Guests With Special Needs

Foreign visitors who are in possession of an equivalent disability ID issued in their country of origin can also park on the disabled parking spaces. Marked parking near exits and elevators is available. Place the Disabled Badge inside the rear window or any other visible spot.
A list of the authorities that issue disability IDs can be viewed at the link provided here.

Special disabled taxi services are available for travellers who cannot make use of conventional taxi services (see link).

Car Rental:

Special vehicles adapted to the needs of people with a disability can be hired from various car rental companies and organizations throughout Switzerland. Minibuses, buses and campers are also available for hire (see link).

A phone call to the SBB Call Center Handicap at the number provided below one hour before the train is due to leave is all that is needed for a customer with impaired mobility to receive help getting on or off a train at any of the 160 suitably equipped stations on the Swiss rail network.

In Switzerland: 0800 007 102 (toll-free number)

Abroad +41 51 225 7150 (subject to a charge)

Advance notice of three working days is required for international travel and 24 hours for reservations by e-mail. Assistance is available free of charge to wheelchair users, passengers with impaired mobility, the blind and visually impaired and the mentally handicapped.

The SBB Call Center Handicap ensures that passengers with impaired mobility receive caring, first-class service before, during and after their journey.

Thanks to the modernization of station infrastructure and the acquisition of new rolling stock, travellers with a disability can now use public transport without any assistance on a number of lines.

Further information is available from the SBB Call Center Handicap or the brochure “Travellers with a Handicap”, which is available at all stations or can be viewed as a PDF file on the web site (see link).

COMPAGNA - Reisebegleitung

For passengers in need of help at train stations, there is a volunteer service called Compagna located at major train stations. This service will pick up persons on train platforms and bring them to taxis and will even accompany passengers if necessary. The service is fairly priced.

COMPAGNA - Reisebegleitung
Eschenstrasse 1
9000 St. Gallen
Tel. +41 71 220 16 07
Fax +41 71 220 16 09
e-mail: info@compagna-reisebegleitung.ch

Some hotels, group accommodation and holiday homes cater to physically challenged persons and offer wheelchair-accessible rooms and facilities.

Many scenic excursions are well-suited for persons in wheelchairs. There are also many cable-cars, boats and funiculars that are wheelchair-accessible.

Mobility International Switzerland (MIS)

Travellers in a wheelchair or with impaired mobility may find the web site of Mobility International Switzerland (MIS) to be of interest. The main job of this unit for special travel needs is to collect information on barrier-free travel worldwide and make it available to all those who may be interested. MIS is the Switzerland-wide coordinator and contact organization for various tourism projects and is committed to “Tourism for All”, including through the provision and updating of information at “Guests with Special Needs” on this Switzerland Tourism platform.

Mobility International Switzerland (MIS)
Froburgstrasse 4
Postfach
CH-4601 Olten
Tel. +41 62 206 88 35
Fax: +41 62 206 88 39

e-mail: info@mis-ch.ch

www.mis-ch.ch
www.mis-infothek.ch

Eurokey

Founded by CBF in Germany in 1986, introduced in Switzerland by ASKIO (now Agile) in 1996 and since 2000 organized and maintained by Pro Infirmis, Eurokey is a means of protecting amenities such as public toilets, stair lifts, barriers and telephones for summoning assistance against vandalism, contamination and misappropriation. Only those persons who are in possession of a Eurokey have access to the said amenities. And only those persons who can prove, through a personal interview or the submission of the relevant documents, that they are disabled and hence in need of special amenities (because they are wheelchair users or physically challenged in some other way, incl. the blind) are entitled to a Eurokey. The Eurokey can be obtained from Pro Infirmis Schweiz (see link).

Special Assistance

If you require special equipment which you prefer not to bring with you or would like to rent a wheelchair-towing tractor or electric wheelchair in order to go hiking, then this link will provide you with the information you need.