Scenic Train Through Switzerland
Our train ride began on a mid-July day in Montreaux, about an hour ride from the delightful city of Geneva. Montreaux offers many interesting boutiques as well as a pretty boardwalk along Lake Geneva. Standing amongst well manicured flower gardens gazing at the sturdy Swiss Alps across the crystal-faced lake, it is no wonder this town has earned the nickname of the Swiss Riviera.
We boarded our train in late morning at the train station in downtown Montreaux. Like most Swiss transportation, we departed at exactly the scheduled time. We had reserved seats in first class on the modern train. There is another train the company calls the GoldenPass Classic, which is composed of refurbished dinner cars from the 1930’s. Although those trains do seem to offer a romantic touch, a company rep suggested we go with the modern train for our first panoramic trip. The first class cabin of the modern train has huge glass windows giving a view through most of the side walls as well as about half of the ceiling. The seats are wide and plush, although I was disappointed that there were no head rests to sit back and relax into. Waitresses also serve beverages to your seat in first class.
The train began to ascend the mountain range giving us more and more of a view of Lake Geneva, before we turned away from the lake and began to descend into a lush green valley. We soaked in miles of green hilly pastures that feed the plump cows and sheep which produce the rich Swiss cheeses we so enjoyed. In fact, Tammy and I indulged in fondue and other cheese dishes many times during our trip, a habit my lactose-intolerant husband would have detested.
We were not overly impressed with first class so we only paid the higher fee for the first hour leg of our trip. We were traveling on a backpacker’s budget and were very selective about luxuries. We had to switch trains in Zweisimmen and at that point we moved to second class.
Second class cabins are more like typical commuter trains. There is less color and stuffing of the upholstery, and seats are similar to airlines, although with a lot more legroom of course. These cars are not constantly air-conditioned like first class, but the windows did open easily allowing us to enjoy the fresh mountain air. When the train passed through a late afternoon shower, we did notice the windows close and a light air-conditioning turn on. The windows themselves did not encompass the entire wall like first class, but we certainly had ample vision of the lush mountains around us.
Our planned lunch layover was in Interlaken. There are several routes one can choose from through GoldenPass, so a long trip like ours, may require some simple train changes. Most of the stations are fairly small and easy to navigate. Should you need some help, Swiss are generally very understanding and pleasant. One woman even personally led us to our next train when we asked her where to go. Although German, French and Italian are the official languages in Switzerland, we found many locals also spoke English and possibly a fifth or even sixth language.
Interlaken takes it names from its location between two lakes. The main street in Interlaken runs from the Western Interlaken train station to the Eastern train station. We got off at the Western station before we realized that our next train would leave from the Eastern station. So, we had to walk twenty minutes through the town loaded down with out backpacks. Once we had left them safely in the Eastern station lockers, we took a walk along the town river and then ate a pizza lunch. However, Interlaken certainly caters to tourists and there were restaurants to suit many different tastes. There were also ample tourist trap stores where we picked up a few small souvenirs. If you are able to stay longer than we did in this town, there are many adventures to be had including skydiving, night sledding, waterskiing, snow skiing, hiking and more.
Refreshed and full with some good local beer, we departed Interlaken in early afternoon. The latter part of the ride was incredibly serene. We passed through many more towns built around glacial lakes at the base of spectacular green mountains. There was no particular town that stood out, but all together, these little hamlets were the most charming places I encountered on my trip. And, there is no other way I could have seen as much in the little time that I had there.
Our trip ended in Luzern, a medieval city in the heart of Switzerland. The train station was right next to a beautiful lake and easily situated to explore Luzern. We took a short walk across a bridge and we were in the center of the city. The most unique thing there was a nearby covered pedestrian bridge over a wide river. For dinner, in a brewery along the river, we ate a pretzel sandwich, which are popular in that region. It was a nice relaxing way to end our journey. That night, we took a regular train to Basel and flew out of the airport there.
The only inconvenient thing about GoldenPass was its website. We had to make online reservations for each leg of the trip separately which was very confusing because we were unfamiliar with the area. We tried to call the company directly, but although they offered a little more direction, they would not take orders over the phone. We finally did make the correct reservations. However, we thought we had paid in full for our tickets online, when really we had only paid a small deposit for them. This hurt our traveling budget a bit when we finally realized our mistake. If you can, make your reservations a day or two ahead of time in person at one of the train stations in Switzerland. Summer is the company’s high season. In winter, I am told the company offers discount rail passes in combination with lift tickets.
All in all, I would highly recommend this scenic ride. It is a memory I will appreciate for the rest of my life.
