The ultimate Swiss scenic train itinerary: Glacier, Bernina, Gotthard, and GoldenPass lines plus much more 

Day 1: Voralpen-Express and GoldenPass northern leg

You’ll first take a regular train from Zurich to St. Gallen. Then change to the Voralpen-Express for a scenic ride across the pre-Alps to Lucerne. Finally, you will take the GoldenPass route to Interlaken Ost. The whole trip will take nearly a bit under 6 hours.

Day 2: Highest rail station in Europe: Jungfraujoch

From Interlaken Ost, you will take the spectacular railway to Lauterbrunnen, Wengen and Kleine Scheidegg, and finally reach the highest rail station in Europe: the Jungfraujoch.

After enjoying the view and the snow up here, you descend back to Kleine Scheidegg. Then you’ll take another route down to Grindelwald, passing the impressive Eiger North face. Alternatively, you can use the quicker Eiger Express cable car from the rail station of Eigergletscher to Grindelwald Terminal in the valley. From Grindelwald, you’ll take a direct train to Interlaken Ost.

Today’s pure travel time is 4h20, but in good weather you should certainly add some hours to enjoy the Jungfraujoch and beautiful mid-stations like Kleine Scheidegg and Eigergletscher.

It is not worth going up the Jungfraujoch if it’s cloudy up there. Check our Interlaken page for bad weather activities.

Day 3: GoldenPass southern leg

In 3h20 to 3h50, you’ll make a magnificent trip from Interlaken Ost via the GoldenPass line to Montreux on Lake Geneva.

If you choose to arrive early, there’s still time left to travel up to Rochers-de-Naye by cogwheel train. A visit to Chillon Castle is another good option for the late afternoon.

Day 4: Montreux to Zermatt

The train ride to Zermatt takes about 2.5 hours. That leaves time to do something extra, like a boat trip from Montreux to Lausanne. From Lausanne, you can take the train to Zermatt. This adds about 3 hours to today’s activities.

Another option is to arrive early in Zermatt and make a trip into the mountains, for a good view of the Matterhorn.

Day 5: Glacier Express

You’ll board the famous Glacier Express to enjoy the 6-hour ride up the Oberalp Pass and across the Rhine Valley to the historical town of Chur. Worrying whether you can get seats for this popular train? Read Annika’s reservation hacks here.

Day 6: Bernina Express

Another famous train: the Bernina Express offers a scenic ride across a varied landscape. The train takes you to Tirano, just across the Italian border.

From Tirano, the special Bernina Express bus takes you back into Switzerland, to the town of Lugano. This bus route is covered by the Swiss Travel Pass. In winter, the bus operates on many but not all days: check the timetable. If it’s not available, you can use regular trains via Monza in Italy instead. These are not covered by the Swiss Travel Pass.

This journey takes pretty much all day. You’ll arrive in Lugano around dinnertime.

Day 7: Gotthard Panorama Express

This is the last time you will cross the Alps this week. From the Italian-like climate and atmosphere in southern Switzerland, the Gotthard Panorama Express will take you back north. First, you’ll travel by train to Flüelen. There you will change to the boat to Lucerne.

The Gotthard Panorama Express operates from mid-April to mid-October. In other months, you can take regular regional trains, called “Treno Gottardo”, across the Gotthard mountain route. There are regular boats from Flüelen to Lucerne as well. Alternatively, you can take a train from Flüelen to Lucerne.

In Lucerne, you’ll take a train to Zurich. The complete trip of this day takes about 6.5 hours.

Practical tips to use and adjust this tour

Basic planning tips

• The itinerary of this tour can be booked as displayed here. Use the shopping list to arrange all bookings that you need.
• Of course, you can do this journey in reverse order.
• Plan each segment of your trip in detail with the timetable.

How to extend this journey

You can book extra nights in Zurich, Lucerne (to split day 1 or 7), Interlaken, Montreux, Zermatt, and Lugano. If you have time, I strongly recommend spending a couple of extra days in one or more of these towns. Each of these regions offers a lot to explore. This way, you can even create a 2- or 3-week Switzerland holiday!

Alternatives if you have less than 7 days available

• You can get back to Zurich (or any other departure town in Switzerland) at the end of most travel days. For example: travel from Montreux to Zurich after day 3, from Zermatt after day 4, from Chur after day 5 (this is just a 1h15-journey), and so on.
• You can take out the side trip to Jungfraujoch on day 2, and immediately move on to Montreux instead.
• You can skip the Glacier Express and Bernina Express on days 5 and 6. Instead, travel from Zermatt to Locarno via the Centovalli Railway. Pick up the Gotthard Panorama Express from nearby Lugano or Bellinzona.
• If you have just a couple of days, look into our 3-day Glacier Express journey or the slower-paced 4-day variant.

A multiple-day train tour in winter

This train journey can be made in winter too, although you’ll have to make some adjustments to the Gotthard Panorama Express segment and possibly the Bernina Express bus journey. Alternatively, check our winter train itinerary.

Map of the entire train route

This map provides a general overview of the route. For detailed routes, you can review the maps on each of our scenic train pages.