Regular trains on the Glacier Express route
Barbara and her husband are planning a trip from Zermatt to St. Moritz on June 17th but found all Glacier Express tickets sold out. They're confused about taking regular trains along the same route and need advice on how to navigate the train changes.
- You can take regular trains on the Glacier Express route, but you will need to change trains multiple times along the way.
- The main route via Zurich is faster than the mountain route; be prepared for more changes if you choose the latter.
- Consider breaking up your journey with an overnight stay at a transfer spot, like Andermatt, to enjoy the scenery and local hikes.
AI-generated summary-
Hi everyone,
My husband and I will be traveling from Zermatt to St. Moritz on June 17th. All tickets on the Glacier Express are sold out.
I am told to just take a standard train and it follows the same route but with changes. When I look on the SBB app all the trains go to Zurich and from there to Chur. I am just a bit confused and could use some guidance.
Thank you
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Hi Barbara brig,
Welcome to the MySwissAlps forum.
Great to hear you will be visiting Switzerland.
Yes, that’s right, you can take the regular or local trains on the Glacier Express route. You can read more about it here:
Scroll to “Regular trains versus Glacier Express” section:
If you take the local trains, as you have discovered, you will need to change trains along the way. If you click on the “Route” tab, you will be able to see a breakdown of the Glacier Express route.
You can plan the routes via the SBB timetable:
Kind regards,
Yolanda
I guess I’m hung up on the fact that you go to Zurich to get a train to Chur. Does the Glacier Express go to Zurich?
Thanks for the info.
Computer rail journey planners will always give you the shortest route, unless you tell the system to do otherwise (by using an advanced search and putting in a ‘via’ point. ).
Due to the geography of Switzerland, the main line railway route Zermatt – Visp – Bern – Zurich – Chur is actually around 2 hours faster than going via the mountains. This map shows clearly the position of the Alps versus the plateau to the north: travelsfinders.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/switzerland_map_town_terrain_elevation_land_in_meter.gif
The mountain route between Zermatt and St Moritz is operated by two companies (both narrow gauge with red trains): Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB) operates the railways Zermatt – Brig – Andermatt – Disentis Muster. Rhaetische Bahn (RhB) operates the railways Disentis Muster – Chur and southeast thereof (including to St Moritz).
If you want to take the regular trains via the mountain route between Zermatt and St Moritz, you normally change trains four times:
Zermatt – Visp (change)
Visp – Andermatt (change)
Andermatt – Disentis Muster (change)
Disentis Muster – Reichenau Tamins (change)
Reichenau Tamis – St Moritz
However you can also visit sections of the route at any time during a holiday in Switzerland, depending on where you base yourself.
Thank you for all the information. Either way, it will make for a long but beautiful day.
Hi, Barbara. Don’t know how tight your schedule is, but you might want to break up your trip by staying overnight at one of the transfer (or other) spots. We stayed overnight in Andermatt and it was delightful. There’s a nice little easy hike there to the Teufelbrucke (Devil’s Bridge) which was quite impressive.
Laura E.
I will certainly take that under advisement. Sounds lovely. Thank you
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