Best views of Alps taking the train Italy to Paris
Jennifer is planning a train trip with her mom from Italy to Paris and wants to spend one day near the Alps for stunning views. She’s debating whether to travel from Milan to Zurich or Geneva for the best scenery, considering her mom's preference for visual experiences over physical activities. They seek a route that maximizes Alps vistas without extensive traveling complications.
- The Simplon route from Milan to Lausanne offers a good balance of efficiency and views; consider breaking your journey at Brig and heading to Zermatt for breathtaking mountain scenery.
- For optimal Alps viewing, look into panoramic train trips that showcase the landscapes effectively.
- Make use of the Swiss Travel Pass for potentially better train options and savings during your journey.
AI-generated summary-
Taking my mom on a train trip from Italy (Rome, Florence) to Paris. Have 1 day to stay somewhere near the Alps and she’d love to have some great vistas of the Alps from the train or on the overnight in a hotel. Was considering Florence to Milan to Paris route. But, would Milan to Zurich or Geneva be better for optimal Alps viewing? Or Milan to another city? She’s not physically active, so there won’t be any hiking, it’s all about the views.
Cheers,
Jennifer
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By definition, transalpine main line railways such as those Italy – northern Europe via Switzerland are built as far as possible to follow the path of least resistance. As such you will not see ‘high Alpine’ vistas from either of the main routes from Italy towards Paris (ie the Gotthard Milano – Basel and the Simplon Milano – Lausanne). The ‘classic’ route Milano – Paris is the Simplon route but that goes under the high Alps in the famous Simplon tunnel.
Having said that you would see something of the mountains in the old days when the main international trains traversed the original mountain routes on the Gotthard and Lötschberg railways, but these have both been replaced by low altitude base tunnels now. To get up on to railways which are ‘higher’ and or have more ‘vistas’ would require a number of changes of train.
So,
My best recommendation to limit train changes and complications is for you to travel the Simplon route Milano – Lausanne– Paris, but break the journey at Brig and go up to Zermatt. Zermatt is known as the ‘village of the 4000-ers’ because it is surrounded by 38 peaks all higher than 4000 metres, including most famously the Matterhorn.
Hi Jennifer,
In addition to 1960man’s answer, you might want to check these panoramic train trips: http://www.myswissalps.com/ac tivities/scenictrips/t rain.
If you are traveling to/from Italy or France read these too:
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