Glacier Express
 

Hi! Me and my husband are planning to go to Switzerland in end september this year. We wanted to take the Glacier Express (panorama coach), I wanted to know if it was worth the time and the money. Any first hand accounts will help us in deciding...thanks

I've done it, or portions of it, several times. If you are planning on going to Zermatt or St. Moritz or going between them, then I'd say yes, definitely do the Glacier Express. But to be honest, there are many train trips in Switzerland that are just as scenic, and you can even do this route on other trains where frankly the first class cars are even more comfortable. The Glacier Express panorama cars can be very hot and uncomfortable if you are traveling in the day and the sun is shining, and rarely do you have much to look up at anyway, so I never really understood the point of those cars.

Agree with Patrick - several trains in Suisse are more scenic than Glacier Express which gets all the ink. Bernina Express tops - maybe most scenic train ride in Europe - Golden Pass - Brunig Pass Martigny-Chamonix to start. Yet it's not unscenic - just a succession of pleasant river valleys but besides near Zermatt no glaciers or high Alps - a marathon 8 hours Zermatt-St Moritz. Wouldn't go out of my way for it but it's a good way to move between Zermatt and St Moritz (from where you can hop the Bernina Express and in 1.5 hours see the most wonderful glacial scenery accessible by train in Europe (trains that actually go somewhere, not tourist trains to mountain tops like Jungfraujoch). Glacier Express was named for glaciers it once went by on the Furka Pass, which it now tunnels under to allow year-round running. Glacier Express will shut down for several weeks this year sometime in October.

I personally think that if you take the GE when it is NOT using the Furka Tunnel diversion it is somewhat more scenic than when it is (which is usually when the weather deteriorates).

I would tend to agree that the Bernina Express has spectacular scenery and it is also a shorter trip.

I've done the so-called Golden Pass and frankly, I don't "get" all the hype about that entire route, but everyone is different.

I've never been particularly uncomfortable in the Panorama Coaches in either Summer or Winter so cannot really relate to Patrick's experience.

As to overall "spectacle"....IMO it depends on what part of the trip you are talking about:

some of the sections from Zermatt down to Visp are very scenic; you can say what you please but the switchback section as the train winds its way up and out of Andermatt are as "thrilling" as anything I ever saw on the Golden Pass route; ditto the segment along the Rhine.

All of us take these scenic train routes for different reasons....some of us would probably go anywhere if it involved a railroad; others could care less. Worth it? Hard to say not knowing what you really like/don't like...but there are worse ways to spend one's time in Switzerland than riding any of these scenic routes.

Enjoy!

Intrepid1: I didn't realize the Glacier Express ever went up and over the Furka Pass anymore - I know that last year when i was there there was a steam train doing the pass but the tracks were all rusted like they were rarely used. ?? It's a bit intrepid for me to question you as you are always totally right on as regards trains so i guess i'm missing that. And now that i read of your description of the Andermatt rise i'm changing my view of Glacier, plus the dramatic Albula Spiral en route to St. Moritz, this is probably better than Golden Pass. It just seems the times i've been on it most people after a few hours seemed bored out of their seats. I did enjoy the recorded commentary too. Ideally i'd break up the journey half way or something, do some hiking and goon the next day. I guess they are not like us who revel in every kilometer of rail travel, whether gorgeous Alpine scenery or industrial blight. Sincerely.

If you have a specific reason to do so, go for it. I was visiting Zermatt and at the other end met up with some friends near St. Moritz (Pontresina actually). It was beautiful, but agree - 8 hours is looooooong and I found myself sitting on the side that didn't get the sun - yep, can get kinda warm. makes you want to sleep actually.

take wine and food and something to read or even cards - you'll make friends. it's truly beautiful but you can only stare at mountains for so long.

many years ago I took a train into Switzerland, left Salzburg and ended up in Interlaken, I don't recall the line but that was simply stunning. I seem to remember passing by a lot more lakes. It was also shorter as I recall.

Pal: perhaps my memory is faulty but the last time I took it (April 2004) we went through a VERY long tunnel that we distinctly did not go through when I took the trip back in 2000..but who knows??

I never get tired of the GE route but that's just me and I've also decided to stop getting into the pissing contests about which part of Switzerland is "the best" and whether or not the Berner Oberland is "the best" and so forth.

I'm just happy to say that I've been in EVERY canton and haven't found any that I didn't enjoy...

OK I'll stop ranting now.

Ani,

You might want to go here and look at the pictures, too.

http://www.glacierexpress.ch/en/7gal_1.html

I took Zermatt-Disentis with a tour group in May 2005.

First, be prepared, it changes directions, so if you can't ride backwards, you have a problem.

Second, I was in the 1st class on a sunny day, the air conditioner is weak and you can't open windows. You can do it in the 2nd class.

Third, the narration was mainly to announce where we are.

In the first class the seats are a group of 4 seats, 2 at each side of the table and plenty of storage space between the seats and above and at the end of the car if you have luggage with you.

Now the trip. I felt it was worth seeing the mountains, bridges, tunnels, etc... but if I'd do it again I'd see if I can break it in shorter rides with overnight stays.

If I'd be with someone who insists on going by Glacier Express instead of local trains on the same route I won't go 1st class.

By the way, somebody on this website said there is some renovation scheduled for GE and it will stop running, look into this too.

Thanks a lot all of u..your comments certainly are informative. we were planning to take the train from St. Moritz to Zermatt but we are in Switzerland for only 8 days so time is also a constraint.I want to know one more thing ..how does one find out if the train is going to go thru the Furka pass or not ?