[Bsiess]

13 October 2019 at 17:13:49 #824181

Hello, family and I are planning a quick 3 day trip to Switzerland and our base will be in Montreux. Couple questions, if we take the Golden Rail scenic rail can we get on and off and the certain towns? It states the whole trip is about 5.5 hours, can we do the whole trip starting in Montreux? Can we stop in Interlaken and visit Harder Klum?

Also what city would you all suggest as another day trip, Bern, Gruyere, Lausanne?

Thanks for all the help!

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[Arno]

13 October 2019 at 17:27:36 #923593

Hi Bsiess,

Welcome to MySwissAlps! You can get off and on wherever you like, no problem. It’s regular public transport to get people from A to B. Please find details here:

• http://www.myswissalps.com/go ldenpass
• http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable (to find train schedules)

Bern and Lausanne make good day trips:

• http://www.myswissalps.com/be rn
• http://www.myswissalps.com/la usanne

Gruyères isn’t really a city but a small (and wonderful) medieval town in a rural area. Very nice as well but totally different from the two cities.

[Removed user]

13 October 2019 at 23:07:06 #923594

I have been travelling the Montreux – Zweisimmen (the MOB railway – try not to labour too much on the ‘GoldenPass’ branding) on and off for 59 years (and I’m 59…)

Here’s my personal ‘FAQ’:

The Golden Pass rail route:

Current tourist branding can be confusing

1) The true Goldenpass is just the MOB railway Zweisimmen – Montreux.\

If you are based in Montreux, you will be concentrating on the ‘true’ Golden Pass as far as Interlaken.

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.

I recommend using regional trains on the MOB (the real name for the Montreux – Zweisimmen railway). Again, this gives you the flexibility to get on a train at whichever time suits you.

[Twobkind]

14 October 2019 at 4:44:37 #923595

Thank you for this clear explanation 1960man. I will be taking this route from Luzern-Zweissiman-Montreux. Which do you recommend is a more panoramic ride than the Zweissiman route?

[Arno]

14 October 2019 at 5:59:05 #923596

Hi Twobkind,

If you travel from Luzern to Montreux then the most scenic route is via Zweisimmen (mind the spelling if you are looking for timetables). See the links in my previous post for all details.

[Twobkind]

14 October 2019 at 23:31:17 #923597

Thank you for the reminder about proper spelling, especially when looking at time tables. I am learning!

[Bsiess]

27 October 2019 at 19:14:09 #923598

I love this forum and all the wonderful, useful information you all have to offer. Thank you so much for your expertise!!

[Bsiess]

4 November 2019 at 17:59:33 #923599

Hi Arno,

Thanks again for all your information. Can you tell me if there is more than one rail station in Montreux? When I search the SBB timetables I see many different options for Montreux? I also see different trains from Montreux and Montreux gare, are they close to one another? Thanks for all your help!!!

[Removed user]

5 November 2019 at 6:47:52 #923600

Hello Bsiess,

This last question of yours has been answered by Rockoyster in your other thread, see below:
– http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/looking-for-a-small-adventure-falls-and-villages

Best,
Steph