Switzerland by panoramic trains

Johan Pellicaan

14 jan 20245 minuten om te lezen

Bijgewerkt op: 4 mrt 2024

COUNTRY TRIP BY TRAIN

We went on a trip through Switzerland in the snow utilizing some fantastic panoramic trains. After landing in Zürich, we went to Lucerne, Gstaad, Andermatt, Davos, St. Moritz, Zermatt, Montreux, Interlaken and many more beautiful places. Hundreds of tunnels and bridges ….

The trains we had included the Excellence Class on the Glacier Express, the Prestige Class on the Golden Pass Express, the Rigi Zahnradbahn and more. We pre-booked most of our trains back in December 2023. Especially the trains mentioned above need pre-reservation to be ensured for good seats. During our trip we also used the Schweizerische Bundesbahnen - the SBB - many times.

DAY 1

We flew with KLM from Amsterdam Schiphol airport to Zürich. It was a comfortable flight, just over an hour. At Zürich airport, we took the SBB train to Zürich Hauptbahnhof. There, we switched trains to Luzern where we arrived just understanding an hour later. Just outside Luzern station are the cabs. Ten minutes later we arrived at Chateaux Gütsch. We had to take the hotel Bahn (cable train) up to the hotel as the road to the hotel was closed during an local emergency.

After check in, we took the special cable train from the hotel down the Hill to the city center. Besides the world famous wooden bridges, Luzern has a number of very old buildings with beautiful paintings in the historic center. Absolute worthwhile to walk around for a few hours.

After a few glasses of red port at the hotel we went downtown again for dinner. It was Monday and many restaurants were closed. We ended up at opus. A nice restaurant with good service in the old city.

DAY 2

On day two we stay in the Lucerne area. We decided to take a boat trip on the Vierwaldstättersee to Weggis and Vitznau. As we wanted to go up mount Rigi, we took the Zahnradbahn (Rigi Cogwheel train) from Vitznau to Rigi Kulm. On the first picture, you can see Chateau Gütsch on the top of the hills overlooking Lucerne.

There wasn't much snow - even not on the top of mount Rigi. From the top, you can walk down as far as you like to the next train stop. As did we. It was a nice day out and we enjoyed the scenery.

We had dinner at the hotel that evening.

Day 3

A quick cab drive took us back to the Lucerne main train station. From there, we took the SBB train back to Zürich and from there to Davos. A nice place further down south into the Alps. Here was saw some nice snow for the first time. The route was nice.

We ended the day in Davos. A alpine resort, known for the World Economic Forum meetings every year and speed ice skating arena. We booked the Grischa, DAS Hotel Davos, a good choice right at the ski slopes in the center of town.

We never thought we would end up on the schlitten bahn (sleigh track). We wanted to take the Schatzalpbahn up into the mountains but saw people with a sledge. We found out the rental location was next to the rail station to bring us up and ended up renting a sledge. We had tremendous fun going down, a great experience! The nice thing is that the slopes are well prepared and the cornes are all illuminated in case you want to go down in the evening.

In the evening we went out and had dinner at Padrino, an Italian restaurant recommended by the hotel.

Day 4

On day four we took the SBB train to St. Moritz. A high end alpine resort and the starting point of the Glacier Express.

After we checked into the Hotel Europa, we walked from the hotel through the forest into town. In the town, we saw strange enough a lorry dumping fresh snow. Small trucks brought the fresh snow further on the lake. They were preparing a track. A huge preparation was going on. Many hospitality tents were on the ice as well. We found out that on coming Sunday, February 4 till the 18th, the White Turf St. Moritz would start, an international horse race event on the snow of the frozen lake. A huge event with over 50.000 visitors. We were just a few days too early but this is such a nice event that I shared some pictures I found on the event website from Sunday February 4.

In the evening we had dinner at Steaks and More, a restaurant on the 7th floor of hotel Europa where we stayed. The restaurant staff was very friendly and the food tasty.

Day 5

One of the top experiences during our trip should have been the Glacier Express from St. Moritz to Zermatt.

Now one thing to take care off is that you secure you buy the 1st class ticket and the upgrade to the Excellence Class. This can be, certainly in combination with any discount cards like from Interrail, a bit confusing.

The welcome at the train was nice. "Octavio" asked us to show our reservations - what we did - and made us a warm welcome and brought us to our pre-reserved seats. The train took us from St. Moritz to Samedan, Filisur Tiefencastel, Chur, Andermatt and Brig to our end destination Zermatt. All together an 8.5 hours journey.

There was a personalized booklet "certificate" with an overview of the tour, confirming that you travelled with the the Glacier Express Excellence Class. An iPAd stand next to every chair providing information of the trip and points you to all kind of interesting points.

The service on board was absolute perfect with coffee, tea and other drinks dinner and more. The chairs are comparable with business class seat on long haul airplane trip and very comfortable.

What would we do different a next time?

A next time we would not do the trip in a single day. Instead we would take the Glacier Express in two or 3 days from St. Moritz to Chur, the next day from Chur to Andermatt and on day 3 from Andermatt to Zermatt.

All at all, the best train ride ever (so far).

Day 6

Today we took the SBB train from Zermatt to Montreux. A trip again through the Alps mountains ending up at lake Genève. Montreux is a beautiful city with amazing views over the lake and mountains.

Our hotel, the Grand Hotel Suisse Majestic, was very convenient from a location point of view, just opposite the train station. If you go by train to visit Montreux, we can absolute recommend this hotel.

During the day, we walked alongside the lake over the boulevard and had a great time. Amazing the feeling of a sunny spring day in early February. We ended the day having dinner at Restaurant 45 of the hotel.

Montreux, the city

Day 7

We took another beautiful train, the Golden Pass Express from Montreux to Interlaken. Leaving just after twelve, we took a 3.5 hour train drive to Interlaken. In comparison to the Glacier Express, the supplement to a 1st class ticket for the best class in this train (Prestige Class was an additional CHF. 49,- per person) is worth the money: very comfortable seats, a nice charcuterie and wine.

Along the way we passed many beautiful sceneries. Went over many bridges including the Pont de Flendruz with a total length of 118 meters, the most important of the 62 bridges and numerous structures along the MOB (Montreux-Bernese Oberland) railway line.

We ended up in Interlaken, the end station of the Golden Pass Express. Interlaken is nice city located between the Jungfrau mountains on the Thunersee, a large lake connecting Thun, Brienz and Interlaken.

There are many restaurants and hotels in the city. We stayed in Hotel Interlaken, a convenient 4-star hotel in the center. In the evening we went to Café Paris for dinner, recommended by the hotel reception.