Swiss railway holiday

My wife and I are thinking of taki8ng a Swiss railway holiday. I don't want an organised tour (they're just not for us) but we're not familiar with the country - what do people recommend as the highlights for a week-long trip?

 

Steam on the Brienz Rothorn https://brienz-rothorn-bahn.ch/en/anreise/

Glacier Express https://glacierexpress.ch/en

Jungfraujoch https://www.jungfraujochtickets.com/jungfraujoch-railway-and-train/

Furka steam cogwheel https://www.dfb.ch/en/

There are so many

 

My wife and I visited a few years ago. My favourite trips were the Bernina express and the Furka Cogwheel Steam Railway. We stayed at Chur for the Bernina and Brig for the Furka Cogwheel. The Glacier Express connects Chur and Brig. I strongly recommend buying a Swiss Travel pass.

We went for two weeks. Ffestinog travel organised our holiday but we were not part of a group.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

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I'd agree there really is so much, the first thing is to decide which areas you want to cover, where to stay etc. My preference would always be the south of the country among the Alps and lakes.
Having been in Switzerland over New Year near Lake Lucerne, in four days I experienced the Glacier Express (Andermatt to Chur) , Lucerne, Mount Rigi and Mount Titlis and a diversion via Stoos on the way back to the airport. But there is a limit to what you can fit in, you can always go back.
When to go is also worth looking at, prices are high in mid summer and not everything is open all year.

The whole of the Rhatische Bahn system covers St Moritz, the Bernina line to Tirana in Italy, the Albula line with the Landwasser viaduct etc.
The Glacier Express runs from Zermatt to St Moritz and from Zermatt the Gornergrat railway heads up towards the Matterhorn.
The Bernese Oberland covers Interlaken, Jungfraujoch etc the Rothorn. The cities of Bern and Lucerne are both worth visiting.

There are plenty travel videos on YouTube to watch (easy to lose several hours that way). Get the SBB app and use the SBB website to plan which travel pass(es) to have and what discounts they give you, hotels will also probably give you a visitor pass for discounts in their locality (eg: 10% off the Gondola to Mt Titlis), worth checking as Switzerland is not a cheap country.
Pay in Swiss Francs mostly by card, hardly used any currency on my last couple of visits.

 

Be prepared for bad weather. I was ridiculously lucky last year to do both the Rothorn and Gornergrat in brilliant sunshine, and they were both spectacular.

we booked tickets for those trips around a week in advance, when we had a good idea the weather would be ok, and it worked out.

We did Chur to Zermatt on the Glacierexpress, Gornergrat from Zermatt, then 3 days in Interlaken for the Bernese Oberland, where there’s quick and easy connections to Brienz (for the Rothorn), Meiringen, Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Jungfrau etc.

Then Golden Express to Montreux via Gstaad, Geneva, Paris, home… couldn’t resist a multi-gauge train that raises the whole carriage half way along the journey.

It worked out to be cheaper to get the Swiss half pass for us, rather than the full Swiss Rail pass. We did a fair amount of first class, for better window access and seats, but standard was pretty good as well.

A big spreadsheet to include all the costs for the things you want to do, including cable cars, funiculars etc, all of which get discounts with the railcards, is a good idea.

In an ideal budget free world we’d have done Bernina from Chur as well as Glacier.

Nothing can prepare you for how expensive Switzerland is, particularly food and drink.

If I think of more, I’ll add it here.

Simon

 

Definitely recommend the Furka Cogwheel Railway. We stayed at Realp when doing this after travelling up by train from Brig/Visp and also doing the walk to the rapidly receding Aletsch glacier at Fiesch. The very scenic main line between Brig and Realp and onwards (the route of the 'Glacier Express') can be enjoyed just as easily from a 'standard' service (i.e. not the Glacier Express)! If you do want to pay for one of the heavily advertised long-distance tourist trains, the Bernina Express from Chur to Tirano is definitely worth a trip.

I never had a chance to go but the museum and steam line at Blonay close to Vevey on Lake Geneva is also supposed to be very good.

 

The Blonay-Chamby museum is good. I think it is only open on Friday afternoon and weekends. Some days are electric only.

The transport museum at Luzern is worth visiting. Also in Luzern is the Bourbaki Panorama ( I suggest you Google it).

A week will fly by.

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As suggested above one needs to choose one area of Switzerland to 'do' in a week. We've been there for a week or so each of the last 4 yrs.
Luzern area twice for Rigi, Pilatus, Mt.Titlis, Luzern Transport Museum, lake steamers, Rothorn and SBB/Centralbahn all included on the Tell Pass CHF 340 p.p.
Interlaken area for n.g. lines to Jungfrau, L.Brienz & Thun steamers, Rothorn (don't forget to reserve) and last Sun/month steam over the Brunig. I believe that there is a Bernese Oberland pass.
Graubunden area for Bernina and Glacier expresses (but the regular trains on the same route are much cheaper and just as good) Furka is v.expensive but worth doing once.
Hope this helps.
Ray.

 

Definitely the GornergratBahn for the views of the Matterhorn. Also get off and have a look at the Realp Tram to the restored Hotel at Realp. 60cm gauge battery trams/ railcars.
On the Bernina Express services St Moritz to Tirano normal fares apply in the 3 car multiple unit which hauls the trains. On the RhB keep an eye open for freight services, or freight traffic / postal containers on the rear of timetabled trains.
There is a lot of publicity on the Rhaetian Railway website https://www.rhb.ch/en/ for Landwasser viaduct and it is a brilliant photographic location. The viaduct, a Wiesen a few miles away, is even better as you can walk over the viaduct. But a good head for heights is needed! Search around the site and there will be details of Davos Filisur trains with heritage stock and perhaps steam tours.
The Montreux - Bernois Oberland (MOB) route is very scenic but without the austere mountains. There are through trains (Golden Panoramic Express) with gauge changing rolling stock right through to Interlaken. Again, avoid the supplements and travel on local services.
If you want to do a mountain funicular off the beaten track, try the Niesen Bahn from Mulenen, just south of Spiez. I can almost guarantee you will be the only non Swiss people there.

The main advice is don't try to do it all - I've been to Switzerland six times and I'm only scratching the surface! Then there are lake paddlesteamers on Thunsesee, Brienzersee, Zurichsee, Lac Leman and Vierwaldstattersee (Lake Luzern)

Cheers, Neil

 

I agree with Ray @marshall5, pick an area and stick to it, unless you're happy hotel hopping. It's not a big country but it can take surprisingly long to get around. One way of seeing different parts of the country is to fly into one airport and out of another. Do you have a rough time of year that you plan to go? It can be very hot in the summer so heading to the mountains is popular - a lot of places don't have air con.

I've used Thun as a base several times as it's pretty central and allows easy access to many places. As Ray said, a Bernese Oberland Pass allows unlimited travel on most of the trains, buses and boats in the area. It also includes the Brienz Rothorn Bahn so you could, assuming there's space, spend the week going up and down the mountain with steam! Paddle steamers operate on a lot of the lake as well and they're included.

Calendar of railway events in Switzerland https://www.bahnoldtimer.com/events-reisen/

Bernese Oberland Pass details https://www.berneseoberlandpass.ch/prices-tickets/

https://www.berneseoberlandpass.ch/assets/Uploads/BLS-BO-Pass-M-26-WEB.pdf

 

I’ll just add, don’t confine yourselves to the railways - you’ll miss out

 

I can highly recommend the RhB but would suggest visiting sooner rather than later. Recent news suggests that landslides may damage / destroy some of the lines hence reason to visit sooner. Chur is worth a visit with Arosa branch line services working through the streets; freight services once hauled by EMU are now powered by double headed electric locos. The RhB website also identifies train workings (i.e which loco operates which service) hence allowing chance to concentrate on best locations. Personal favourites are Samedin; Chur (where gauges meet); Bernina Line (but height restrictions may apply if health concerns - after heart by-pass doctors advised against going over 8ooo ft - Alp Grum is 8000 + ft) and Landquart (the main operating centre). Chur is also about an hour's journey from Zurich hence frequent flights from UK.

 

I must do Montreux-Interlaken again, now it's a single train. I did it years ago and had to change trains at Zweisimmen where the two gauges meet. Montreux station itself had three separate gauges then, not sure if it still does. Only station I've ever been to with three gauges.

 

I did it one way in the the Belle Époque set between Zweisimmen and Montreux which is covered by the Swiss Pass.

 

It's a curiosity, but having travelled Interlaken - Montreux, the hurried bus substitution from Boltigen to Zweisimmen was a bit of a downer, while I'd quite like to have used the Belle Epoque.

 

My favorites are

1. Rhb which is a UNESCO world heritage site
The line between Chur and Tirano is frequently voted one of the most scenic railway journeys on the world. The first railway line on Google Street view.

2. Furka Cog Wheel Steam Railway.

As other I have said you need to pick an area : -

The Rhaetian Railway (RhB)
Or
Luzern

or the Bernese Oberland

 

One rail journey not to be missed is the cross-border Vigezzina-Centovalli line from Locarno to Dommodossala.
https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/experiences/centovalli-express/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domodossola–Locarno_railway_line