First time visit, Kandersteg, Zermatt by train
A traveler is planning a 5-6 day trip to Switzerland, starting from Geneva airport, visiting Oeschinensee lake, Zermatt, and then St. Moritz before flying out from Zurich. They need advice on whether their itinerary makes sense, the trains to take, and connectivity options while traveling.
- Consider staying overnight in St. Moritz to avoid a long travel day from Zermatt to Zurich after the Glacier Express.
- For train schedules, check the SBB timetable and consider getting a Swiss Travel Pass for convenience on your travels.
- If you're arriving at Geneva, you might want to look into flying to Basel or Zurich for potentially shorter travel times to Kandersteg.
AI-generated summary-
Hello all! My planned itinerary for my dream Switzerland trip is to land in Geneva airport then take a train via transfers to Oeschinensee lake (near Kandersteg station) because I really want to go on that Alps slide. Then after spending a night there then I plan to go to Zermatt and spend two nights. After I wanted to take GEX to St. Moritz then to Zurich for my flight out.
I just wanted to ask first if my plan makes sense and is feasible. Which trains can I take? I plan this to be either a five day or 6 days trip. Open to other suggestions
Thanks in advance!
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Hi RainShower and welcome to MySwissAlps!
I think it is a reasonable itinerary. Only 1 thing to add: Glacier Express (http://www.myswissalps.com/glacierexpress) and then traveling from St Moritz to Zürich, that is too much for 1 day. Glacier Express is almost 8 hours, St. Moritz – Zürich is at least 3,5 hours. Can you spend the night in St. Moritz?
Regarding the trains, you find the timetable at http://www.myswissalps.com/timetable. Make sure to read our guide before you start using the SBB timetable.
Also as you are going to travel a lot by train, make sure to have a Swiss rail pass. Usually we recommend the Swiss Half Fare Card or the Swiss Travel Pass. Download the spreadsheet from here: http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass. That will help you to compare the costs. Learn more about the Swiss Half Fare Card: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisshalffarecard and about the Swiss Travel Pass: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass.
Some tips on what to do in Zermatt: http://www.myswissalps.com/zermatt
I hope this helps,
let me know if you have further questions,
Ildiko
What you can fit in all depends on timings – for example, as ildiko says, Zermatt – St Moritz – Zurich is too long.
When do you arrive at Geneva ? And if you are flying in to Geneva but not visiting Geneva, consider flying to Basel or Zurich — Kandersteg and Zermatt are no further from the two other main Swiss airports as they are from Geneve. –
Journey times to Kandersteg: from Geneve: 2.58; From Basel: 2.12; from Zurich: 2.08
It’s also worth remembering that the Glacier Express – extremely well marketed – is not the be all and end all of Swiss alps tourism options ( a lot of the journey is in valleys and you don’t actually see any major glaciers from the train…)
One option would be:
Day 1 to Kandersteg
Day 2 Kandersteg – Zermatt
Day 3 Zermatt – Chur (you can leave Zermatt later in the day and use normal trains to reach Chur – you don’t have to use the Glacier Express)
Day 4 Chur – St Moritz – Zernez – Klosters – Landquart – Chur
Day 5 optional
Day 6 Chur – Zurich
Hello lldiko!
Thank you very much for your reply! Yes I actually purposely chose Zermatt to St. Moritz Path to experience glacier express and sorry I wasn’t able to clear but yes I will stay in St. Moritz for the night before carrying on to Zurich. Thank you for the timetable and the very thorough advices! It will really help me! Merci beacoup!
Hello 1960man!
Thank you very much for your response! I arrive at Geneva airport 9:15 am and will go directly to Kandersteg the same day. Thank you for suggesting the Zurich route! I will consider that if I can still change my flights depending on the award availabilities and good to know that the other two airports are just about the same distance to the stations I’m visiting.
Also, I really liked the sample itinerary you laid out. It makes more sense than what I have in mind which is all over the place haha. Would use it as basis of my plans!
Also, I wanted to stay connected with my friends and family on my device. Do you guys know a good pocket wifi or tourist phone service while visiting Switzerland?
Merci beacoup!
Hi RainShower,
For information on how to stay connected during your travel, you can find some useful tips here: http://www.myswissalps.com/simcard
Regards,
Anna
Regarding phones, it all depends on your normal ‘at home’ tariff of course, but I just use my normal phone – it has long amused my family members that some of us can get better mobile phone reception 2 miles underground in one of the famous alpine railway tunnels than in our home country town in the UK!
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