Glacier Express with a 3 years old?
A traveler named hokiefrenzy is planning a trip to Switzerland, starting in 4 days, with stops in Zurich, Lucerne, and Zermatt. They are concerned about a 6-hour Glacier Express ride with a 3-year-old and are considering changing their itinerary due to hiking difficulties in Zermatt.
- You can bring a small stroller on the Glacier Express, but it might need to be left at the front or rear of the carriage while your child sleeps.
- The Swiss Travel Pass covers boat trips on Lake Brienz and provides a discount on the cogwheel train to Brienzer Rothorn.
- Instead of Zermatt, consider day trips to Wengen/Lauterbrunnen/Mürren or Brienz, both easily reachable from Lucerne.
AI-generated summary-
Hi,
My trip is in 4 days but I’m struggling a bit.
The original plan was:
2 nights in Zurich exploring
2 night in lucerne: 1 day explore, 2nd day doing the golden triangle
Then take train from lucerne to chur, and then take glacier express from chur to zermatt
stay in zermatt 2 nights
My concern is the glacier express ride from chur to zermatt is 6 hours. The seat seems to not recline. With a 3 year old, I need to find her something to sleep. It seems that only the single seats are available so I can’t get 2 seats on 1st class to let me lie down. Can I bring a small stroller on the Glacier and let her sleep on the stroller?
My other question, is zermatt is bit too extreme for my 3 years old. The mountain altitude seems high and the hiking trails seems a bit challenging. Not sure my 3 years old can handle.
I’m starting to wonder if i should cancel the luzern-thur-zermatt trip and maybe do a luzern to wengen/lauterbrunnen/murren with interlaken as base after lucern.
Appreciate any thoughts or advice.
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Hi hokiefrenzy and welcome to MySwissAlps.com!
I understand your concern.
I haven’t tried it but I do not think that even smaller strollers will fit on the aisle on the Glacier Express. Perhaps in the beginning or end of the carriges you can find some place for it but then you cannot stay with her while she is asleep (or maybe standing next to her?)
Do you have a Swiss Travel Pass? If yes, you can still change your itinerary.
Regarding Zermatt and the high altitude, we recommend consulting a doctor in case of any healt issues or for eldery people and under the age of 2. But if you have any concerns, better not to go above 2500 m.
The hiking is depending on your child, one of my boys could do a 15 km hike (with many stops) while he was 4, my younger son hates it, so we could walk just 4-5 km with him at the age of 4. Kids are different. 🙂
Do you have maybe a baby carrier? There are some good carriers that can be still used at age 3, but if you are not used to carrying him, it might be strange for you and for her too.
In Lucerne the Transport Museum would be great for her, I think: http://www.myswissalps.com/museumoftransport
Instead of going to Zermatt you can go to Interlaken it is a 2 hrs trip by train and it is also wonderful (part of the Golden Pass route): http://www.myswissalps.com/goldenpass/gettingthere
You can also visit the Lindt chocolate factory from Lucerne: http://www.myswissalps.com/activities/culinary/chocolate.
For more activity tips from Lucerne please visit: http://www.myswissalps.com/lucerne/activities.
I hope you can find a good solution for your holiday,
let us know if you have further question,
Ildiko
thank you so much! So I was able to change my date around and found a glacier express where i can reserve 2 seats together. It’ll run from chur to zermatt. 6 hours is long but i guess my 3 yr old can sleep across 2 chairs.
We’ll be in lucerne an extra day so now it’s 4 days. Do you recommend that i do a day trip to wengen/lauterbrunnen/murren? or maybe it’s easier to do a day trip to Brienz instead. I heard lake Brienz is beautiful.
Hi hokiefrenzy,
It’s great that you managed to book 2 seats together on the Glacier Express so your child can sleep comfortably during the long journey. Strollers are indeed allowed on the train but you’d have to leave it at the front or the end of the compartment. I travelled on the Glacier Express with my daughter when she was 2.5 years old (Chur to Brig) and it was a lovely experience. We booked a seat for her so she didn’t have to sit on my lap the entire journey. And when she was tired we just let her nap in her stroller, which we left at the front of the compartment (still visible from where I was seated). The GE staff were quite helpful and entertained her occasionally.
Regarding a day trip to Wengen/Lauterbrunnen/Mürren from Lucerne, that is certainly possible. A day trip to Brienz is also doable and you might want to combine it with a boat trip around Lake Brienz and take the cogwheel train to Brienzer Rothorn.
Regards,
Anna
Thank you. Do you know if the boat trip and cogwheel train are both covered by swiss pass! And appreciate the tips on the stroller leaving it at the end of compartment. We might try that 🙂
Hi again,
The boat trip on Lake Brienz is valid with the Swiss Travel Pass. The cogwheel train to Brienzer Rothorn is half price with the STP.
Regards,
Anna
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