[Anonymous]

7 August 2022 at 13:03:13 #827997

Dear all,

I aopolgize if this question has been asked before.

We live in the US. We will arrive in Zurich this winter at 6AM morning. We have a full day, and our flight is next day. We would love to do a sceneric train from and back to Zurich in one day, ie. returning to Zurich that evening. Please advise us what train from and back to Zurich so that we can see the sceneric winter view.

We are foreigners so please give us as much detail as possible. We are thinking of a train from Zurich to somewhere 2-3 hours and get the train back another 2-3 hours.

Thank you in advance for your help.

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[Arno]

Reply 1 of 9 • 7 August 2022 at 15:11:08 #945285

Hello Caumong10, thank you for joining MySwissAlps!

A winter train trip from Zurich is certainly possibly. If you want to see snow, it’s best to take a route high up to the mountains. You’ll have time to visit a mountain top by cable car too if you like. I’ll give some options below. You can find lots of details about each trip through the links I’ll provide.

1. My top pick would be this: travel to Chur and then to Arosa. The stretch Chur-Arosa is very scenic. You could visit the Weisshorn from Arosa for wide mountain views: arosalenzerheide.swiss/en/Ski-Area/Lift-Company/Operating-hours-winter.
2. Travel to Lucerne and take the Voralpen Express to St. Gallen: https://www.myswissalps.com/voralpenexpress. Then return using the quickest route via Winterthur. This route is in a lower part of the country, so you may not experience that much snow. If weather is good you’ll see snowy mountain tops though.
3. Travel to Lucerne (https://www.myswissalps.com/lucerne) and get up to Pilatus (https://www.myswissalps.com/pilatus). You’ll have time to explore the city before heading back for Zurich, and maybe even include a short boat trip over Lake Lucerne (https://www.myswissalps.com/boatlakelucerne).
4. Travel to Interlaken via Lucerne and the Brünig Pass. This is the northern section of the GoldenPass route: https://www.myswissalps.com/goldenpass. From Interlaken, you can visit several mountain tops. Examples are Männlichen (https://www.myswissalps.com/mannlichen), Grindelwald-First (https://www.myswissalps.com/grindelwaldfirst), Schilthorn (https://www.myswissalps.com/schilthorn) and Jungfraujoch (https://www.myswissalps.com/jungfraujoch).
   1. Alternatively, make a round trip from Interlaken including some beautiful villages like this: Interlaken-Lauterbrunnen-Wengen-Kleine Scheidegg-Grindelwald-Interlaken. Details about these towns can be found through https://www.myswissalps.com/jungfrauregion
   2. If you opt for the Jungfrau region near Interlaken, you could travel back to Zurich via Thun (http://www.myswissalps.com/thun) and Bern (http://www.myswissalps.com/bern) for a diverse round trip.

You can use the Swiss timetable to plan your trip. It provides information about all possible connections. How to use it is explained here:

• http://www.myswissalps.com/timetable.

A Saver Day Pass could be a good fit for your plans. It will cover all train routes. It’s very likely to be cheaper than normal tickets, especially if you buy it early in advance. If you include a mountain visit, you’ll have to pay for that separately.

• https://www.myswissalps.com/saverdaypass

I hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun planning your trip and let us know if you have further questions!

[User]

Reply 2 of 9 • 8 August 2022 at 11:50:51 #945286

Hello Arno,

First, thank you so much for your detail suggestions. Since we have never been to Zurich before, I would like to ask few questions please. Your detail advice is greatly appreciated.

1. Our flight arrives Zurich (ZRH) 7am. I guess after clearing custom, it would be 9-9:30am. Is it still possible to do a few hours train trip?

2. We like the sceneric view. A short train ride is ok. It is not necessary to see snow as we see lot of snow in the US already. We just love the sceneric view. Ideally, we would like to arrive back to Zurich 4-5pm in the afternoon or evening. What train trip would be best for us to see the sceneric view, please?

3. What is/are train stations for the trip you suggest, please? We probably will drop the carry-on luggages at the hotel and go to train station to do the trip.

Thank you again for your time and help. We really appreciate it. We look forward to hearing from you.

[Anna]

Reply 3 of 9 • 8 August 2022 at 18:46:37 #945287

Hi Caumong10,

1. In general I think it takes about 30 mins to 1 hour to clear custom at Zurich Airport depending on how busy it is. Even if you are delayed until 9am, you will still have enough time to plan a day trip from Zurich. The Zurich Airport train station is located underground within the airport itself so it’s convenient to just get on a train after a flight and head to your destination for the day.

2. Arno made some very good suggestions in his post. Based on your interest, I would pick option 4. Take the train to Interlaken via Lucerne. This trip takes about 3 hours and include some scenic views between Lucerne and Interlaken. For the return journey, you can travel via Bern instead of Lucerne, which will take about 2 hours and 15 minutes. So about 5 hours train journey in total. Would this work?

3. You can use the SBB timetable to check train schedules and plan your train excursion. Just enter your departure location and destination and the timetable will display the fastest connections.

Hope this gets you going.

regards,

Anna

[User]

Reply 4 of 9 • 8 August 2022 at 20:44:02 #945288

All the suggestions are to go to the same old ‘famous places’ .

I would suggest a good short-ish day trip circuit with plenty of scenic views I recommend Zurich – Sargans – Buchs – Rorschach – St Gallen – Winterthur – Zurich. Greta lake and mountains views and relaxingly short so that you don’t feel time pressured .

One advantage, if needed is that this trip can start or finish at Zurich Flughafen station

[Arno]

Reply 5 of 9 • 9 August 2022 at 7:16:40 #945289

Hi Caumong10,

If snow is not your main priority, you can focus on the lower regions of northern/north-eastern Switzerland closer to Zurich. The Voralpen Express route I mentioned (see #2 in my first post and https://www.myswissalps.com/voralpenexpress) or 1960man’s proposal would be nice in that case.

As for the Voralpen Express option: the total duration from and to Zurich’s main station would be 4h40. You’ll easily manage that within the time you have available, but you’ll have to feel comfortable with it of course. You can find all details in the timetable (https://www.myswissalps.com/timetable) by entering “Zürich Flughafen” as both your departure as well as your destination station. Then use the “Advanced search” option to fill out these via-stations: Luzern, Rapperswil, St. Gallen. Click on any connection displayed for more details, such as which stations you’ll pass along the way. You can also view connections on a map.

[User]

Reply 6 of 9 • 17 August 2022 at 0:20:23 #945290

Dear Arno, Anna and 1960man,

Thank you all for your help. I really appreciate your advice.

Snow is not important to us as we live close to NYC so we see plenty of snow. We love sceneric, peaceful view. We love to take train that we can see lake, mountain view.

Please, we have few questions:

1. I know we must make decision, but since we have never been to Zurich, please advise which one would be better: the trip Travel to Lucerne and take the Voralpen Express to St. Gallen or the trip Zurich – Sargans – Buchs – Rorschach – St Gallen – Winterthur – Zurich that 1960man recommended?

2. How many hours is the train to to Lucerne and take the Voralpen Express to St. Gallen? And how many hours the trip Zurich – Sargans – Buchs – Rorschach – St Gallen – Winterthur – Zurich that 1960man recommended? We’d like to get back to Zurich around 5pm-6pm, please.

3. Should we leave small luggages at the hotel than taking the train or just take the luggages and put on the train? We ask this because if there is only one or two train a day, we do not want to miss it.

4. Sorry I forgot to mention this – Our trip will be in Feb. 2023. Is the train running in winter season?

5. We have only one full day in Zurich. Should we get any train Pass for discount?

Thank you so much! We greatly appreciate your advice. Please help us. Thank you.

[User]

Reply 7 of 9 • 17 August 2022 at 0:22:23 #945291

Thank you so much for your tip and advice. We think we might go the route you recommend. We’d like to see lake, mountain view when taking the train. We do NOT need to see snow as we live close to NYC. Thanks so much! I really appreciate your advice.

[User]

Reply 8 of 9 • 17 August 2022 at 9:06:13 #945292

On ‘my route’, between Zurich and Sargans, sit on the left hand side of the train and you will see the Zurichsee first, then after Ziegelbruecke, you will see, also on the left the fabulous Walensee. If you take an IR35 route train Zurich – Sargans you have the option to get off for an hour (or more) at Walenstadt the town at the East end of the Walensee.

At Sargans, change into a train to St Gallen via Buchs SG. Sit on either side. To the right of the train is the principality of Leichstenstein and high mountains. On the left will be the Appenzeller Alps.

Between Buchs SG and Rorschach you will be running along the Rhein river and the Austrian border. Optionally get off at Rorschach to see the Bodensee (aka Lake Konstanz)

The rest of the way from Rorschach via St Gallen to Zurich is thorough the lovely rolling countryside of north east Switzerland.

I hop you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed riding the Amtrak Maple Leaf from NYC up the Hudson and on to Ontario!

[User]

Reply 9 of 9 • 18 August 2022 at 9:00:20 #945293

Hi Caumong10,

Zurich-Lucerne is 40-45 mins by train. The Voralpen Express (one way) is around 2h 20 mins (for more details please see: http://www.myswissalps.com/voralpenexpress/gettingthere). St Gallen – Zürich is around 1 hr.

Zurich – Sargans – Buchs – Rorschach – St Gallen – Winterthur – Zurich is arpund 3,5 hrs according to the timetable.

Voralpen Express operates all year.

For the Voralpen Express you can take your luggage with you, but if you change more often it is better to leave the luggage at the train station (if you make a round of course) 🙂 Other options regarding your luggage: http://www.myswissalps.com/train/practical/luggage.

Do you mean the rail pass for this round trip? You can travel for free on the Voralpen Express or via the other route if you have a Saver Day Pass: http://www.myswissalps.com/saverdaypass/price. Make sure to check the validity on the ‘Where is it valid’ tab.

Regards,

Ildiko