A new tour that unites the epic Glacier Express and Bernina Express routes provides the ideal excuse to compare and contrast
My journey on the Bernina Express, one of the signature routes by train in Switzerland and indeed the world, did not begin auspiciously. I picked it up in St Moritz, all agog at the prospect of journeying to the highest rail summit in the Alps, but was somewhat alarmed at the fact that I could barely see a thing.
Snow was falling, and the great peaks all around me were shrouded in cloud. When the train did reach the highest point – the Ospizio Bernina at 7,290ft – an onboard commentary informed us that this was the crossroads between two worlds: the Teutonic north of Europe and the palm-fringed promise of the south, the very spot at which the icy waters from the mountains flowed on one side down into the Rhine and on to the North Sea, and on the other, to the Adriatic and as far as the Black Sea.
As we journeyed on, the mist began to lift, ideal for a pit stop in the town of Poschiavo close to the historic Bernina Pass. In harsher, pre-rail times, trekking along this pass was the only way of making essential journeys. Not fancying anything quite so arduous, we had a gentle stroll through a picturesque spot containing a cluster of churches, Italianate-style streets, a tower dating back to the middle ages and an ossuary showcasing a dramatic collection of skulls.
The ride on the Bernina Express comes about halfway through the nine-day Mountaintops of Switzerland group tour introduced by Great Rail Journeys just prior to the pandemic, but only now really getting into full swing.
I’d signed up for it because, having enjoyed a few pretty dramatic train journeys – across great swathes of America, Asia and Australia – I was on a mission to find out whether Switzerland really is home to the most spectacular of them all. And a good starting point was a tour offering a selection that included the two biggies – the Bernina Express and Glacier Express – and a number of other routes such as Basel to Bern, Interlaken to Visp, Chur to Lucerne and Brienz to Rothorn by steam, all with a magic of their own and bookended by longer journeys to and from London by Eurostar and TGV via Paris and Strasbourg.
Being in the mountains always presents challenges on the meteorological front – as we discovered – but mercifully the weather can change quickly. On our way back from Poschiavo, the dramatic vistas so cruelly denied on the way there were revealed in all their glory. We opened the windows of our compartment, taking deep breaths of life-enhancing mountain air.
The sheer logistics of creating a rail network through such mountainous terrain – a project begun in the middle of the 19th century – is in itself something to marvel at and the Swiss are rightly praised for the quality and precision of their engineering, seen in some magnificent tunnels and viaducts, and their oft-cited punctuality (Swiss trains really do run like clockwork).
There were gasps of appreciation among members of our group as we rode the Glacier Express, a journey that connects Zermatt and St Moritz and contains 90 tunnels, 291 bridges – including the landmark Landwasser Viaduct – and the stunning Rhine Gorge. Gasps interspersed with the clinking of glasses (a very nice riesling) and convivial conversation as we tucked into a three-course lunch.
Convivial conversation? Well, yes. This sort of train-focused itinerary is best enjoyed as part of a group tour. The Glacier Express element of our journey came on day four, by which time early inhibitions among my fellow travellers had dissipated. We were a motley crew – 14 in total – a mixture of couples and singles, British and American, retirees and still working, and a few Great Rail Journeys devotees – one of whom was on her 19th tour.
The combination of stunning scenery, stylish, spacious seating (we were, it has to be said, in First Class), a complex itinerary and three two-night stays in very different but remarkable hotels high in the mountains was more than enough to give us common purpose.
Some were clearly proper train buffs, rippling with excitement when stops included the chance to gaze upon some impressive feat of engineering, a powerful locomotive, a toothed rack rail; some sank into reflective mood with comparisons of adventures past.
There was always plenty to discuss at the dinner table – particularly when each of the three key hotels involved a special journey in itself. The first was a modest ascent by funicular from Lake Brienz to the Grandhotel Giessbach, a hotel with fin de siècle elegance and rooms offering views on to a powerful waterfall. The second – the more modern Scandi-like Romantik Hotel at Muottas Muragl – was a much higher proposition with a more dramatic funicular ride, which crossed the snow line.
The final stay – at the Hotel Pilatus-Kulm – involved a journey on the steepest cog-wheel railway in the world to an altitude of almost 7,000ft. We arrived in snow and darkness, and woke to a crystal-clear sky and a sunrise casting its magnificence on to a panorama of peaks, high above the clouds below.
For those seeking them, activities along the way included nature and wildlife walks, and city explorations. Lucerne was a popular port of call on the one fully free day towards the end. I personally had a walk in the Pilatus mountains where I encountered magnificent horned Alpine ibexes.
So is Switzerland really home to the most spectacular train journeys in the world? It depends what sort of scenery you are looking for. I will never forget the tropical lushness of a trip on the Eastern & Oriental Express from Bangkok to Singapore, the stark beauty of a journey through Australia’s Red Centre on the Indian Pacific, the dramatic rock formations of the Copper Canyon on Mexico’s Chepe Express. They are all wonderful. But as an overall experience of train travel in a single country, Switzerland really does come out on top.
Great Rail Journeys (01904 527180; greatrail.com) offers its nine-day Mountaintops of Switzerland tour on selected dates between June and October 2022 from £2,795 per person. Price includes eight nights’ four-star accommodation with breakfasts and dinners, travel on the Glacier and Bernina Express trains, First Class rail travel in Switzerland and to and from London by Eurostar and high-speed train. Maximum group size is 25 and there is a tour leader throughout
All travellers of 18 and above must show proof of being fully vaccinated, or proof of having recovered from Covid within the past year. Under 18s are exempt
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