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Zermatt to Lausanne/Montreux - compare rail routes

Posted by (Houston, Texas, USA) on

I'm still tweaking our itinerary. I see two possible ways to go from Zermatt to Lausanne/Montreux.

  1. Zermatt to Spiez to Montreux. My map shows the Visp to Spiez portion as part of a scenic rail route (the Glacier Express).

  2. Zermatt to Visp to Martigny to Montreux, which is not shown as a scenic route.

Is the Visp to Spiez route impressive enough to justify 2 extra hours on the train? We'll be doing the other two scenic segments one way or another.

Doing this route would also allow us to go to Bern via Gruyere and Fribourg, which would be difficult to pick up otherwise. Given that this is a short (10 day) trip, are these worth trying to "squeeze in"?

For all you Berner Oberland fans, I have included 3 days in that area. Given that we are not in condition to hike, I think we can cover all that we are able to.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Posted by
17440 posts

What map are you using?

Visp to Spiez is not part of the Glacier Express. It runs east-west in the Rhome valley, not north up to Speiz.

Spiez to Montreux is on the "scenic" Golden Pass Route. But Zermatt to Visp is on the "scenic" Glacier Express route.

I would disregard the "scenic" designations which are tourist trains. It is 2 hours faster to go via Visp to Montreux and not detour to Spiez. Unless you have some reason to go to Bern. Gruyeres is a shot hope (just over an hour) from Lausanne if you go the other way.

Posted by
231 posts

Thanks. I misread the map regarding the Visp to Spiez segment.

Posted by
17440 posts

Sorry---I meant "short hop" not "shot hope". still learning to type in a Mac.

Anyway. . . I would rather spend the time in Zermatt than on the train.

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