Switzerland - Glacier Express Train
 

I am planning a tip to Switzerland, and I am debating if I should inlcude the Glacier Express Train on my itinerary, I will be travelling late May. If I travel on the Glacier Express I will travel from Zermatt to St Moritz or Chur. I understand the best part of the route is from Brig to Chur. I would like to hear comments from fodorites who have travelled on the Glacier Express, what is the scenery like? Does it get boring after a while? Did you feel the train ride was too long?

Any suggestions/comments would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

One more question, how can I make a reservation for the Glacier Express with a Swiss Rail Pass?

Thanks, again.

Yes the Swiss Railpass covers the Glacier Express route in full (eurailpasses do not) - so yes you can make a reservation with a pass - but since the train sets were rehabbed last year the reservation/supplement now runs about $30-40 or so (not sure but not a normal seat reservation fee.

Here is my take on the Glacier Express, having ridden it a few times

the 'best part' is not from Brig to Chur - to me a rather ho-hum part that is nice but not dramatic scenery - in fact the 'Glacier' part of the Glacier express was on the Furka Pass where you could glimpse the Aletsch Glacier coming down from the north - but since this pass was blocked by snow in winter a new tunnel under the Furka Pass was built so trains could run year-round and thus you see no glaciers there anymore

the 'best part' IMO is between Zermatt and Brig and from Chur to St Moritz - esp the Albula part where the train does several loops via tunnels and viaducts that are called a great feat of railway engineering.

I would take the Glacier Express only if i wanted to go between Brig/Zermatt and Chur/St Moritz as it is the only thru train on this route - regular non-Glacier Express trains take much longer and require one or two changes of trains en route.

That said if seeking reservations either try the sbb.ch web site - can do i believe with a pass or have the folks who sell you the Swiss Pass make it when you buy the pass - these trains IME are often full to the gills as they are a favorite with tour groups

Personally i think the Glacier Express is one of the most overhyped things in Europe - a great marketing campaign for what many yes find to be a tedious 8-9 trip thru often so-so scenery.

For lots of the Glacier Express and Swiss trains and railpasses - www.swisstravelsystem.com which will link you to the Glacier Express web site and the sbb.ch Swiss Railways official site - and www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id3.html - the latter i would recommend for U.S. GE reservations due to their expertise - ricksteves.com will not make train reservations at all - but try swisstravelsystem.com first as it may be cheaper than U.S. prices. And Swiss Passes are currently signifcantly cheaper for the exact same pass if bought in the U.s. in $s for some weird reason (compare at sbb.ch pass prices) IME the Swiss Railpass is one of the true bargains in transportation in Europe and just a few rides can make it more than pay off.

The Bernina Express St Moritz to Tirano, Italy in my opinion is Switzerland's most dramatic railway - a novel way to Italy and Lake Como from Switzerland.

Thanks, Palenque, I do get the impression that it will be a long travel day. I don't long interting days when travelling, however, long boring travel days I can do without.

Well that is only my impression - maybe others who have taken the train will feel differently

One unique thing is the tilting wine glasses that swivel when train goes around curves so wine don't spill

I've taken the Glacier express at three different times of the year. I'm leaving next week to do the Bernina.

I'd comment further but obviously Pal has given you a viewpont you seem to agree with so I'll leave it at that.

Sorry, there was a typo in my last post, the sentence should read, I don't mind long interesting days when I travel, but long boring days I can do without.

Dukey, I welcome more comments and suggestions.

Also, I should add that I will be travelling in late May.

No i misspoke if i meant it was boring - nice scenery all the way - but 8 hours of it and not dramatic scenery except near Zermatt and St Moritz and the official Glacier Express everytime i've taken it is always chock full - every seat - i like to get up and move from side to side on scenic trains rather than being in a train where i can hardly move around.

And for most of the people i saw on the train they did get bored and rarely looked at the scenery.

Dukey and me are rail buffs so no such train trip would be boring

But if you do not mind long marathon train rides then go for it - and it is a utilitarian way to go from Brig to St Moritz.

The scenery is scenic but IMO there are several Swiss railways more scenic so if taking it to experience one of Switzerland's legendary scenic trains there are more scenic and shorter ones than the Glacier Express IMO

Hi; We took the Glacier Express and enjoyed the trip. Thaught it was very scenic. We did have dinner in the 'dinning car' and that probably took 1 1/2 hours. iris1745/dick

Paleque, sorry I misunderstood your initial comments. I could be wrong, but I think you reside in Canada. I live in Toronto. Could you let me know where you buy your rail passes from, I am debating if I should buy one before I leave Canada or wait until I get to Switzerland. All the companies that I have looked at with sell rail passes are in the US (except for RailEurope.ca) and charge hefty fees to deliver the pass to Canada. Also, I am worried that the pass may get lost in the mail.

Iris1745, thank you for your feedback.

Hi; If you consider having dinner in the 'dining car' I think you need advanced reservations. iris1745/dick

No i live near the Canadian border - if you do not have someone with an American address then yes i don't think American agents ship to Canada - but RailEurope.ca - what is wrong with them - perhaps the prices in Loonies are more than the equivalent in dollars?

In any case you can buy them at any Swiss train station for, last time i checked about 15% higher than American dollar prices - not sure about Canadian $ prices - in Toronto i would check with STA Travel - by universities and they should issue these passes in their office and thus not have any fee. Perhaps the Canadian Auto Club or any large volume travel agent may have them in their office as well. Most average travel agents have to order them from RailEurope.ca and may charge a fee for that.

But you can always buy them at any station upon arrival.

Hi; Try this web site for information on dining reservations. www.glacierexpress.ch/theglacierexpress.php iris1745/dick

Palenque, I did check prices online at www.swisstravelsystem.com and Rail Europe for a 8 day Swiss Rail Pass prices are CHF 376 (Swiss Travel System) or USD 327 (Rail Europe). Unless I did something wrong, there really is no difference in price. It maybe be better to buy the pass when I arrive, however, if I take the Glacier Express and Bernina Express I will have to wait until I arrive to make a reservation, my travel dates are not flexible, so I am concerned about availability on these two trains.

STA Travel and the CAA (Canadian Auto Association) are good suggestions, we're not CAA members, so I'll check with STA first.

Thank you for your help.

iris1745, thanks for the dining car comment, I remember reading a reservation is necessary.

SW - i believe you can make the GE reservation thru the glacierexpress.ch site as well even if you as yet do not have a pass - just say you do - want a passholder fare.

but the reservation fee has gone up to like i said around $30-40 above the pass - at least to my knowledge.

Same for Bernina Express - Google Bernina Express and also try sbb.ch the Swiss Railways site for reservations perhaps.

http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id3.html#consecutive - prices in U S $s for 87-day pass - you are going by yourself - then yes it's $327 but a Saverpass is $279 or so - if traveling with someone else that's the price p.p. for two or more names on one pass.

376 Swiss francs, at .90 to the dollar is about $340 plus you need to add the usual 3% credit card fee for foreign transactions.

but maybe the CH franc is lower - i saw .84 in paper and those official rates you never get. But it is not enough savings for worry about buying ahead - dollar could of course go up or down between now and your trip.

Bernina Express, Rhätische Bahn, RhB
The Bernina Express. A legend. The best connection between the icy north and the ... The Bernina Express runs between Chur, the oldest town in Switzerland, ...
www.rhb.ch/index.php?id=33?&L=4

Official site of Bernina Express - run by the Rhatische Bahn, one of Switzerland's 'private' railways (meaning not a part of Swiss National Railways or SBB - but not really private as these private railways often are subsidized by various cantons and the federal gov't as well. Check the site about reservations.

Palenque, thank you for the website link, I did briefly look at the same website yesterday, after you peaked my interest in the Bernina Express in your intial reply. I will check with Rhatische Bahn is I can make reservations through the website.

In case you're interested, I did check STA, it looks like they no longer have a Canadian office and their .ca (Canadian) website links me to the US website where it clearly states that passes are only available in the US. I called them and found out that thier Canadian offices closed in 2006. I think my best option is to buy the rail pass at Zurich airport when I arrive in Switzerland.

Hi,

Just wanted to "chime in" on the Glacier Express. We did the trip from St. Moritz to Zermatt. While the scenery was great and the train was not crowded (this was in mid Oct. many years ago), we wouldn't do something like that again. Almost 9 hours. Way too long on a train which included some short stops. At some points it was interesting, but mostly... it was boring to us.

Paul

> will check with Rhatische Bahn is I can make reservations through the website.

Besides the Bernina Express, there are hourly "normal" trains on the route. There is no reservation on those so you don´t have to worry about that. In good weather they add a few open carriages to some of the trains so that you are really open to the mountain air - not like in the "glass coffins" of the Bernina Express.

pja1 and altamiro, thank you for the comments.

Palenque, I emailed RB, they replied saying that I can book the Glacier express and the Bernina Express by email. For anybody reading this and would like their email address, it's [email protected]

Thanks to all of you, especially Palenque, for your help.