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Zermatt to Bern via train, including Glacier Express

My wife and I will be traveling from Zermatt to Bern and would like to travel part of the way on the Glacier Express. In Rick's book he indicates that the most scenic part of the Glacier Express trip is between Brig and Disentis, so I was thinking of taking the Glacier Express to Disentis and then catching a train from there to Bern. My questions regarding this are (a) is there a train from Disentis to Bern? (b) if so, how long will this whole journey (Zermatt to Bern) take? and © is the trip worth it, from a time and sightseeing-beauty perspective?

Finally, if there is no train from Disentis to Bern, what other train route (preferably involving some portion of the Glacier Express) would you recommend we take? Thanks very much!

Robert R.

Posted by
16893 posts

There are frequent trains all over Switzerland, making detours and scenic routes easy to accomplish. See the rail map that goes with the Swiss Pass.

How to Look Up Train Schedules Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it. When you search for train schedules, you add your start and end cities can also click the small link to add one or two "stopovers" or mid-points to define the route you want, instead of just the fastest connections. From Zermatt to Bern via Andermatt, travel time is 7 hours with only 2 connections (if you start with the reserved Glacier Express train) or 3 (if you start with the regional, unreserved trains on the same route).

Posted by
19630 posts

If you want to ride the Glacier Express, you will pretty much have to back track all the way to Brig in order to get to Bern. Another option is to go as far as Andermatt, then change to Goeschenen, then change to Arth Goldau, then change to Luzern, then change to Bern. The Glacier Express goes in almost the complete opposite direction from Bern.

Posted by
973 posts

Hi Rob,

Assuming you've got the the day to spend, you could take the Glacier Express from Zermatt to Chur and then grab a train Zurich and on to Bern. This would involve two changes one in Chur and the other in Zurich. The train leaves Zermatt just before 9:00am and you'd arrive in Bern around 5:30pm.

To answer your actually question, yes you could get connecting trains from Disentis to Bern, but most of them would take about the same length, but involve about 5 changes.

It is definitely worth doing. I've done it more times that I care to remember and I still enjoy it every time.