Is the train from Zurich to Chur scenic?
A traveler, Grace2022, is planning a trip to Switzerland in October and wants to know if the train journey from Zurich to Chur is scenic enough to warrant traveling in daylight or if it can be done at night. The main concern is experiencing the views while traveling between these cities.
- Travel during the day from Zurich to Chur for the best scenic views, including the lakes and mountains along the way.
- If you're thinking about the Glacier Express, remember that the Swiss Travel Pass covers this and regular trains on that route, so consider booking seats well in advance.
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Hi friends,
i am planning to visit Switzerland in October and was wondering if the train journey from Zurich to Chur is a scenic one or can be done in the evening/night without losing too much of the scenery? Thank you
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Hi Grace2022 and welcome to MySwissAlps.com!
The train travels next to Lake Zurich and then Lake Walen it is nice and the views become scenic again as you get close to Chur. I recommend traveling in daylight.
Ildiko
MySwissAlps.com recommends reading these: How to travel by Swiss rail and Panoramic trains in the Swiss Alps
Thank you Ildiko, this is very helpful and much appreciated!
Can i also ask as im also planning to take a train from Lausanne to Basel and wonder if i should choose the route via Fribourg and Olten or along the lake Neuchatel? Which one would be more scenic and which one would you recommend please?
Definitely the one via Neuchâtel – Bienne/Biel
Thank you Trainliner! much appreciated. I will follow your advice 🙂 I have another question i need help with… Spiez, Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen and Thun. All this villages/towns will be part of my train journey and i will not have time to see them all. Which two would be on top of your list to visit (spend few 5-6 hours there) and which one to spend the night in? I will be travelling from Zermatt (Glacier express) to Visp to Spiez to Intralaken to Lauterbrunnen and from there finally along the lake to Thun.
The journey from Zurich to Chur has good scenic views. First you travel down the West side of the Zurichsee (sit on the left in the direction of travel). After the south end of the Zurichsee, the line is briefly in a wide flat valley but there are high mountains rising on either side of the pleasant farmland, so still scenic. Fairly soon you will reach the Walensee. Luckily the lake is also on the left hand side of the railway. Be alert because the views of the lake and the sheer mountainside on the opposite side don’t last all that long, but it is my favourite view from a Swiss train
After the end of the Walensee you travel down the valley between high mountains through Sargans, Bad Ragaz and Heidiland to Chur
From Lausanne the normal route to Basle is via Neuchatel and Biel Bienne, where you change trains.
You get some views along the lake sides of the Lac de Neuchatel and the Bielersee (sit on the right)
Here is a picture I took on the Bielersee in June 2022 (it was hot so I went for a swim in the lake afterwards). Work has just started on a tunnel deviation to replace the old fashioned lakeside track at this well known location , so this railway view will cease to exist in a few years
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I will be travelling from Zermatt (Glacier express) to Visp to Spiez to Intralaken to Lauterbrunnen and from there finally along the lake to Thun.
I’m afraid I don’t understand the last sentence as coped above:
Do you mean you will need to travel Zermatt to Thun in one day via Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen?
Also, if you were planning to take the Glacier Express from Zermatt to Visp there is non point – just take the most convenient regular train Zermatt – Visp
In the meantime, Spiez is a small town – it has a great castle but otherwise you can just get off there for 1 hour and look at the view along the lake from the promenade adjacent to the railway station. Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen are really jumping off points for the Jungfrau mountain area and resorts so neither really needs 5 – 6 hours visit
Hi Grace2022,
I agree with 1960man. You can just take the regular train for the short journey from Zermatt to Visp. If you take the Glacier Express you need to make seat reservation in advance.
Based on your plans, I suggest spending the 5-6 hours you have exploring Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen. Then spend the night in Thun if that is your base.
Let us know if you need more info.
Regards,
Anna
Thank you everyone – you are all marvellous and your knowledge is impressive. My trip to Switzerland is slowly shaping. I have booked golden pass belle epoque from Zweisimmen to Montreux and your past posts helped me a lot with it. Thank you. Now, i will be travelling in the morning of my golden pass belle epoque day from Thun. Will need to catch the 11 am train which gets to to Zweisimmen at 11:59 which leaves me with only 3 minutes to move from platform 7 to 5 to catch belle epoque. Do you think i should catch an earlier train from Thun in case of delays etc? … or the swiss trains are always on time?? or perhaps it would be just better to board the belle sooner and enjoy a few minutes longer onboard when she gets ready to start the journey? What do you think?
On another note – i am also trying to book glacier express and am so sad that im still almost 6 weeks before my departure date and the availability of the tickets (window seats) are limited.
I have tried to reserve the seats today via glacier express website but i was getting a message ‘ No offers found. Please try again or contact the support.’ I have managed to get to the page that showed the tickets availability but i could not proceed to reserve the tickets. Is this something you have come across before? I have contacted the support team but just wonder if you know what that may mean?
We get ‘the question’ about Zweisimmen all the time. Be assured that the connection at Zweisimmen has been happening daily since 1905. All connections of this type in Switzerland are ‘official’ connections and will only be missed if there is an unusually serious delay to an arriving train. Having said that, it is easy to get from Thun to Zweisimmen and it is a nice town, so its worth stopping for a while.
Regarding the Glacier Express, do remember that you can travel on ‘normal’ regional trains on all lines if you so wish. They are not much slower than the Glacier Express and you see the same views
Hi Grace2022,
Regarding the Glacier Express, you can book the seats in advance even when you don’t have a ticket yet. Tickets don’t usually run out but seats do.
For your information, if you have railpass such as the Swiss Travel Pass, you don’t need a ticket to ride the Glacier Express. The Swiss Travel Pass is valid on the panoramic trains too. Alternatively, if you don’t have a railpass, you might want to consider getting a Saver Day Pass.
Both the Swiss Travel Pass and Saver Day Pass are also valid on the regular trains that travel on the same route as the Glacier Express.
Regards,
Anna
Hi Grace2022! Yes, we’ve heard of similar availability problems at the Glacier Express website (https://www.myswissalps.com/glacierexpress/tickets) recently. It was descibed here for example: http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/goschenen-to-andermatt-for-the-glacier-express.
What’s the exact date you’d want to travel by Glacier Express? You’re writing that it’s almost 6 weeks before you’ll be traveling, but you need to wait until it’s exactly 6 weeks or less. If you still can’t find available seats then, it’s good to find out what’s causing this: indeed a nearly fully booked train, or some sort of technical problem. You already contacted their customer service, so it’s best to wait for their answer.
If you want to keep us posted about their reaction, that would be very helpful!
You’ll see the differences between Glacier Express and normal trains described under “Regular trains versus Glacier Express” at https://www.myswissalps.com/glacierexpress.
Hello Arno/ All,
Thank you for your replies. Yes the customer service got back to me and told me they had IT issues – but it is all sorted now. They were helpful as such they offered they could do the reservation for me but the issue was resolved in the meantime so i could reserve the tickets myself. These tickets are selling fast!! i have managed to reserve 12,15 and 16 which was the only available option as we all wanted to have a window seat and be in one row (if that makes sense) So we will end up being either at the beginning or the end of the carriage – depending what direction it will go.
I have noticed that the 11,12 seats seem to be particularly unappealing for people for some reason (they tent to be booked as the last ones and often still available as the only ones left) Does any of you have a theory as to why that would be a case? i get that the middle seats would be the best but the 51,52 seats are much more popular than the 11,12 (both are at the very end of the carriage just on the opposite ends). Not that i had a choice but i am a bit worried the view or perspective from that seats will be somehow compromised :-/
Hi Grace2022,
Glad you managed to sort this out and booked your seats on the Glacier Express. I’m not familiar with the seating arrangements so can’t give you any insights on that. But rest assured you won’t be missing out on the views regardless where you are sitting as the train comes with wide panoramic windows on each side.
Hope the planning goes smoothly.
Regards,
Anna
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