Scenic train rides, best place to stay in April
A traveler, LaurieB, is planning a trip to Switzerland with a friend and seeks advice on train travel and accommodation. They want to enjoy scenic train rides like the Glacier Express but are struggling to find tickets for April. They're looking for a picturesque base near public transport and are considering places like Lake Thun, Interlaken, and Grindelwald.
- Invest in a Swiss Travel Pass for unlimited travel on trains, buses, and boats across Switzerland, providing great value and freedom to explore.
- Consider staying in Thun or Spiez for easy access to transport options and beautiful lake views.
- Look into the Gotthard Panoramic Express as an alternative scenic train ride since it starts operating in mid-April.
- If looking for a night train, the NightJet from Zurich to Cologne offers a feasible route to London with a transfer to Eurostar.
AI-generated summary-
Hello! I’ve been to Switzerland a few times (absolutely in love with it of course). This time I am coming with a friend. We are US citizens (so an get a 1st class Eurorail card) and are taking a train from Paris and then have to get back to London at some point. I LOVE trains and we wanted to splurge and do the Excellence class for Glacier Express but they don’t have (2) tickets in April. Does anyone know another place to get them or another panoramic first class experience? We also don’t know where to be based out of. We want pretty, relaxed place with a awesome view – walking distance to trains/bus/whatever. We are just taking trains everywhere so important -open to VRBO/Air BnB too. I love Murren but not too central to stay so want to visit and thought about Lake Thun?(if so where?)/Gunten?(saw the Parkhotel)/ Interlaken? Chamoix? Grindewald?(we are open). Also, any overnight trains that would be cool would awesome. Looking for first class experience to celebrate…life:). THANK YOU FOR ANY ADVICE!!!
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Hello LaurieB
Welcome to MySwissAlps.
Thank you for sharing your travel plans with us.
Like me, you are in love with Switzerland. I am British and I have been visiting Switzerland regularly since 1971. I always INVEST in a First Class Swiss Travel Pass. (As a (geographical) European, I would qualify for an Interrail rather than a Eurail. Eurail and Interrail passes have similar validity.)
Swiss Travel Pass (https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/swiss-travel-pass/)
This gives you the complete freedom of the world’s best public transport system. Only the high mountain lines are (usually) excluded. On those you usually get a 50% discount.
You can ride around to your hearts’ content on all the buses, boats, streetcars etc. Oh, I nearly forgot, the trains are included! (Note that Thun and Brienz are the ONLY Swiss lakes where Eurail/Interrail (https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/eurail-global-pass/) gives free boat travel.)
For this trip I would
- Get ordinary first class TGV tickets Paris to Basel or Paris to Geneva
- Get Swiss Travel Pass (STP) for Switzerland
- Fly to London from Zurich, Geneva or Basel. Note that the STP includes the bus from Basel station to Basel Airport.
Where to Stay
Judging by what you say in your thread, stay in either Thun (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/thun/) or Spiez. Both are on Lake Thun. Both are major transport hubs – train, bus and boat. (Note that on Lake Thun there are only a few boats operating in April. Lake Brienz starts on April 12.)
Panoramic trains?
The new Golden Pass Express (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/goldenpass/) runs four times a day Interlaken-Spiez-Zweisimmen-Gstaad-Montreux. This train is very special from an engineering point of view. It changes track gauge from Standard Gauge to Metre Gauge (or vice versa) at Zweisimmen.
The train includes a special high price, reservation compulsory, ‘Prestige Class’. However, I should add that this Prestige Class has had (in this forum) rather ‘mixed reviews’.
Night Train to London?
There is one possibility, and only one. You will need to discuss this possibility with your travelling companion.
There is no night train via France.
There is a possibility via Germany.
A ‘NightJet’ (Sleeping cars, Couchettes, Seating carriages) leaves Zurich at 21 34 bound for Amsterdam. Now you will need to get off this train at Cologne/Kőln at 06 06.
Have breakfast at Kőln Hauptbahnhof and catch the 07 42 ICE (German High Speed train) to Brussels (Midi.) arrive 09 35.
You have 81 minutes to complete all the frontier formalities to enter my home country. Catch the Eurostar to London departing at 10 56, arriving at London St Pancras at 11 57 local time. Remember we Brits are an hour behind the rest of Europe! The train actually takes two hours and one minute.
If you decide in favour of this night train option you will need to reconsider the Eurail v STP choice. It might be better to get a Eurail plus a Berner Oberland Pass, and (on this occasion) not get an STP.
Best wishes for your detailed planning.
Roger
Hi LaurieB,
Great to hear you are visiting Switzerland again.
In addition to Roger’s helpful reply.
Is your date of travel for the Glacier Express fixed? You may find if you can travel on another date, there could be seat reservations available. Take a read of our guide to Glacier Express seat reservations too for some more tips:
I am not sure when in April you are here but you could consider the Gotthard Panoramic Express as an alternative. Operation commences 18 April. Further details in the link below:
As for a place to stay, I agree with Roger’s recommendations. Otherwise, once all your travel plans start to come together, feel free to ask again and we can make some additional suggestions? In the meantime, we do have a dedicated planning section you can also use to research towns and regions as well as the accommodation section. If you navigate to the top of the website, you can find them there.
For your rail pass. Yes, the Eurail Global Pass could be a good choice. If you have not managed to take a look at the coverage map, you can download the map in our guide below. That way you can see all the inclusions and cross reference with your initial plans and see if it is feasible.
If not, Roger’s suggestion of the Swiss Travel Pass and additional France / Switzerland tickets make sense. (https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-guide/france-switzerland/).
Kind regards,
Yolanda
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