I am planning a scenic train trip itinerary as part of a lengthy trip next Sept/ October. I will be starting in Zurich and am tentatively planning going to Chur (overnight) then to Zermatt (couple overnights) onto Lucerne (overnight) and back to Zurich. I would like to include several scenic trains including Glacier Express and the Bernina Express. Is this doable? Any recommendations, suggestions and/or changes would be greatly appreciated. Thx, Jim S. Chicago
Posted by
Adelaide, Australia
49 posts
Hi Jim, have you had a chance to look at the My Switzerland website yet or perhaps a Swiss travel guidebook? I think that you would find it useful to check out a map of Swiss scenic train routes.
The Glacier Express travels from St Moritz to Chur and then on to Zermatt, it takes 7hrs 45mins from St Moritz, less if you leave from Chur.
The Bernina Express travels from Chur to St Moritz then on to Tirano in Italy, with an option to continue to Lugano by bus, the train section takes 4hrs or so from Chur. So this train trip wouldn’t fit at all with your current itinerary.
Don’t know if this will help you get your head around it all but this is what we did with the time we had.
Zurich to Chur after a long haul flight from Australia, 3 nights stay, with a day trip on the train to St Moritz to see the Landwasser viaduct.
Chur to Zermatt on the Glacier Express, 2 nights stay, day trip on the Gornergrat train to get a closer look at the Matterhorn.
Zermatt to Montreux, 3 nights stay, visited Lausanne, Chateau Chillon and Lake Geneva area
Montreux to Lauterbrunnen, via the Golden Express, 3 nights stay, our second visit to the Berner Oberland, day trips to Interlaken, Wengen and Kleine Scheidegg.
Lauterbrunnen to Lucerne, 2 night stay, including a boat trip on the lake
Lucerne to Zurich for flight out on the morning of the flight.
We like to walk, so spend some of our time just pottering around the places we visit. This trip we took advantage of the rail pass to get free access to museums etc and to get discount on side trips such as the Gornergrat in Zermatt. We also like to have a bit of down time to catch up on laundry etc and to just take it easy for a bit. We could have easily spent longer in Switzerland but this was also part of a bigger trip and time and money only goes so far.
Posted by
Green Bay
21144 posts
I'd do it like this:
Zurich to Zermatt.
Zermatt to St Moritz on the Glacier Express.
St Moritz to Lugano on the Bernina Express. Includes bus from Tirano to Lugano
Lugano to Luzern on the Gotthard Panorama Express. Includes a boat ride from Fluelen to Luzern. This train does not run on Mondays, so plan accordingly.
Luzern to Zurich.
Since St Moritz is not popular with people on this forum for a few reasons, consider staying in Pontresina instead. It is just outside of St Moritz and the Bernina Express stops there on the way to Tirano.