Which pass covers the Glacier and Bernina Express?
Arajnish is planning a trip to Switzerland and wants to know which rail pass, the Swiss Travel Pass or the Eurail Pass, covers the Glacier Express and Bernina Express. They are also curious about making seat reservations and whether a seamless travel itinerary is possible within six days.
- Both the Swiss Travel Pass and the Eurail Pass cover the Glacier Express and Bernina Express, but you'll need to pay for seat reservations on these trains.
- There is no 6-day Swiss Travel Pass option, so consider the 8-day pass for better cost efficiency if using it daily.
- You can see the Matterhorn from Zermatt, but you cannot visit it directly; visiting Gornergrat or Klein Matterhorn is recommended.
AI-generated summary-
Hi,
I would like to know which rail pass (Swiss rail pass or Eurail pass) includes Glacier express and Bernina express? Thanks.
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Hi Arajnish,
Both the Swiss Travel Pass and the Eurail (Select Pass) cover the Glacier Express and the Bernina Express.
Read more about the validity of both passes here:
In addition to either pass you need to buy seat reservations on both those trains.
Thank you for the reply and the links. If we break the journey into two parts then do we have to pay the reservation charges twice on these trains? TIA.
The Glacier Express and the Bernina Express are two separate trains so you need a separate reservation for each.
If you mean if you catch the Glacier Express from say Zermatt then break and subsequently resume the journey at say Andermatt then yes you would need two reservations for the Glacier Express. That would be an unusual thing to do. Reservations are tied to a particular train departure time.
Also bear in mind you can cover both routes on regular trains an pay no reservations charges. You just miss out on the panoramic windows and commentary. 🤓
Thank you all. Your advice will help us plan our trip. One more question I have is regarding the Swiss rail pass. We are planning to stay 6 days and will be using the pass every day. Why is the Swiss pass offered only 4 days or 8 days? Is there anything for 6 days?
There is no country-wide rail pass for 6 days no. They unfortunately can’t make a rail pass for every possible # of days a visitor might be here. I guess 3,4,8 and work out best.
An 8 day Swiss Travel Pass might still work out quite well economically for you – compared to buying individual tickets, even though you aren’t “using” 2 days. The cost works out to 66CHF per day, so you’ll want to compare that to your average ticket cost per day to see.
Thank you, I am planning to buy 8 days pass. We are traveling from Geneva to Zermatt which will take more than 4 hours. Will it be possible to cover the Matterhorn the same day or it will be too late? TIA
Depends what time you make a start. You could be at Zermatt by lunchtime so Gornergrat definitely possible. Is that what you meant by “cover the Matterhorn”? You can see the Matterhorn from Zermatt. You can’t actually visit the Matterhorn.
You can use the timetable for Swiss railways and see the logistics and if you want to try it. If you’re staying in Zermatt that night then there should be no problem doing that (at Gornergrat as Rockoyster notes) or Klein Matterhorn. Not the Matterhorn itself.
Thank you for your reply, everyone. We will be staying that night in Zermatt and we are planning to see the Matterhorn from Gornergrat and from Matterhorn glacier plus some cable car rides. We will be leaving for Interlaken next evening by train. Therefore, two half days we have all together in Zermatt.
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