Geneva to Bern Train Route Options: Direct or via Golden Pass Route from Montreux to Spiez?

Why don't you by pass the Eurail Planner all together. Pick the route you want at www.sbb.ch/en. With a Eurail Pass, you do not need to "book" anything, you just board the train and show your pass to the ticket inspector when they come by.

To book a seat reservation on the Golden Pass section. Go to https://www.mob.ch/en/routing/routing-goldenpass-panoramic

@Sam. Apparently, not all Panoramic Express Routes in Switzerland are included in the Eurail Pass. It was more cost effective to buy Eurail passes since we are on a 4-week European trip and only traveling for 2 days in Switzerland. Almost all Swiss train routes are covered by the Eurail Pass but not some of the GoldenPass trains - hence the need to use the Eurail Planner (I am doing comparisons with the SBB app). I'm having a hard time determining which GoldenPass trains are included in the Eurail Pass. The SBB app refers to these trains variously as the GoldenPass Bell Epoque, the GoldenPass Panoramic, or the GoldenPass Express. Confusing.

I believe that all of the trains are covered by the Eurail Pass, It is only the seat reservation fee that is extra. As far as the different types of trains, you can see these in the MOB website.

The Belle Epoque trains are made of classic old railway carriages for a nostalgic journey

The Golden Pass Express trains have special carriages able to travel on both standard gauge and meter gauge tracks, since the tracks are meter gauge from Montreux to Zweisimmen, and standard gauge from Zweisimmen to Spiez. Therefore they can run all the way from Montreux to Spiez without changing trains at Zweisimmen.

Golden Pass Panoramic trains have panoramic windows and only run between Montreux and Zweisimmen.

You can see that the route is covered by the Eurail Pass at https://www.eurail.com/en/plan-your-trip/railway-map

After more research it appears that the Eurail Pass does cover all trains on the GoldenPass Express route and that seat reservations are optional. I know that in general seat reservations are not needed in Switzerland. Is there any possibility of being denied passage on the trains between Montreux and Spiez in early May due to crowded conditions and the lack of a seat reservation?

If you’re going to take the time to do this, then your routing is incorrect. You go from Geneva to Montreux and then take the Golden Pass Express direct all the way to Spiez. From Spiez you change to Bern. The forcing point is the direct train from Montreux to Spiez via Zweisimmen.

Personally I find the GPE just okay in comparison to other train rides I’ve done in Switzerland, but if it’s on your list then you can take the extra 2 hrs 40 minutes and extra 2 changes in order to do it. It’s not a bad way to spend a day.

When we did it (September) we reserved seats in first class and were glad we did, as open seats in second class were very few and I’m unsure my husband and I would have been able to find 2 seats together.

@wanderweg If Zweisimmen is included as the forcing point, it seems that I have several opportunities to exit the Panoramic Express train at Zweisimmen and transfer to a local train that then travels directly from Zweisimmen to Bern via Spiez without any need to transfer at Spiez. If I use Spiez as the forcing point I only have one option for a direct PE train from Montreux to Spiez within my time window for travel and I have to transfer at Spiez to a train to Bern.

Is there any possibility of being denied passage on the trains between
Montreux and Spiez in early May due to crowded conditions and the lack
of a seat reservation?

No, this will not happen. It would have to be the most unusual circumstances before you were denied entry onto a train here - in over eight years of living here taking only public transportation to get anywhere, I have never had it happen that I was denied entry onto a train.

Ways to find a seat even when the train looks full:

• Walk to the end of the train - it is usually far less busy there
• Look for people who have their bags on the seat beside them and ask if you can sit there, lots of people will not move their things unless you ask them
• There are many stops along this route. When people get up to leave you can take their seat before others get on the train at that stop

I personally have always found a seat on this route, especially in May, but of course for peace of mind you can reserve a seat if you want to.

If you’re going to take the time to do this, then your routing is
incorrect. You go from Geneva to Montreux and then take the Golden
Pass Express direct all the way to Spiez. From Spiez you change to
Bern. The forcing point is the direct train from Montreux to Spiez via
Zweisimmen.

No, what you have done is correct. Via Gstaad works perfectly fine.

On SBB (Swiss train website) for May 11 I see:

12:32 - non stop to Spiez on the Golden Pass Express (reservation recommend shows up)

Or, in my opinion better would be your choice of:

12:43 - train to Zweisimmen, change, train to Bern. This will follow the exact same scenic route as the one above.There is no seat reservation recommended and you will not need to change in Spiez but can continue on to Bern.

I guess I just don’t understand the desire to get out of your reserved seat on the direct train with panoramic windows, wait staff service at your seat, etc. If you’re going to go that much out of the way for a scenic train experience, I would have assumed you wanted to ride the official train the whole way to justify the extra time.

If not, sure your plan works, but in switching to a regional train I’d just do the quick direct to Bern from Geneva option, as I don’t personally find the views alone justify the hassle and time when you only have a 1 night stay ahead of you.

wait staff service at your seat, etc

You only get this if you pay the big bucks for it. I bring snacks along and sit in second class.

Early May means you will still have beautiful snow capped mountains, green fields with cows grazing, it’s a beautiful time to go and a very scenic route.

That route is scenic enough, but if you have done the really scenic Swiss trains already will it be somewhat of a meh? I've done that bit on regional trains and it was ok, but the very scenic part is the last few minutes before Montreux, going westbound and down the hill, especially from the very few very expensive forward facing seats. Much less impressive eastbound leaving Montreux.

For me personally if I had family to get to and spend time with I'd be on the fast direct train. But maybe you don't really want time with the family and prefer a longer train ride ;-} ?

A first class upgrade from Montreux to Spiez on the GPE costs less than 20 chf with a half fare card or 36 chf without. In terms of costs in Switzerland I wouldn’t really call that the “big bucks”.

Regardless, I whole heartedly agree with Nigel. It doesn’t rank up there with other scenic train rides in Switzerland - especially if you have family to get to. If you’re set on doing it, then my suggested route and upgrade is the only way I’d even remotely consider it in your situation.

When you use the Eurail pass it is not necessary to actually have the exact route you are travelling in the pass. As long as you enter a route that causes the day to be activated you are find. So you can just enter Lyon to Bern, and leave it at that. And then just travel whatever route you fancy. The only thing the train conductor seas is that your pass is valid in France and Switzerland. They don't see the trains you have selected.

And the Eurail Pass does cover all trains in Switzerland (and even a few cablecars). It does not cover the reservation fee on services that have compulsory reservation, but the Golden Pass is not one of those. You could of course reserve a seat. Since you are not going to Interlaken I would avoid the through GPX trains, as those are popular with tour groups. Take one of the ordinary trains in stead, and change to the train to Bern in Zweisimmen.

Thanks to all for the great comments.

@SwissNomad. Thanks for confirming the scheduling with an option to transfer to the local train in Zweisimmen.

@wanderweg. I've traveled all of the other panoramic routes in the past but generally on the local cars which tend to have fewer people. Two years ago, we took the Bernina Express route (both directions - the best PE in my opinion) and had so few fellow travelers that we were able to switch sides whenever the scenery was better on the opposite side. We were also able to open the windows and lean out to get great pictures, being careful not to have our heads taken off by signs and tunnels.

@Nigel. I've already travelled the fast route from Geneva to Bern. I'm always looking for a new route to see new things. I'm a geologist (retired), which is a disease you never get over. It's good to know that the better views are going westbound on the way down to Montreux. I'll try that route next time. By the way, I'm always happy to visit my wife's Swiss cousins but we should still get to Bern in time to share an evening meal. Normally we would stay longer in Switzerland but a stay with friends in Germany is the main object of this trip.

@WengenK. Useful information about only having to have the start and end points to activate the pass. This will be more efficient in Switzerland as the SBB Mobile app is much better for routing and timing than the Eurail Planner app.

A first class upgrade from Montreux to Spiez on the GPE costs less
than 20 chf with a half fare card or 36 chf without. In terms of costs
in Switzerland I wouldn’t really call that the “big bucks”.

Fair enough, of course you have to pay for the food too. ;-)

I had the Prestige seating and those food options in mind. Grabbing some great local cheese, bread and even wine or beer to drink from the shops will do just as well for the journey.

Hope that you have a great time KingCrab! What is nice is that you can make a last minute decision by looking at the weather and checking a few webcams that are along the route.

By the way, as a geologist you will likely be interested in Creux du Van, or maybe you already know it.

https://www.creuxduvan.com/creux-du-van.html

I was not aware of the Creux du Van. It looks beautiful. Another product of the Pleistocene glaciation. Too many places yet to see in Switzerland.