What side of the train for Golden Pass
A traveler is planning a scenic train journey in Switzerland and wants advice on the best sides to sit on for various routes, including the Golden Pass line from Lucerne to Montreux and others. They also inquire if the Swiss Travel Pass covers trips to Lauterbrunnen and Schilthorn, as there seems to be some confusion regarding that.
- Sit on the right side when leaving Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen for the best views.
- The Swiss Travel Pass does cover the trip from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen and Schilthorn.
- For the Montreux to Venice route, additional tickets will be needed for the trip to Italy.
AI-generated summary-
Hi. What side of the train should we sit on for the Golden Pass line from Lucerne to Montreux for the best views!
What side is best from Interlaken to Lauterburren?
What side is best from Montreux to Zermatt?
What side is best from Montreux to Venice?
Does the Swiss travel Pass cover the trip from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen and to Shilthorn? I tink it does, but, someone told me that it didn’t!
thank you in advance!
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1) What side of the train should we sit on for the Golden Pass line from Lucerne to Montreux for the best views!
Doesn’t matter. It is three different trains – see my comments**
2) What side is best from Interlaken to Lauterburren?
right hand side leaving Interlaken, but it hardly matters – a very short journey
3) What side is best from Montreux to Zermatt?
Two different trains.
a) Main line SBB train Montreux – Visp: Sit on the right for the lake view until Aigle, then it doesn’t matter – similar views on both sides
b) Visp – Zermatt railway; doesn’t matter as the line switches around and views change as you go up the valley
4) What side is best from Montreux to Venice?
Almost impossible to say – a very long journey (several different trains, two countries…)
**
** The Golden Pass rail route:
Current tourist branding can be confusing
1) The true Goldenpass is just the MOB railway Zweisimmen – Montreux.
2) The Luzern – Interlaken railway is actually the Brünig Pass line operated by Zentralbahn (ZB), which dubs the regular trains “Luzern – Interlaken Express’.
It’s OK but not spectacular scenery
3) The ‘bit in the middle’ (Zweisimmen – Spiez – Interlaken) is two branch lines of the full size main line BLS railway, with a mix of local trains (change at Spiez) and some through services Zweisimmen – Interlaken
A few facts about the Montreux – Zweisimmen railway – ie the MOB (Montreux-Oberland – Bernois):
The Golden Pass is historically only Montreux – Zweisimmen, only more recent marketing branding takes the ‘Goldenpass route’ east of Zweisimmen to Interlaken and beyond to Luzern.
The Golden Pass is the touristic branding for the Montreux – Oberland Bernois (MOB) railway but after a few years of favouring ‘Goldenpass services’, the company decided it was losing its tradition and has reverted to putting the Chemin de Fer Montreux – Oberland Bernois name on publicity and train coaches.
*MOB pioneered the Panoramic coach concept on Swiss trains, starting in 1976.
There are now several versions of panoramic coaches in service, but MOB keeps changing its mind how to dub each service.
It 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 side part of windows is normally fine.
You will get roughly the same scenic experience form any train on the MOB and reservation is not obligatory
Here is the timetable PDF for the MOB:
http://www.fahrplanfelder.ch/ fileadmin/fap_pdf_fiel ds/2019/120.pdf
It is very scenic, but the MOB route is far from being the most spectacular (although any dubbing of this nature is going to subjective and personal) in Switzerland.
Thank you so much!
Hi Zyla! The Golden Pass route is described at http://www.myswissalps.com/go ldenpass/gettingthere. You’ll have good views on either side, but if we have a (slight) preference you’ll find it in our description of each route segment. I think it’s a beautiful train ride and for sure worth it!
Your Swiss Travel Pass covers the entire route to Lauterbrunnen and Schilthorn, at least as long as 2019. Please find details at http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/validity and http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/overview-of-the-swiss-travel-system-passes-in-2020. Swiss Travel Pass purchase options are listed at http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/price.
You’ll need additional tickets for the Swiss leg of your outbound trip to Venice: http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/italy.
Thank you!
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