I had wanted to do a rail tour of Switzerland for many years.
We finally got the chance in 2024.
Booking
After looking round at some options we decided to book with the Swiss Travel Centre.
They have a range of different self guided tours on the STC Website and as part of their services can book hotels and make train seat reservations.
We booked based on ‘The Grand Rail Tour’ which as a minimum requires 8 days and seven nights and follows the map at the top of this post.
The tour includes the following named trains:
- GoldenPass Express.
- Glacier Express.
- Bernina Express.
- Gotthard Panorama Express.
- Voralpen-Express.
We wanted to see a reasonable amount of snow so chose the last two weeks of April.
Extra Days
We decided to extend the tour as follows:
- For any rail journey over 5 hours we booked an extra night to have time to explore the destination.
- Mount Pilatus via the cable car (The cog railway was closed until summer)
- A day for the Jungfrau Train from Interlaken.
- Harder Kulm funicular and lake cruise at Interlaken.
- Gornergrat Cog Railway from Zermatt.
- Rigi Kulm Cog Railway from Lucern.
Travellers Hack
Make sure you you read all the information! and ask questions . . it can save you money!
After we booked we found out the following was included:
- Train travel from the entry point to Switzerland to the start and finish point. In our case Zurich Airport to Central Zurich and Zurich to Basle.
- Free travel on local trains, buses and trams in every town except Zurich.
- Discounts on entry to many tourist attractions.
Overall
The Swiss Rail Tour was our best Mountain rail trip beating The Rocky Mountaineer, Tranz Alpine (New Zealand) and the Scottish Highlands.
Late April was a succesful choice as far as having both days of snow and days of sun.
