Golden Pass VIP Front row ?

I have seen people plan way ahead to get those specific seats on the Golden Pass train. If the extra fare isn't too bad, I would do it.

And I have taken many decent photos through train windows with my iPad. Maybe it has some way of compensating for the glare? It does depend on the angle of the sun as well as the angle of the camera to the glass. You would have a straight-on shot. . And even the ones that include the glare are interesting.

Many will tell you that the scenery is the same no matter where you sit, and that is true, but I thought the experience was incredible and would definitely recommend it. I thought it was a fun splurge that made the trip feel more special.

I would recommend getting one of the seats in the middle of one of the rows, if you can. I was in the single seat in the front left corner and found my view a bit obstructed by the metal connecting the two windows.

What makes the VIP seats so special is the scenery when you arrive at the mountain top just before Montreux. You get commanding views of Lake Geneva as the train zig zags it's way down to the station down by the lake shore. So go for it!
The VIP seats aren't worth it in the other direction.

Thanks so much for the information. We are a party of four and I just booked the four seats across the front.

Northwestern
What website did you book your reservations on? Was it easy to see the choice for the front row seats? We are looking to do the same in Sept. Will you be catching this train in Interlaken Ost or West?
Thank you,
Karen

I went to the goldenpass.ch website, it was quite a few clicks to find the place to actually book the tickets. I just looked again, I clicked on the lines tab at the top and then the montreux-zweisimen at the bottom. Then I found a book button and clicked there and moved on to the reservation instructions page and on that pageI saw an clicked the "reach directly the booking website" words. Then I just put in section and date. I tried to go Interlaken- Montreux but I couldn't get it to work for me so I just put in Zweisimmen-Montreux. (The Z-M section is the only one with front row if I am reading things correctly) Then it showed all the trains going that direction that day and I clicked on the front carriage that was 1st class, there were two trains that had the front row seats on our day. Very easy to click on the 4 seats I wanted and continue with the purchase. The other section of our trip (we leave from Lauterbrunnen) we will just take the trains based on the sbb site to get us to Zweisimmen at the correct time. Hope that helps.

Thanks so much Northwestern!
I do have a few other questions...maybe you can help me out...
Since we are leaving from Lauterbrunnan as well (actually Murren) what time will you be taking the train from Lauterbrunnen to get to the Golden Pass line in Zweisimmen? What time is your reservation there?
Thanks for any help.
Karen

Karen,
You need the official website for the Swiss transportation system:
www.sbb.ch/en

Type in the "From" box: "Mürren" or "Muerren" and click on "Mürren" in the menu that drops down.
Then type in the"To" box: "Montreux" and click on "Montreux" in the menu that drops down.
"Via" will then appear to the right, as an option. Type in the "Via" box: "Zwiesimmen" and click on it in the drop down menu.
The date and time boxes will appear, and be sure to type in the date you want (day first, then month) and a time early in the morning.
Then click the search button.

Schedules will be listed. Click on the earliest one you'd be comfortable taking, and the details will appear.
For example, I tried 7th of August at 6:00. For the 8:06 train that leaves Mürren toward the Grütschalp cable car that goes down to Lauterbrunnen, click on that 8:06 schedule for details. Look down the list of its details for the train called "MOB Panoramic" which leaves Zweisimmen from Platform 8 at 10:25. You want to be on a MOB Panoramic train.
(The next opportunity I see that day for a MOB Panoramic train, is if you leave Mürren at 9:58 you'll get on the next MOB Panoramic train that leaves Zweisimmen, which is at 12:25.)

Thank you so much Linda. It looks like I need to wait a bit to book Sept. for the panoramic train, but at least now I know how!

I did use the sbb.ch/en to find the route. We will have to leave Lauterbrunnen at 10:32 to catch our panoramic train at Zweisimmen.

We are traveling in late June early in the morning, and it looks like we are too late. The VIP trains as best I can tell are only in the afternoon. Also, the S-Z portion only has seats in Cars
2 & 4, cars 1 & 3 show no available seats. Does this make sense?