[Anonymous]

6 January 2020 at 21:29:58 #824816

I’d like to get your recommendation about “train routes” of my trip to Switzerland.

We will stay in Switzerland 9 nights and 8 days (arrive Zurich on May 20th and depart from Zurich airport on 29th ). The places we’d like to visit are Zurich, Lucerne, Montreux, Zermatt, Jungfrau(Wengen) using 8 days Swiss pass. If possible, we wish to ride at least one of Glacier, Golden or Bernina express during this trip. What is the most time-efficient route to visit these places? Also, could you recommend me where we should stay? Since 3 of my family members are not very active, I wish to stay fewer number of places and make a day trips.

HL

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[rockoyster]

Reply 1 of 15 • 6 January 2020 at 22:53:45 #927515

Hello HL and Welcome to MySwissAlps,

Zurich direct to Luzern. Luzern to Wengen via Meiringen (Golden Pass part 1), Wengen to Montreux via Zweissimen (Golden Pass Part 2 and 3 including the real MOB GOlden Pass train). Montreux to Zermatt. Zermatt to Zurich via Chur or St Moritz (Glacier Express). I doubt you would have time to include the Bernina Express although you will cover the northern half of that route if you go to St Moritz. If you skip St Moritz you can do Zermatt to Zurich in a day.

I strongly recommend using the SBB Mobile app (bit.ly/2ICIUHi) for checking train, bus, boat and cable way timetables, finding fares* and buying tickets on-line if required. In the unlikely event you don’t have a device capable of running the app then you can use the timetable on the SBB website (bit.ly/2HH1U7B). If you are not familiar with using the SBB timetable it is worth first reading the instructions at http://www.myswissalps.com/timetable.

* The SBB website shows half-fare prices by default, the mobile app allows you to nominate whether to show full or half-fares (by editing the passenger details in settings) and is also smart enough to offer you the Saver Day Pass (http://www.myswissalps.com/saverdaypass) if that offers the best fare. The app can also display a platform map (at least at the larger stations) to help you make connections. You can also easily filter modes of transport (eg bus or ship).

The app (or website) will always show the fastest, most direct routes unless you tell it you want to go a longer way round by including other stations to go VIA. For example, if you wanted to follow the Golden Pass route you would need to search the SBB app looking for Luzern to Montreux via Interlaken and Zweisimmen.

Based on your personal itinerary you should read “How to choose the best travel pass” (http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass), download the handy spreadsheet calculator and do the math. The spreadsheet also includes links to the “Where it’s valid” page for all available passes. Be sure to check those pages for each pass you are considering. Study the map AND read all the text on those pages to fully understand what is covered by the respective pass.

[User]

Reply 2 of 15 • 6 January 2020 at 23:17:55 #927516

Thanks for the quick response. I will study your information carefully and get back to you with more question. The timetable and the excel worksheet will give me better idea than Google map about the distance and length of travel time between the placeses. HL

[User]

Reply 3 of 15 • 8 January 2020 at 21:53:14 #927517

Dear Rockoyster,

Based on your recommendation, I made two different tentative itineraries for my family (2 elderly and 2 young adults). I will check the actual train time table after obtaining your advice. Can you recommend which one is better, if so, why?

1. Giving up Glacier Express since it takes almost a whole day: Do you think the schedule for day 8 and 10 below are easily doable? My departure time at Zurich airport is 10:00 AM.

Day 1: Arrive Lucerne late afternoon

Day 2: Lucerne (2 nights)

Day 3: Leave Lucerne early afternoon to Wengen (3 nights).

Day 4: Jungfrau

Day 5: Grindelwald

Day 6-7: Leave Wengen to Zermatt (Zermatt 2 nights)

Day 8: Drop by Montreux and go to Bern. (Bern 2 nights)

Day 9: Bern

Day 10: Leave Bern at 6 am to Zurich airport

2. Change route from Day 6-10: Day 6 & 9 schedule is possible in one day?

Day 6: Leave Wengen to Montreux and stop by Bern for a half day. (Montreux 1 night)

Day 7: Leave Montreux afternoon to Zermatt (Zermatt 2 nights)

Day 8: Zermatt

Day 9: Glacier Express to Chur and transfer to Zurich

Day 10: Leave to Airport

Thanks in advance for your advice.

HL

[rockoyster]

Reply 4 of 15 • 8 January 2020 at 23:05:55 #927518

Hi HL,

Either option could work although with a 10:00am flight I would be included to plan to stay near the airport or at least in downtown Zurich the night before. Nothing more stressful than worrying about ether your tran will be on time. There is always that .001% risk with SBB trains.

You really need to check the timetables to work out what you are comfortable with.

I would lean to option 2 but add another day in Wengen or Luzern and do a day trip to Bern from one of those. Then go to Zermatt via Kandersteg. You will then travel on the BLS Regio-Express Lötschberger (http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-au/experiences/bls-regioexpress-loetschberger/) train over the traditional, more than 100 year old mountain route, giving you a wonderful view along the impressive peaks and down into the Rhone Valley. The faster more direct but less scenic route between Spiez and Visp incorporates the lengthy (in distance) but shorter (in time) Lötschberg Base Tunnel (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lötschberg_Base_Tunnel).

I would drop Montreux altogether. Go there next time. 😉

Of course this is just how I would arrange things but you may have different priorities. Do a bit more research.

[User]

Reply 5 of 15 • 9 January 2020 at 0:04:09 #927519

Thanks for your advice. I will exclude Montreux and refine the itinerary. Visiting Bern from Lucerne or Wengen is a good idea.

HL

[rockoyster]

Reply 6 of 15 • 9 January 2020 at 0:13:51 #927520

If you go to Bern from Luzern go one way the fastest route and the other way via Langnau. It’s a lovely train ride through the Emmental region. On your way Luzern to Wengen go to Interlaken via Meiringen and Brienz for the best scenery.

[User]

Reply 7 of 15 • 9 January 2020 at 0:47:35 #927521

Try not to focus too hard on the so called ‘scenic’ aka ‘panoramic’ aka ‘famous’ trains – which are very well marketed these days but which are not the be all and end all way of touring Switzerland. Nearly all railways in Switzerland are scenic in some way – if you don’t see high mountains you will see other icons of Switzerland such as lakes, rolling pastures, farmsteads, cows etc. – so you will rarely be disappointed with any Swiss train trip

If you get a Swiss Travel Pass, you can travel on any and all of the railway lines of the main Swiss national network, this includes any train on the so called ‘Glacier Express route‘ (which in fact is just a normal railway with lots of normal trains services throughout the day.

Parts of the Glacier Express are also mundane, and if you choose your itinerary carefully you can ride the spectacular bits of the so called Glacier Express route on ordinary trains as day trips without luggage and be able to get off and enjoy the mountain air, rather than just see the views from inside a sealed train.

Nearly all railways in Switzerland are scenic in some way, and it’s a small country so you can start anywhere you like.

A good publication to start with is:

http://www.bradtguides.com/shop/europe/switzerland/switzerland-without-a-car-3302.html

A look at this relief map will show you where the high Alps are and it shows the railways in context with the mountainous regions very well:

http://www.citymetric.com/sites/default/files/article_body_2018/02/switzerland_without_trains.png

[User]

Reply 8 of 15 • 9 January 2020 at 0:50:40 #927522

+1 on that

The Emmental route is the best way to visit Bern from Luzern. It is an ideal day trip, as the scenery in the Emmental is lovely and quintissentially Swiss – look out for all the cats that roam the Swiss meadows, I once counted nearly 40 in one train ride along the Emmental

[User]

Reply 9 of 15 • 9 January 2020 at 0:56:19 #927523

“Giving up Glacier Express since it takes almost a whole day”

The modern Glacier Express is marketed largely at organised groups from outside Europe, who go from one end to the other as part of an organised tour. It is not always the best way to ‘see Switzerland’. It is often not logical or practical to travel on the Glacier Express from a base further north (such as Interlaken or Luzern) ‘just to be on the Glacier Express’.

The Glacier Express runs roughly on an East – West axis in the southern part of Switzerland, so trying to access it from further north is falling into the trap of being lured by the hyperbolic marketing of the Glacier Express. In practice the Glacier Express is just an ‘exclusive’ train on a normal railway route with plenty of other normal – non supplement , reservation-free trains on it.

visiting Zermatt will net you more glaciers than are visible than from the Glacier Express…)

To understand some of my comments, it is worth taking a moment to understand the Glacier Express and its history:

It was created (as one train each way daily) with the notion that well-heeled travellers taking long holidays in Switzerland in the ‘Belle Epoque’ era (1930s) would stay in Zermatt and then also go and stay in the other fashionable resort of the time, St Moritz. The train was named (mainly) after the Rhone Glacier which has now melted so much that you don’t see it from the train and in any case the train runs under the Rhone Glacier in a base tunnel which replaced the Furka mountain section in 1982.

[User]

Reply 10 of 15 • 9 January 2020 at 10:44:50 #927524

Thank you to all.

Dear Rockoyster: The Trip to Bern and Wengen from Lucerne will be followed your advice.

Dear 1960Man: Thanks for your valuable advice about the famous scenic trains. It totally makes sense to me. Is it possible for you to give me a few examples of routes that “the spectacular bits of the so called Glacier Express route on ordinary trains as a day trips without luggage…”? I love the idea staying in a fewer places and make “a day” trips.

HL

[User]

Reply 11 of 15 • 9 January 2020 at 19:17:44 #927525

Hi 3717no,

if you need further information on the differences between local trains and the Glacier Express, visit http://www.myswissalps.com/glacierexpress, and read under “Regular trains versus Glacier Express”.

If you visit Jungfraujoch, I suggest to make a round trip. If you are staying in Wengen, go to Jungfraujoch then go back via Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen.

See also:

• Jungfrau region: http://www.myswissalps.com/jungfrauregion/activities
• How to get to the Jungfraujoch: http://www.myswissalps.com/jungfraujoch/gettingthere

[User]

Reply 12 of 15 • 10 January 2020 at 19:45:59 #927526

Thanks for your advice.

One more question for you. I’d like to try Andermatt – Disantis section of Glacier Express. Is this can be doable from Lucerne in a day?

Thanks.

HL

[Anna]

Reply 13 of 15 • 10 January 2020 at 20:01:54 #927527

Hi 3717no,

Yes, it is possible to do a day trip to Andermatt from Lucerne. The journey roughly takes about 2 hours. You don’t have to take the Glacier Express to get there. Just take any of the regular train and you can plan your journey using the SBB timetable (http://www.myswissalps.com/timetable).

Regards,

Anna

[User]

Reply 14 of 15 • 13 January 2020 at 11:52:11 #927528

I made my itinerary (Lucerne 3, Wengen 3, Zermatt 2, Zurich 1) and purchased Swiss Pass for 8 days. I’d like to close this topic and will reopen with different questions as I prepare details of my trip. Thanks again for your help. HL

[User]

Reply 15 of 15 • 13 January 2020 at 13:44:16 #927529

Hello 3717no,

Thanks for your clear communication, we’re glad you’ve found your main itinerary and are happy to support you with further details in any new thread you might open.

Best,
Steph

ps: feel free to consider a “trip report” once you’re done with your journey, this is the best way to contribute and share your experiences with everyone. But first of all now comes YOUR trip, of course! 🙂