I had purchased Swiss Travel Passes for our group (7 people) before our trip started. I'd read about the panorama train trips (of which Golden Pass is one) in Rick's Switzerland book. Our experience was mixed.
The Swiss Travel Passes were second class but I made reservations in first class for the Golden Pass trips. We purchased first class upgrades in the train station and they were quite inexpensive. This was the only place where we had planned to use the Pass where we really cared about being in first class.
The first-class car from Lucerne to Interlaken was excellent. We had plenty of room, the windows were large, and the views were wonderful. The seats were not luxurious, but they were comfortable.
From Interlaken to Montreux (three days later) our experience was not so good. I think it was a different company that owned the line - perhaps two different companies. The rail cars were quite old and not well maintained. The windows were small. And the weather was terrible - which of course we couldn't blame on anyone. So our views were poor.
On neither trip did we have the type of rail car pictured on the Golden Pass web site. As far as I can tell that is just false advertising. On the other hand, the reservations were not very expensive. But I felt bad after telling our travel group how wonderful it would be, based on what I had read.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
Regular trains run on the same track as the Golden Pass Panoramic train. If you want the Golden Pass Panoramic train then you are the one that must verify you actually get on the correct train. Many trains run that route each day. Your Swiss Pass works on all of them. It's not false advertising...it's lack of research.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Here's what happened: I made the reservations on the Golden Pass web site. The trains arrived when they said they would. We got on them at the time they were expected. The trains were labeled "Golden Pass." We paid for first-class upgrades and got in to first-class cars. They were old and shabby, and not of the quality we were expecting.
Posted by
Los Angeles
4392 posts
When planning my Golden Pass trip I pulled up the PDF schedule and it listed all the various trains and how they were configured, I chose the one I wanted and that's what I got. The scenery doesn't change regardless of what train you're on.
If you feel you didn't get the experience you expected, contact the rail company(ies) that operated the train and/or the Swiss tourist office. Perhaps you'll get their heartfelt condolences, or perhaps not. The Interlaken-Montreux line has a main office at the Montreux train station, you could start there.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Oh, that's interesting. I didn't ever see the link to the PDF - wish I had. The website I used showed generic car diagrams and I got to pick which seats, like you do on a flight. As a newbie to Swiss train travel I wasn't aware that they had different configurations, or I would have looked for something like that. I do that for flights - makes sense for trains too. Well, next time I will know. Thanks for the tip.
Most of our disappointment with the Golden Pass was due to weather, which can't be helped. We enjoyed the rest of our trip anyway. Switzerland is wonderful and we definitely want to return.