Reservations on panoramic on Swiss trains in May
Karen and her husband from Australia are planning a trip to Switzerland in May to experience the panoramic trains. She has purchased a 15-day Swiss Travel Pass and is seeking advice on seat reservations and the best views on various train routes, including the Gotthard Panorama Pass, Bernina Express, and Glacier Express.
- For the Gotthard Panorama Pass, remember that the Swiss Travel Pass covers the boat section for free, and you can reserve seats 60 days in advance.
- For the Bernina Express, reserving right-hand side seats gives you the best views, while booking via the Rhätische Bahn allows for specific seat selection.
- You can reserve seats for the Glacier Express 93 days in advance, with the left side being best for the Landwasser Viaduct views.
- When traveling from Zermatt to Interlaken, there’s no need for seat reservations on regular trains, just avoid the Glacier Express for that leg.
- On the Golden Pass Line, reservations are recommended during peak tourist season; right-hand seats are preferred.
AI-generated summary-
My husband and I will be travelling from Australia in May and want to do the panoramic trains. I have bought 1st Class 15 day Swiss travel pass and downloaded the SBB app as suggested in this forum. However I have a few questions.
1. Gotthard Panorama Pass. I understand the Swiss travel pass provides the boat section free of charge. To reserve seats on the train from Fluelen -Lugano I have to wait until 60 days prior? Am I better reserving seats through Happy Rail (although I believe this doesn’t allow you to choose your own seats?) is there a preferred side for views.
2. Bernina Express. I have reserved seats from Tirano-Pontresina on the Rhätische Bahn website as I noted 1st class was heavily booked. For the bus from Lugano to Tirano I should reserve seats on the RHS?
3. Glacier Express reservations St Moritz- Zermatt Again I cannot reserve seats until 93 days out? (I thought when I looked on the glacier express website a few days ago I was able to reservations for my dates?) Is there a preferred seating side in excellence class?
4. Zermatt to Interlaken. Is there a Panoramic train for this leg? (I think I need to change trains in Visp and Spiez to arrive in Interlaken.
5. Interlaken- Montreux. I understand I am on a regional train to Zweisimmen and don’t need to reserve seats. From Z – Montreux on the Golden pass I need to reserve seats (again 60days out) and it is better to sit on the RHS?
many thanks for providing such a helpful forum.
Karen
-
Hello Karen and Welcome to MySwissAlps,
With a handle like Kazza you must be Australian. 😉
1. I don’t believe anyone offers the ability to choose specific seats. The right hand side is marginally preferred (for what that’s worth). See http://www.myswissalps.com/gotthardpanoramaexpress/gettingthere.
2. Yes, use shop.rhb.ch/en/bernina-express if you want to pick seats. The right-hand side seats at the very front are the premier seats but make sure you get on the RHS.
3. Correct – 93 days is when the reservation window opens. If you can spring for the Excellence Class you will have no difficulty seeing out of either side of the train. The left is best for the Landwasser Viaduct and the right for the Rhine Gorge. Which is handy as you will enter Chur on the left (if that’s where you are out of St Moritz) and depart on the right.
In my experience seats at the bottom of the screen on the seating plan on the official GEX site are on the right heading from Brig to Chur. Not sure if that helps or guarantees anything.
4. You want to go via Kandersteg. You will then travel on the BLS Regio-Express Lötschberger (http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-au/experiences/bls-regioexpress-loetschberger/)train over the traditional, more than 100 year old mountain route, giving you a wonderful view along the impressive peaks and down into the Rhone Valley. The faster more direct but less scenic route between Visp and Spiez traverses the lengthy (in distance) but shorter (in time) Lötschberg Base Tunnel (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lötschberg_Base_Tunnel).
5. Probably the right but it doesn’t make a lot of difference. You can make reservations for the Golden Pass Line (http://www.myswissalps.com/goldenpass) including seat selection at bit.ly/2kaq6Rf. Click the “e” for English language top right of the page. (where it says “Sprachwahl: d i f e”). Then change the class of travel, date of travel and start/end points to suit. Reservations are not compulsory but are recommended on the Zweisimmen to Montreux leg (which is where the Panoramic and Belle Époque trains operate) during peak tourist season.
Hi Rockoyster,
many thanks for your reply. Yes I am Australian. Can I say I have read many of your posts on this forum and found them very helpful in planning our trip to Switzerland. Thank you!
With regards to training from Zermatt to Interlaken I believe this is the route you recommend: Zermatt to Brig( Matterhorn-Gotthard train?), Brig to Spiez via Kandersteg on the BLS Regio Express and then Spiez to Interlaken?
Do I need to reserve seats on these trains?
once again many thanks for all the information you have provided.
kind regards
karen
Hi Karen,
I’m pleased to be of assistance and thanks for your kind words.
You have the route right. Reservation are not required on those trains as long as you avoid the Glacier Express from Zermatt to Brig. See http://www.myswissalps.com/train/reservations.
Hope you enjoy Switzerland as much as we have while visiting from Tasmania! 😎
General comment:
Try not to focus too hard on the so called ‘panoramic aka scenic’ trains. Nearly all railways in Switzerland are scenic in some way – if you don’t see high mountains you will see other icons of Switzerland such as lakes, rolling pastures, farmsteads, cows etc. – so you will rarely be disappointed with any Swiss train trip
Being on a ‘special’ train hardly matters anyway as most modern Swiss trains have large windows, even if not officially panoramic. The key element of a ‘panoramic’ coach is ‘toplight’ windows above your head but in practice very few of the major views from panoramic trains are directly above your head, so the view through the normal trains windows on Swiss trains is perfectly fine.
(* see my personal analysis below)
2. Bernina Express. I have reserved seats from Tirano-Pontresina on the Rhätische Bahn website
If you are only travelling as far as Pontresina, you can take any Bernina Railway train (++ see Bernina Railway knowledge below) – perhaps save some money by avoiding reservations (especially as you will be paying ‘heaps’ for the Glacier Express Excellence class (which I think is unnecessarily expensive personally)
3. Is there a preferred seating side in excellence class?
The Glacier Express traverses so much territory that it makes little difference – as you will see from the various loop and spiral sections.
4. Zermatt to Interlaken. Is there a Panoramic train for this leg? (I think I need to change trains in Visp and Spiez to arrive in Interlaken.
No ‘panoramic’ train as such (see general comment above): fast route via Visp – Base tunnel – Spiez;slow route via Brig – Kandersteg – old tunnel – Spiez
Brig – Kandersteg is the ‘classic’ scenic bit but its soon over so it’s up to you
5. Interlaken- Montreux. I understand I am on a regional train to Zweisimmen and don’t need to reserve seats. From Z – Montreux on the Golden pass I need to reserve seats (again 60days out) and it is better to sit on the RHS?
Same comment about side, the MOB route twists and turns so it makes little difference. There are non-reserved seats on all MOB trains if required
*Gotthard Panorama Express – a personal view
This is ‘take it or leave it’ advice:
Personally I am sceptical of the attraction of the Gotthard Panorama Expres s. It is an attempt to keep some tourism going on the Gotthard ‘mountain route’ since the rest of the fast trains now go through the base tunnel. However, you see mainly valleys not high mountains. Also it is reservation obligatory and first class only.
Also, the train gets rather lonely – part of the ‘romance’ of the Gotthard route previously was that your train competed for space on the line with huge long international long-distance trains carrying 000s of passengers a day between northern and southern Europe, and those passenger trains interacted and weaved in between dozens of heavy freight trains lumbering back and forth across the Alps.
The curiosity was seeing another train high above you one minute then a few minutes later passing by your train on the same level, then perhaps seeing it again below you a few minutes after that. It is this that no longer happens as there are so few trains left on the line.
(It could also be argued that it is just a way of finding a use for very expensive panorama cars that Swiss Federal Railways bought but don’t have now have any other use for them…)!
++ It is important to understand the difference between the ‘Bernina Express’ and the ‘Bernina Railway’. The Bernina Railway is the (originally independent) railway line from Tirano – St Moritz – Tirano. It became part of the Rhätische Bahn*** (RhB) in 1943.
The Bernina Railway itself does not connect to Chur
It has regular ‘normal’ train services :
http://www.fahrplanfelder.ch/fileadmin/fap_pdf_fields/2020/950.pdf
The Bernina Express title designates one or two trains a day operated by special coaches (with supplement payable) which include a journey on the Bernina Railway
The Bernina Express runs through once a day from Chur or Landquart – Tirano – Chur/Landquart , but the line from Chur as far as Samedan/Pontresina/St Moritz is the Albula railway not the Bernina railway.
*** – The Rhätische Bahn is the ‘national’ train operator in Canton Graubünden, with a network of metre gauge lines, separate from Swiss Federal Railways
- The thread ‘Reservations on panoramic on Swiss trains in May’ is closed to new replies.
