Bernina Express or Glacier Express

  • Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    8 January 2011 at 18:08:43 #804086

    Hi..

    My family and I will be in Switzerland from 9 – 23 March.

    We have bought a 15 day rail pass.

    We have also booked accommodation at 2 places:
    9 – 15 Mar at Brienz… and 16 – 23 Mar at Wallis.

    I haven’t really prepared an itinerary yet.

    So far I know I would like to take a scenic train ride either on the Bernina Express or Glacier Express. But unfortunately I just realised that the GE doesn’t go to Davos and St Moritz in March. So I’m thinking of the Bernina Express instead. What’s your opinion? I’m ok with going into Italy for a couple of hours although it wasn’t planned.

    Also, must we book the train in advance? I heard March is not the peak season. I’m afraid that if the weather is bad we might not be able to see much.

    We would also like to spend a day at Jungfrau mountain. I heard we need to get a special train pass ( or is it a ski pass? ) to get up there. Can we get them when we reach there or is it better to book them in advance?

    Same too for hang gliding or paragliding at Interlaken. Do I need to book these in advance?

    Thanks 🙂

  • Effortlessly learn from the questions and answers in the forum. Receive a daily e-mail with new discussions.

    Annika
    Moderator
    7103 posts
    9 January 2011 at 4:44:20 #832085

    Hi RaBBit, and welcome to the forum! As far as I can see, the Glacier Express does get to Davos (with a change of trains in Filisur) and St. Moritz in March. Both the Glacier Express timetable and the regular Swiss timetable don’t indicate otherwise. If so, my advice would be to make this trip. It’s an amazing train ride, longer and with more variety in views and landscape than the Bernina Express. Moreover, the Bernina Express leaves from St. Moritz and then gets further to the south, which would require you to travel even further and longer from you resort in Wallis (I assume that’s where you want to make this trip from?).

    Both trains have to be reserved in advance. March isn’t peak season indeed, so you may try to book only a few days in advance at a railway station if you know what the weather will be like. Please take into account though that the Glacier Express is a popular train, which may be fully booked outside of high season as well.

    Regular train tickets have to be purchased for your ride up to the Jungfraujoch. You don’t have to reserve seats here; it’s better to purchase your tickets right before boarding, for example a the railway station of Interlaken. This way, you can change your plans if the weather turns out to be bad. It’s an expensive trip, and it would be a waste of your money to go up there and see nothing but clouds.

    Paragliding tandem flights have to be booked, but this can often be done shortly in advance. It’s best though to contact some of the adventure sports centres and find out about their terms and conditions.

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    9 January 2011 at 20:39:29 #832086

    Thanks, Arno

    Will go prepare my itinerary now 🙂

  • The thread ‘Bernina Express or Glacier Express’ is closed to new replies.

About MySwissAlps

We’re passionate tourists and locals. We share tips about how to plan a trip to Switzerland. MySwissAlps was founded in 2002.

Get a free account for a worry-free trip

  • Join our 10730 members and ask us questions in the forum
  • Access to member-only promotions
  • Detailed maps and weather forecasts

Planning your first Switzerland adventure?

Get a jump-start with Annika’s 20-minute e-mail course, “Switzerland for beginners”. Subscribe to our newsletter to unlock the course.