neckervd

I like
the brawly waters of the Vispa creek, the old wooden houses (and the actually green, yellow and red glowing needles and leaves of the trees) along the railway line between Ackersand (Visp) and Randa as well as the view to the glaciers of Monte Rosa from Randa up to Zermatt;
the brawly waters of the Rhone creek, the old wooden houses (and the actually green, yellow and red glowing needles and leaves of the trees) along the railway line between Bitsch (Brig) and Fiesch as well as the view to small villages on the hills (Ried, Betten, Ernen, etc.);
the authentic non touristy villages between Fuergangen and Oberwald with their some hundred years old 3story sun burned wooden houses;
the mountain lake at Oberalp Pass, close to the source of the Rhine river;
the completely different architecture of the Surselva villages (between Disentis/Muster and Ilanz/Glion);
the famous Ruinaulta Gorge (between Ilanz/Glion and Reichenau-Tamins/Tumein)....

If everybody likes another leg of this railway line, one could guess that it isn't such boring .....

PalenQ

If everybody likes another leg of this railway line, one could guess that it isn't such boring .....>

boring is in the eye of the beholder and I can tell you from personal experiences that many tourists are casual observers of the scenes that go by unless they are some blockbuster thing like the Matterhorn - all those nuances are neat but to the casual tourist they after several hours at least may become boring - not to say that I don't concur with you but those things can be seen along many rail lines in Switzerland, you need not take an 8-marathon ride to appreciate them.

colduphere

If we are going to one of the most scenic places in the world, like Zermatt, we really don't need a long scenic train ride on the way there. If on the other hand we are going to an area that is not scenic then yes give us the longer train ride.

neckervd

"those things can be seen along many rail lines in Switzerland"
Not really. But I fully agree with you that long train rides are seldom a real pleasure. Only long bus rides and long flights are worse.
Therefore I
either stop over and visit interesting places
or
at least start in the afternoon, stop over for sleeping and continue the following morning,
or (best solution in the warm months)
take a ferry with a nice cabin.

swandav2000

Yes, PalenQ, when I said the "best" (imo) was the section between Disentis and Andermatt, I did indeed mean it was the best.

neckervd, I do indeed like nature views and the items you list -- mountains, valleys, rolling hills, etc. But I strongly prefer to see them in person, standing on my feet, with the sun on my face and the wind in my hair. Imo, seeing them while sitting passively behind a glass screen is underwhelming.

s

neckervd

"neckervd, I do indeed like nature views and the items you list -- mountains, valleys, rolling hills, etc. But I strongly prefer to see them in person, standing on my feet, with the sun on my face and the wind in my hair. Imo, seeing them while sitting passively behind a glass screen is underwhelming."

I fully agreee: I could NEVER travel from Brig to St. Moritz without many stop overs and some (often long) hikes in between.

But I think that for people who don't want to go out of an airconditioned train, it's still better to contemplate the Swiss mountain valleys through double-glazed windows than not going there at all.