Use SBB first, keep a card and francs handy, and prepare offline maps for the mountains
SBB Mobile is the one near-universal Swiss travel download.
It plans journeys across trains, trams, buses and boats, and most tickets can be bought as a guest with a card, but the ticket or EasyRide check-in must exist before boarding. A Swiss Travel Pass bought without the same SwissPass login or through another seller may not appear in the app, so keep the original pass and ID available. Do not build a visitor payment plan around TWINT: TWINT Prepaid currently accepts only residents with Swiss, German, Austrian or Liechtenstein phone numbers and requires identity and address verification. Cards and contactless payments work in most visitor settings, while a small amount of CHF remains useful at remote huts, farm stalls and coin-operated facilities.
Use MeteoSwiss for official forecasts and warnings, swisstopo for free official offline maps, and Rega or White Risk only for the outdoor activities they serve. Public transport is normally better than a car app; Uber is the broadest fallback and Bolt covers a smaller set of urban markets. For food delivery, start with Just Eat CH or its website, compare Uber Eats by exact address, and ignore stale Smood listings because Smood ceased operations on 30 April 2026. In an emergency call 112, 117, 118 or 144; an app never replaces the call.
Switzerland-specific Just Eat service with broad restaurant and shop coverage plus delivery or collection ordering.
Useful second check for restaurant and grocery delivery in many Swiss cities and surrounding municipalities.
Useful for coordinating with many Swiss hosts, restaurants, guides and transfer providers when they explicitly offer it.
Best general map for Swiss accommodation pins, businesses, city walking and an initial driving route.
Free federal map app with official Swiss topography, marked hiking routes, trail information and offline map downloads.
Official nationwide journey planner and ticket app for Swiss trains, trams, buses, PostBus services and many boats.
Optional translation fallback for standard German, French, Italian and other languages, with downloadable language data.
Official Swiss forecasts, radar, measurements and federal natural-hazard warnings, especially valuable for mountain trips.
Swiss Air-Rescue app that can call its operations centre and transmit the phone's location during an emergency.
Official SLF avalanche bulletin, snow data and planning tools for trained users entering unsecured winter terrain.
Official federal and cantonal channel for location-based civil-protection alerts, warnings and instructions.
Reliable mobile internet at better prices than most travel eSIMs, with polished iOS and Android apps and support for making and receiving phone calls.
One of the biggest travel eSIM brands, with a very large destination catalog.
Known for unlimited-data plans in many destinations, at a higher price per gigabyte.
Switzerland is outside EU roaming rules; check both your Swiss plan and any EU plan before crossing the border.
Best choice for broad coverage, including rural areas.
A solid alternative; compare current prepaid offers before buying.
Good-value option when price matters most.
Good-value option when price matters most.
Good-value option when price matters most.
Good-value option when price matters most.
Good-value option when price matters most.
The essential apps for Switzerland are Uber, Just Eat CH, Google Maps, SBB Mobile, MeteoSwiss.
We've curated 13 apps across 8 categories for traveling in Switzerland, including 5 essential apps.
Uber is the top-rated ride hailing app in Switzerland. Broadest visitor-friendly ride app in Switzerland, useful when public transport or a prearranged transfer does not fit.
Local taxi apps, lek cash and offline maps matter more than global brands
Public transport first, with city and Alpine tools that prevent expensive mistakes
Carry BAM, use local transport apps, and stay on established routes
National rail, regional transit and simple card backups for Belgium
Licensed taxi apps, city-specific transit tools and euro cash backups
Use the right city ticket app, buy intercity trips from operators and always pay in Czech crowns
