I've travelled all over Switzerland but have never taken the Glacier Express. I have never seen the need to do it because I just use my second class tickets for the same lines. When family and friends visit me here in Switzerland, they always mention the Glacier Express but I could never give them any real advice on it. So I was wondering if it's really "worth" the extra price and the long travel times.

Therefore, my question to you:

Would you recommend the Glacier Express and why/why not?

Thanks

For many travelers, the schedule for the Glacier Express works out best. I traveled the route on the Glacier Express in March 2006 and the schedule was the only one that worked. I traveled 2nd class. Except for the booklet, I didn't see any advantage to riding the 'named' train. The route, itself, was spectacular.

Thanks Barbara. You didn't find the ride too long or boring, then?

I did the Glacier Express in the 1980s - in those times the four week country-wide pass for foreigners (it wasn't even called "Swiss Pass" then but had a German name I don't remember) was still a real bargain, the Glacier Express was included in it except a very small fee for a seat reservation, and it was not yet that overrun. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was lucky to catch a clear summer day with dream weather. Boring? No, not at all.

Hi; We took the Glacier Express in July of 2000, part of our 40th aniversary trip. It was a long ride, about eight hours, but lovely/spectacular. We had lunch in the dining car and that took up two hours. Agree with 'quokka', not boring at all. There were previous posts on this subject, with mixed reviews. Richard

I wouldn't recommend the Glacier Express, it is a long train ride. If you've been on many trains in Switzerland you'll find the ride to be somewhat boring. I will mention the Glacier Express is agressively marketed by RHB, IMHO, there is too much hype about the this particular train. It is a train ride I could have done without.

For 7-8 hours if you take the whole thing Zermatt-St Moritz/Davos it can be tedious for many - esp in winter when the days are so so short.

I would rank the Glacier Express well behind many other scenic railways in Swiss. But the sections from Brig to Zermatt and between Chur/Reichenau and St Moritz to be really scenic (via the fabled Albula Railway, a UNESCO World Heritage entity for its feat of railroad engineering in the many loops in and out of cliffs and tunnels and viaducts like the famed Landwasser Viaduct - the Brig to Chur is fairly the same - nice but not spectacular river valleys and low-level passes. I'd take only part of it, like from Andermatt to St Moritz and Andermatt to Zermatt

And the trains are more expensive now since the complete re-vamping of the train cars recently - the train itself is Ultra Modern and cannot be beat - and also the unique tilting wine glasses so the bubbly don't spell when rounding curves, etc.

Actually the name Glacier Express was coined because the route once went up and over the Furkha Pass east of Brig where glaciers could be seen - but since a new tunnel about 20 years was opened to burrow untilthe pass the glaciers are no longer to be glimpsed here (tunnel allowed year-round running of Galcier Express trains, one of the very most hyped, publicized tourist things in Europe IMO.

You can now see glaciers i think only near Zermatt.

Many many tour groups book up the Glacier Express trains so book early at sbb.ch or the official glacier exprerss site.

I would not go out of my way to ride the Brig to Chu/Reichenau poretion but if wanting to go between Zermatt and St Moritz in one day it is the only real option.

Hi Shuler,

It was a while ago (1990) when we took the GE from St. Moritz to Zermatt in one day. We wouldn't do this trip (at least not in a day) again. To be honest, it took over 9 hours and even though a lot of scenery was terrific, after 4 or 5 hours we couldn't wait to get it over with. Perhaps it's just us, but we'd rather be "out" in the Alps than see them from a train window for that long.

Paul

... ever travelled the Nullarbor Plain by train? 36 hours of flat nothing. And no, it was NOT boring.

Sorry if my opinion isn't the same as yours quokka.

We rode the Glacier Express during the summer and were disappointed in the scenery. It probably would have been better during the snow season (the mountains were rather bare-did not have the beautiful meadows and huts).

We spend a lot of time in the Berner Oberland at a chalet in Niederried. And that is far more scenic and beautiful than what we saw on the other side of the Alps.

Jinx

ttt