Rail holidays to Switzerland

A few years ago we included Switzerland in our programme of rail holidays initially as a place to break the journey to Italy, and then increasingly as a destination in its own right, incorporating a mixture of the great scenic train journeys and longer stays. We have now expanded the range of tailor-made luxury rail holidays to Switzerland to include varied experiences in different parts of the country, offering not only the iconic rail journeys, such as the Glacier Express and the Bernina Express, but also longer grand tours, based around the scenic trains, and single- and multi-centre holidays, which facilitate exploration of one region in detail. All our holidays have been drawn together from a newly developed breadth of hotels and destinations, and a wealth of in-depth knowledge about the regions, culture, and natural landscape of Switzerland. Last October, in time with the expansion of the programme, our personal travel specialist embarked on her own rail holiday in Switzerland to experience first-hand the quality of Swiss trains, the reliability of the service, and the individual merits of our newly featured hotels, the knowledge of which she can now impart to her clients. “Switzerland has the densest rail travel network in the world and the coordination between its services is almost flawless. Trains are regular and reliable, and utilised favourably by the majority of residents, and everywhere you look there are beautiful views of mountains, lakes, forests, and plains. Visitors to this beautiful country may wish to include one of the Big 5 train lines – I travelled on both the Glacier Express and GoldenPass routes – but there is no such thing as a dull view in this country. For a touring holiday discovering the exciting nooks and crannies of the upper valleys and mountains, the Swiss rail network provides quick and easy access to many remote villages and towns that would be difficult to drive to. Over my 16 months at Expressions, I have come to the conclusion that there really is something fundamentally different about rail travel in Switzerland, and my research trip in October only confirmed this for me. The scenery you travel through is stunning, the trains are very efficient and comfortable, and you can even choose to fly from the UK before continuing by rail within Switzerland rather than spending the day on the Eurostar and TGV trains. This is a particularly great option for people like me who favour regional airports. It is difficult to choose just one bit of railway that stands out against the rest, but the journey from Chur to St Moritz is a top contender. This stretch of railway is both the beginning of the Bernina Express line and also the finale of the Glacier Express. From Chur, you travel back along the Upper Rhine Valley to Reichenau, through what is known popularly as the Swiss Grand Canyon. All around you, soaring limestone cliffs rise from the river as you travel through the narrow valley before turning south. The vista of the scenery then opens up as you travel past the hilltop castles, historic churches, and quaint villages around Tiefencastel. Just before you pull into Filisur, you head over one of Switzerland’s most famed architectural masterpieces – the Landwasser Viaduct. Be sure to sit on the right-hand side of the train on departure from Chur to get the best views of the arched viaduct. The rest of this stretch is a winding journey of spirals, tunnels, and loops as you traverse the mountains up to the stylish resort town of St Moritz. As an avid rock climber, it felt like heaven to be among so many mountains. I am incredibly lucky to have witnessed the iconic Matterhorn overlooking Zermatt, and was also thrilled to have a view of the Eiger from my room at the Romantik Hotel Schweizerhof in Grindelwald and the chance to travel up through it to Jungfraujoch. Everywhere I visited had its own charm and personality, but my favourites were definitely these mountain chalet villages with their beautiful views, great hiking locations, and tasty authentic cuisine”.