Hello! My daughter is in Strasbourg France and I planning to meet her and we want to see as much outdoor beauty as possible in 7-10 days. Mid-April. We want to do the Glacier Express but I am completely stuck on how to go about it and where to stay etc. Where to start out? And, where else we should go? Any advice is welcomed. Thank you.
Posted by
Green Bay
22562 posts
You have many options. What are you daughter's suggestions?
What time of year? Offhand, I would suggest Berner Oberland, Zermatt, Pontresina. You should try to make Glacier Express seat reservations as soon as you can.
Posted by
OP
6 posts
Thank you. We are planning for mid-April!
Posted by
East Coast USA
119 posts
The Glacier Express connects two of Switzerland's greatest ski resorts, Zermatt and St. Moritz. These two lovely, expensive places are well worth a multi-day visit, especially as you can see one of the most famous mountains in the world in Zermatt (the Matterhorn, take the Gornergrat train ride) and the lovely lake in St. Moritz (take a boat ride!).
Prices are a bit more expensive because the train ride is seen as a panoramic express ride, especially popular with tourists.
You can also replicate the similar journey using local trains at a lower cost, but you will not necessarily have that more elite experience of a long, lovely ride.
Well, where else you should go in France/Switzerland and how to plan an itinerary requires more research to determine what exactly interests you, how much time you can allocate along the way, and your budget, and health and energy level. A lot of people travel to Switzerland to either ski or hike, so you could consider the second activity as skiing starts to die down in the Spring.
Personally I enjoy historic sites even more than Nature, which is why I made sure to visit Chillon castle in Montreux.
Here are some Swiss resources:
https://glacierexpress.ch/en/faq
Myswitzerland.com
Have fun planning!
Posted by
Arvada, CO, USA
39 posts
Hi! The Glacier Express was sold out when we tried in May 2023, but a nice agent at SBB explained how to take local trains on the same route. It’s less expensive, but you do have to change trains and they are very prompt, so you have to hurry. But we really enjoyed the trip. I second the post from Sam about spending time in Lauterbrunnen or Zermatt. Absolutely breathtaking and I live in Colorado! Since you’re into history, there are lots of castles along the wine route in the Vosges forest. It runs from Strasbourg south, so you can stop and see the quaint little old villages or even ride bikes from town to town if the weather is good. We are going back there in May! I’m excited for you!