I've seen the recommendations for this train trip and my wife and I could use that on our way to Geneva in early July. I think seat reservations are required, though we do have a Swiss Travel Pass. How far in advance can seat reservations be made? I'm having a hard time navigating the website. Is it possible that all seats are already reserved for early July? Thanks for your help if you have some insight!
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
Reservations are not required and also not sold out on my test dates. This hard-to-navigate-to GP link probably works better if you break your request into pieces. Only the Zweisimmen-Montreux portion offers the VIP nose-cone seats (in 1st class) and those could be sold out. This is also the portion where reservations are most recommended.
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9100 posts
Seat reservations aren't required, but are strongly recommended during the peak season. You can make them at any rail station when you are in country, or via this site:
tickets.goldenpass.ch
Only one Goldenpass train per day leaves from Interlaken, the rest start at Zweisman. There are two types of Golden Pass trains: Panoramic (with large windows), and Classic which uses vintage first class Pullman cars right out of an Agatha Christe novel. I prefer the classic.
Posted by
Los Angeles
4412 posts
I took that train in early November and it was full of empty seats. Oddly, some were marked RESERVED but perhaps they were left over from high season.
The windows on the train are plenty big enough to see the sights, it's up to you whether you want to sit over the engineer.
Posted by
OP
North Carolina
16 posts
Thanks, all. So if I get on the line at Spiez, I don't really need to worry about a reservation until Zweisimmen? Is that correct? I guess I just need to use the proper site to make the reservation.
Thanks again for your help!
Posted by
Los Angeles
4412 posts
The track gauge changes at Zweissman so you have to change trains (10 steps across the platform), I guess that's where the big window cars appear.