Glacier Express booking & best railpass for 8 days

  • Bijal30
    Participant
    2 posts
    19 June 2022 at 18:11:08 #827544

    Hi,

    My husband and I are traveling to Switzerland from Dec 23rd to Dec 30th. During our trip we most definitely wanted to take the Glacier Express from Zermatt to St Moritz one of those days. We would plan the rest of the trip to Zurich, Zermatt and St Moritz depending on the the day we can take the Glacier Express

    1. How do we go about reserving our seats for that week? If i at currently look i cant look for reservation beyond Dec 10th. Do I wait for sometime and how much time should i wait to book tickets online

    2. Once we book the tickets online by when should we reserve our seats?

    3. If we book the first class tickets can we upgrade to Excellence class at a later stage?

    4. What is a more cost effective way to book tickets, given we will be traveling from Zurich to Zermatt to St Moritz to Zurich by train so i would assume we would need swiss train pass as well. Having a swiss train pass be beneficial to book the Glacier Express trip?

    5. Fot the almost 8 days that we would be traveling Switzerland what would you recommend to travel within the country? Swiss Pass or Half Swiss pass?

    Thanks,

    Bijal

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    Anna
    Moderator
    6274 posts
    20 June 2022 at 4:09:14 #943393

    Hi Bijal30,

    Welcome to MySwissAlps.

    You can book your seats on the Glacier Express up to 90 days in advance and buy the tickets up to 60 days in advance. So I would book the seats first as they do run out. Once you have your seats booked, you can purchase your tickets anytime before your trip (tickets don’t usually run out). If you have a Swiss Travel Pass or a Saver Day Pass, you don’t need tickets, only seat reservations.

    You can find more information about Glacier Express tickets and reservations here (including purchase information): http://www.myswissalps.com/glacierexpress/tickets

    To travel in the Excellence Class, depending on your tickets or railpass, you may need to pay an upgrade in addition to seat reservations.

    A railpass such as the Swiss Travel Pass will be a sensible option for you if you’re planning frequent train trips on top of the Glacier Express. Purchase options are available here: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass/price

    Hope this gets you started.

    regards,

    Anna

    Bijal30
    Participant
    2 posts
    20 June 2022 at 22:42:00 #943394

    Hi Anna,

    Are there any dates in Dec (like christmas eve) that the train is not operational?

    Also if we are targeting to take the glacier express on 12/25 or 12/26 – How soon should we look at reserving tickets?

    Thanks,

    Bijal

    Anna
    Moderator
    6274 posts
    21 June 2022 at 7:27:29 #943395

    Hi Bijal,

    The Glacier Express runs all year round except during a short maintenance break from late October to mid December: https://www.myswissalps.com/glacierexpress/gettingthere.

    If you plan to travel during Christmas, you should consider making your seat reservations in September and the tickets after you secured your seats (up 60 days in advance).

    Glacier Express tickets: http://www.myswissalps.com/glacierexpress/tickets

    Regards,

    Anna

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