Entering Switzerland through Barnini Express

We have around 10 days and have to leave Switzerland from Geneva.

The plan to stay stay in Alpine area for few days and then two days in Lucerne (from there will see Zurich) and then go to Geneva through Bern.

1. Where exactly I should stay overnight after we get off from Barnini express?

2. Should we go to Zermatt from St. Mortiz or from Char?

3. any other suggestions?

we are quite open and want a good balance of natural look and art/history.

thanks in advance for the help.

Welcome to MySwissAlps fmurshed!

1. St. Moritz, or one of the nearby villages like Celerina, Samedan or Pontresina are wonderful places to enjoy the Alps and do some hiking. This is the Upper Engadine region.
2. I assume you mean Chur? Anyway, you can travel to Zermatt from any town with a rail station, but if you stay in the Upper Engadine, you can take a direct Glacier Express to Zermatt. That's one of the best train journeys Switzerland has to offer.
3. Please see the above links, and also this page could be helpful.

By the way, the train is called Bernina Express. You can take the "official" train or any other train from Tirano to St. Moritz.

Does this get you started? If you have further questions, please let us know when you've planned to travel.

<<"a good balance of natural look and art/history.">>

Luzern is a good choice.

www.myswissalps.com/lu cerne

www.myswitzerland.com/ en-us/lucerne.html

The Rosengart Collection in Luzern is 3 minutes from the main station and has a fantastic display of about 100 Klee paintings, plus a lot of Picasso and others.

www.rosengart.ch/museu m_rosengart_en.php5

There is a small very nice Picasso museum in the old town.

The Bourbaki panorama combines art and history in a most impressive display.

bourbakipanorama.ch/en /

Slowpoke

It appears Swiss rail pass will allow us to have our 12 year old daughter riding free. If we do NOT have pass and purchase ticket as we need, will her ticket be free?

Hi fmurshed,

It's very unlikely that you don't need a rail pass if you stay in Switzerland for 10 days. You will at least need a Swiss Half Fare Card, or possibly a Swiss Travel Pass (more convenient). In both cases you can get a free Swiss Family Card which allows your daughter to travel along for free. If you don't buy a pass for the adults you will need to buy a Junior travelcard for your daughter.

Please see here for how to find the best (cheapest) pass.

question about Glacier express:

1. are we allowed to have the suitcases? does it stop at a regular train station? We are thinking of St. Moritz to Zermatt

2. When we buy in advance do we buy for a specific date? I understand we get some discount if we have a swiss rail pass or half fair pass, but how will the discount work when we are buying in advance and online? could you please explain?

Hi fmurshed,

1. Yes, you can travel with luggage, or choose to have it transported for you: myswissalps.com/train/ practical/luggage. Zermatt and St. Moritz only have one train station, which is where the Glacier Express and all other trains stop.
2. The train ride is free with a Swiss Travel Pass. You only need seat reservations, and those need to be purchased in advance (along with your pass for example) fr a specific date and time. Please see myswissalps.com/ glacierexpress/tickets.

Thanks for all the inputs. I am now pretty convinced that pass is needed to move around this country.

I have two questions:

1. We plan to stay in the St. Moritz /Sils area for two/three nights and some hotels do offer some travel card as a combo. Does this mean I will NOT need the swiss rail pass for those days? I am wondering if there is an opportunity to save some cost.

2. We are planning to take the Glacier Express from Moritz to Zermatt. But as I am looking at the transportation map of Switzerland, It appears there is no direct train from there to destination such as Bern, or Luzzane. What would be the most efficient route in moving out of Zermatt?

<<"2. We are planning to take the Glacier Express from Moritz to Zermatt. But as I am looking at the transportation map of Switzerland, It appearsthere is no direct train from there to destination such as Bern, or Luzzane. What would be the most efficient route in moving out of Zermatt?">>

I recall that you plan to go to Luzern?

Please use the timetable:

www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

It will show the fastest route by default, such as change at Visp and Bern. 3 hours 23 minutes.

If you want a scenic route, use the "via" or "connection box and route through Kandersteg.

Route requires changes at Visp, Brig, Bern or more (usually that is Olten.) . 4 hrs 47 minutes. The local train between Brig and Bern is the Lötschberegr.

Highly recommended.

Slowpoke

Thank you so much for the input, Slowpoke.

The line connecting Valais and Spiez is an excellent option indeed. This Lötschberg line will take us to Bern.

Constrain is this: we live via Geneva ( to Spain).

So, Zermatt to Brig to Bern

Bern to Luzerne (Bern–Wolhusen–Lucerne railway line)

Luzerne to Geneva.

Is there a better way of planning the route... if we plan to cover Bern, and Luzern, and end up In Geneva.

<<"Thank you so much for the input, Slowpoke. The line connecting Valais and Spiez is an excellent option indeed. This Lötschberg line will take us to Bern. Constrain is this: we live via Geneva ( to Spain). So, Zermatt to Brig to BernBern to Luzerne (Bern–Wolhusen–Lucerne railway line)Luzerne to Geneva.Is there a better way of planning the route... if we plan to cover Bern, and Luzern, and end up In Geneva.">>

Depends on how much time you have. You'll have to work the time table to figure it out.

There is one other very good option. I like it much better.

It gives you a very scenic route through the Brunig Pass. If you want that scenic route...also highly recommended - take what is called the Interlaken Luzern Express. It use to be called part of the Golden Pass line. Once per hour from IO, 1 hour 51 minutes to Luzern.

Zermatt to Visp to Brig to Spiez (via the Lötschberger, not by the new boring Lotschberg Basis Tunnel) to Interlaken Ost.

Then, Interlaken Ost to Luzern...force that scenic route by using Meiringen for "via. " Sarnen or Giswil should also work.

Stop at Luzern.

Then go on to Bern .

The fast route goes through Zofingen and just bypasses Olten. One hour. Newer, faster, straighter main line track. "Neubaustrecke."

The slower route which you mention via Wolhusen takes 1 hour 29 minutes, goes through very scenic Emmental country, and passes through Langnau on the way to Bern. I always go that way unless i am in a hurry. Before the fast track near Olten was installed, that was the normal route between Luzern and Bern.

Finally, Bern to Geneva. Fast, main line trains. Unless you have lots of time, Zürich should be a secondary priority. I love the town, cultural events, museums, things that you find after you spend time there. But it is not such a good tourist destination as the others we have discussed.

If you take that route from Bern to Geneva, you will most likely go through Lausanne.

As you begin to approach Lausanne, soon after you pass Palezieux , and immediately after you come out of the tunnel at Puidoux, sit on the left. Some of the best views in Switzerland are there...the lake and the Alps... then the vineyards.

One of the towns is named Grandvaux...for good reason.

Let me know if that is not clear.

I highly recommend that you consider the routing I have just given. You'll like the views from the windows much better than if you take the somewhat faster routes also available.

Slowpoke.

Hello fmurshed,

Quite some hotels in and near St. Moritz allow you to buy a discounted ski pass. Details are explained in this forum topic: www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/discounted-st-moritz-ski-pass-with-hotel-bookings. In Summer there will be another offer, including free trips to a couple of mountain tops (see here). So whether this can replace a rail pass, depends both on the time of year you'll be visiting and on the exact plans you have while staying in the St. Moritz region.

Thanks Annika for your inputs. I shall check those. Importantly, Does this mean, instead of flat and straight 10 days pass, I can select 7 or 8 selected day rail pass? The remaining 2 or 3 days, I shall use the localized free trips offered by hotel?

Hi fmurshed,

That's hard to tell. You should first know what your plans in and near St. Moritz are, and then compare the coverage of your rail pass with that of the discounted ski pass (or, in Summer, the other hotel offer; I'm still not sure when you'll be traveling).

Please note that there's no Swiss Travel Pass for 10 continuous days, as explained at our Swiss Travel Pass page. You can choose from 3, 4, 8 or 15 continuous days. Alternatively, there's the Swiss Travel Pass Flex. This allows you to pick days that don't have to be continuous. In most cases this the Swiss Travel Pass Flex is quite expensive, but it may work for your plans.

There's only one way to tell for sure which pass suits your needs best: you should first compose a detailed itinerary and then compare the options as explained at www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass.