic postbus route, the Palm Express. This route goes from St. Moritz to Lugano via the Maloja Pass with a stop in Italy. The buses run daily from mid-June through mid-October and from late December through the first week of January. From the second week of January to the first week of June and from late October to mid-December, the Palm Express schedule is curtailed and the buses run only from Friday to Sunday. Reservations are obligatory and must be made by 8:30 am on the day of departure. They can be made online, as well as at any train station or tourist office.

Contacts

PostBus. 0848/888888; postauto.ch.