Lauterbrunnen-St.Moritz - Glacier Express or not ?
 

Hi,

For travel between Lauterbrunnen and St.Moritz, there appear to be 2 choices.

*Lauterbrunnen-Interlaken-Spiez-Brig-St.Mortiz --> about 10hrs total
*Lauterbrunnen-Interlaken-Zurich-Chur-St.Moritz --> about 6hrs30mins total

The first option involves travel on the Glacier Express, but this takes about 3-4 hours more for the entire journey. This includes waiting for about an hour in Brig to get the right connection on the Glacier Express.

Is a trip on the Glacier Express worth the extra 3-4 hours on the train ? This will be around September end, and its our first trip to Switzerland.

Thanks in advance !

IMO it most definitely is, especially at that time of year since the trip over the Furka Pass will not require a diversion through the tunnel.

Spectacular scenery..MUCH more so than taking the route through Zurich and Chur, although with either route you will be able to experience the Lanwasser Viaduct crossing.

If you do this, consider getting a seat reservation in one of the Panorama cars..much larger windows and better scenery viewing.

Carl, reading travel guides to Switzerland: advices are mixed.

The ones for budget-oriented travellers say to save money, use regular trains instead, the difference is in window size, the route is the same.

I don't know what to believe. Maybe there is narration on the Glacier Express? Something has to be different!

Hmm .. since we will be getting a 3country-10day Eurail Selectpass Saver, I dont expect to pay much for the trip (in addition to surcharges and reservation fees). Unless someone here tells me that the Glacier Express is not covered by the Eurail passes !

So for me, its not a question of cost, but rather a question of time. Thoughts ?

Hi Carl,

I tried to post and suggest you to take the Glacier Express to St. Moritz - but technical problems with my computer. So I am glad you found out this option by yourself.

I would definitely take the Glacier Express. Very scenic. If you leave Lauterbrunnen 8.50 the trip takes 9 hours. It's only a half hour waiting in Brig. It's a nice small town, and you'll enjoy walking around for 15 or 20 minutes (Stockalper castle).

A word on the fares: Since you'll use trains frequently in Switzerland you should purchase a Swiss Half Fare Card for one month (99 Sfr. per person). With this card you get a reduction of 50% on all fares. And you have the option to buy a Day Ticket for the price of 53 (not sure?) Sfr. which allows you unlimited travel on railway, bus, ferries in Switzerland. This would be my choice for the Glacier Express (cheaper than the discounted regular fare as far as I know, even with a fee of 10 Sfr. for seat reservation, which is obligatory).

Sorry, I did not know you are going to buy the Eurail Saver Pass. Not sure if it covers the Glacier Express, but think yes. You need to pay the reservation fee, though, for sure.

The "difference" in the "Glacier Express" and the more regular trains that go the same route:

1) The "regular" trains do not carry the Panorama coaches (and yes as in many other areas, window SIZE does make a difference)

2) The "regular" trains do not always traverse the entire route. You can do the whole route on a "regular" train but you may have to change along the way

3) The Glacier express does have on-board narration.

I would advise you to READ those so-called "mixed" reviews of doing this and I suspect that none of them are going to say the "scenery wasn't worth it."

Passes..you <b> need to check this carefully </b>. Previously, the entire route was run by three different railroads and the one in the &quot;middle&quot; (i.e., from Brig to Disentis-Muster) run by the former Furka-Oberalp Bahn did NOT accept anything BUT a SwissPass..not a half fare card or a SwissCard. You could still ride the route but for that portion you had to pay a supplement UNLESS you were using a SwissPass.

That railroad has since merged with another one and these days you may very well <b> be </b> able to ride the whole route, without supplements, using other forms of passes.

The Panarama coaches require <b> compulsory </b> reservations but in the non high-season these can often be obtained once you get to Switzerland.

I suppose it all sounds complicated but I still firmly believe that it, along with the Bernina Express, has one of the most spectacular routes anywhere in Switzerland.

Obviously others do not share my enthusiasm.

Thanks Ingo, Intreped1, swandav, grasshopper and all others for all the great information !!

I have finally decided upon going to St. Moritz instead of Zermatt, and also that I will be taking the Glacier express and also the Bernina Express (to go to Venice).

I'll try to find out if the Eurail Selectpass will cover the journey or not - should I just do this at the station when we arrive, or is there a &quot;reliable&quot; way to find this out beforehand ?

Thanks again - I am finally done with most of my Austria, Swiss, and Greece planning. Now onto figuring out hotel reservations !!

You might try calling RailEurope (or another agency) and asking them..doesn't mean you have to BUY anything from them.

Back to those windows &lt;grin&gt;..if you can't get into the big window coach there is an advantage to the SMALLER windows..you can hang out of them (yes, I know it is illegal but people do it anyway).

Enjoy the ride(s), the spiral tunnels, etc...you might consider taking food along..the restaurant car on the GE is pricey.

carl,

OK, here is a dissenting opinion.

I would opt for Zurich/Chur to St. Moritz.

The Glacier Express is hardly an &quot;express&quot; in the true sense of the word, and crawls along much of the way. Plus, if you have a Flexipass, you'll have to pay a aupplement for Disentis-Muster of around $100-200. Not so if you go through Zurich/Chur.

Personally I found the segment from Chur to St. Moritz as scenic as anything on the Glacier Pass route.

And to close, I also preferred the regular trains over the Panorama cars. Not only are they easier to take (no reservations), I enjoyed the chance of rolling the windows down for better picturetaking and sightseeing experiences. If you're over fifty, though, then maybe not.

But, that's just me...

Reading this: I am lucky :) Don't have to agonize over this choice. Can't wait. I'll be on that Glacier Express. I will be the one smiling and waving like crazy :)

Intrepid1 says &quot;if you cant get into the big window coach ...&quot; - cant I reserve the panoramic coach ?? Since we will have a Selectpass, we will be traveling in 1st class anyways - so is it possible to reserve a seat in the panoramic coach or is it on a first come-first served basis ?

Like what Intrepid1 said, eurail pass does not cover the entire route for Glacier Express unless you have Swiss Pass.

Yes, I did the math and its cheaper for me to just pay the surcharge for the Brig-Disentis segment. I will be getting the 3country-10day flexipass saver and will pay the $60-70 for the segment that is not covered by the eurail flexipass.

So back to the question about the panoramic cars. Can a seat in the *panoramic car* be reserved or is it just first come-first served ?

Yes, you can make reservations for the Panoramic car. I suggest you also reserve seats for lunch in the dining car - relatively good food (3 courses) and a nice experience.

Just to confuse you ;-) : I think you made a bad decision to buy an Eurail Flexi Pass which covers Switzerland. As said in a previous post, I highly recommend a Swiss Half Fare Card for one month. It saves you much more than the Eurail Pass, which is not valid on the mountain railways, cable cars etc. And since you'll be in Switzerland for 10 (?) days, how do you want to cover the days on which you don't use your &quot;Eurail Flexi Pass&quot; ?

Just a thought.

carl,

The Panoramic cars indeed need reservations. The earlier you reserve, the better seats you get. (If it's booked, you might have to settle for 2nd class.) I believe that the Dining cars are the most difficult to book. Maybe if I had been in the Dining Car, my opinion of the Glacier Express would be higher.

I was referring to my experiences in the Panoramic cars on the other Swisss trains (Golden and Bernina Passses). Nice bars. And the Golden Pass train has that unique section where you actually sit in the FRONT of the train.

I read somewhere they bring snacks to your seat, or there may be a snack bar where you can get food and those slanted glasses for souveniers, is it so?

Hi everyone. All of you might like to read the article on the CNN website regarding the Glacier Express.

Click on Travel and you will find this article under &quot;Destinations&quot;.

Happy train rides to all of you!

On the Glacier Express there will be a snack &quot;trolley&quot; which is rolled through ALL the cars, usually on the segment between Brig and Andermatt. The usual stuff is available..soft drinks, sandwiches, etc. No ice for the drinks, however. There are also souvenirs such as GE keychains, a book with pictures, etc., also for sale.

The last time we took the trip (April 2004) we caught the train after staying overnight in Brig. We had gone to a grocery store in Brig prior to departure and bought wine and a bunch of picnic-type items such as cold cuts, bread, etc. In the Panorama cars the seats are configured in a typical European &quot;club&quot; style, i.e., there are two seats which face each other on each side of the aisle. There is a fixed table between these seats where you can eat.

As to the restaurant car. We have eaten the fixed price meal in the past. You can get more information about booking space for a meal on the GE website:

http://www.glacierexpress.ch/

The Panorama cars can be reserved up to 60 days in advance. The charge for a seat reservation is somewhat higher than the usual European seat reservation price.

Oops sorry...should have been more clear....on <b> each side </b> of the aisle there are a pair of seats which faces another pair of seats across a table.