How do I get from Paris to Zermatt?
 

From Paris, we want to go to Switzerland via train to take the Glacier Express train from Zermatt, at the foot of the Matterhorn, to St. Moritz.

I've looked at loads of web sites (www.seat61.com, etc) and I can't figure out how to get there! Has anyone taken this trip before?

I'm not an expert but...

www.raileurope.com/us/rail

I didn't put in the whole trl but you should be able to find what you need.

You can take a hi-speed from Paris to Zurich and it is about 4.5 hours. Be sure to get the 4.5 train - it leaves out of Gare Est. There are longer trains and you don't want those. I think the fast train goes twice per day.

Then from Zurich you take a train with one change to Zermatt. I think the train is about 3 hours. The ride toward Zermatt is quite scenic.

I think you should also be able to get a train from Paris to Basel and then head to Zermatt from there as well. This may reduce your travel time by over an hour.

Then you can get the Glacier Express from there.

I have done both parts of this but I have not taken the GE.

If you search here under "Palenque" and Swiss trains, you will find Palenque's very detailed report on Swiss trains. I hear the Glacier Express is rather long and perhaps you will be just as tickled by taking a train in Zermatt up one of the peaks there as opposed to the long trip to St. Moritz.

If you do head to St. Moritz, check out Sils Maria. I love this little town and the pretty walks through the hills...

gruezi

I just checked...

You can go from Paris to Basel. In Basel you can head to Zermatt via Visp. In Visp, if you get 1st class tickets to Zermatt for that portion of the trip, you will get the wonderful panoramic view windows. Sehr schoen! as they say here...

Enjoy!

gruezi

Raileurope is not the best idea to look up train schedules. They sell their passes and it´s more or less what they are good for.

www.sbb.ch
From: Paris
To: Zermatt

... and see what it shows.

You have a choice to make.

The Glacier Express runs from Zermatt to St. Moritz and vice versa. (You really NEED to look at a map..it would help).

The difficulty is that if you approach Zermatt from Zurich you will arrive in Brig first where you would change for a train up to Zermatt...that portion Brig-Zermatt is ON the Glacier Express route so you'd be doing a little backtracking.

Unless you wish to go up to Zermatt (the ride up from Brig and Visp is quite scenic as someone mentioed up thread) you can easily take the remaining portion of the GE over to St. Moritz from Brig.

You have more TGV trains from Paris to Geneva & Lausanne (altogether about 10 of them per day). Lausanne would be ideal for you because it's 30 minutes closer to Zermnatt than Geneva. If your goal is only to take G-Exp, you don't need to go all the way to Zermatt. You can take it at Brig. That would save you some money too; they say the strech, Brig - Zermatt is the most expensive per kilometers in Switzerland. However, I would not come all the way from Paris only to do the long 7hour Glacier Express train so I hope you will actually have time to visit Zermatt and its mountains.

Thanks, everyone!

My husband and teen son plan to ski at Zermatt and I'll do who knows what. We'll also be visiting Italy either before or after, with Paris on the other end of the trip.

First let me suggest that you leave Rail Europe alone. Poor schedules, incomplete schedules and other not so good stuff. Use the European sites that I will list below.

In terms of travel time the quickest way is to take this route:

Lv Paris Est at 8:24
Ar Basel at 11;50

Lv Basel at 12:01
Ar Bern at 12:56

Lv Bern at 13:07
Ar Visp at 14:02

Lv Visp at 14:10
Ar Zermatt at 15:14

This connection requires 3 changes.
Total travel time is 6:50.

You can make the same trip via a slightly different route that requires 1 less change but takes
26 minutes longer.

This connection leaves Gare de Lyon at 7:58.
Ar Bern at 12;43.

The rest of the way is the same.

You can also make the connection through Lausanne leaving from Gare de Lyon also at 7:58. The train leaves as one and divides at Frasne.

In the end, you take the same train the final leg from Visp to Zermatt in all three of the cases I listed.

You can find your own schedules at www.sbb.ch
or at http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/query.exe/en

Thanks, Bob!

I know it was cursory, but I was trying to be brief.

If you look at the Swiss site, you will even see the track (gleis) number.

The times I have gone to Zermatt, we drove to Täsch and took the shuttle train to Zermatt. Private cars are very, very, very scarce in Zermatt!
I would say never, but there may be a rare exception I don't know about.

Most of the streets are too narrow except for a SmartCar, but gasoline motors are bad news for the air in that tight little old town part.

I am glad that gasoline engines are banned.

Hi fieldtripcoordinator,

There is actually a direct TGV train from Paris to Visp, from where you catch the mountain railway to Zermatt. It runs every Saturday during the ski season, the total journey takes just over 7 hours.

There are many other connections with at least 1 additional train change, the journey time is roughly equivalent. You can get the most comprehensive schedule info on www.rail.ch

Seats on TGVs are generally bookable 3 months ahead, so do go online as close as possible to 90 days before your journey in order to secure tickets, as they go fast, especially the discounted fares! Unless you speak french, your best bet is to use raileurope.com . If you do speak french, use voyages-sncf.com .

2 more remarks:
- The Glacier Express is a LONG ride, I have not met anyone who took it and would do so again.
- Zermatt is indeed entirely free of gasoline-powered vehicles, only electric cars are allowed.

Hope this helps,
Andre

Thank you, Andre.

I'm a huge planner...probably to a fault. I want everything done now. It's a little frustrating to plan a year ahead and not be able to purchase plane tickets and reserve hotels!

90 days will seem like nothing!

You're welcome, fieldtripcoordinator!

By the way, as a non-skier, you can go up to all the peaks around Zermatt and enjoy the great views. My favourites are Gornergrat and Rothorn.

If you're reasonably fit, you can also walk to several excellent slopeside restaurants and meet your family for lunch:
- Findlerhof in Findeln (uphill)
- Max & Greti in Zum See (downhill from Furi cablecar station, you can probably walk to/from Zermatt as well)
- Riffelalp Resort (flat path from the train stop)

Obviously, there are also restaurants at or adjacent to the gondola/train stations atop of all the summits.

Have a great trip!
Andre