Swiss Railway Holidays

[bmthtrains - David]

Having just watched a great prog on the travel channel (skipping through and I saw the word 'railway' so stopped!) about rail around Leysin in Swizterland, its made me think its time I looked into a longheld dream to do a holiday to Switzerland to ride on some of the lovely routes there.

 

Can anyone recommend any companies to look at who specialise in these kind of trips - or any personal experience of doing this kind of holiday?

 

And while we're at it, occurred to me there might be a nice litle section of the forum needed to cover rail-related holidays - snaps of where people have been, where they're going etc

 

David

[chrisf]

I would recommend Ffestiniog Travel. For the past five Christmases/New Years I have been on the tour which they organise. You get a first class Swiss Pass which is valid on almost everything that moves and decent hotels. The tour leader has a timetable to help anyone who wants to plan days out but most of us get our own. If you prefer not to go at Christmas they do an unescorted tour - you decide where you want to stay and they do all the bookings. Alternatively they offer escorted trips in February and September 2011. Check out www.ffestiniogtravel.com

 

Chris

[Jol Wilkinson]

Great Train Journeys of York. We did the "Winter on the Golden Pass" tour in February. Very well organised, good quality hotels and food, excellent tour guide. Most fellow travellers were not railway or model enthusiasts, but went for the scenery, etc.

[DaveF]

When I've travelled to Switzerland I've either:

 

 

1. Booked my own flight and found a hotel near a station to stay at and travelled around using a Swiss Pass either purchased prior to travel or on arrival at the airport.

 

or

 

2. Crossed from England on the ferry (as I live in the north east from either North Shields or Hull to Amsterdam/ Rotterdam or similar) and then spent a few days driving to Switzerland through Germany, looking at German railways as well. Usually I've just found hotels as I needed them.

 

David

[meple]

Having just watched a great prog on the travel channel (skipping through and I saw the word 'railway' so stopped!) about rail around Leysin in Swizterland, its made me think its time I looked into a longheld dream to do a holiday to Switzerland to ride on some of the lovely routes there.

 

Can anyone recommend any companies to look at who specialise in these kind of trips - or any personal experience of doing this kind of holiday?

 

And while we're at it, occurred to me there might be a nice litle section of the forum needed to cover rail-related holidays - snaps of where people have been, where they're going etc

 

David

 

 

Buy your Swiss Pass from the Swiss Travel Centre in Leister Square (done over the web). Fly to Zurich to pick up the train and then play it by ear and go where the mood takes you.

 

 

[Burkitt]

I can second the recommendation for Ffestiniog travel, they booked the rail tickets for several European family holidays for us a few years ago. They were even able to book a ticket for a fictitious person between the two closest together stations in the early hours on a night train so our family of five could have a six berth couchette compartment to ourselves.

 

As for photos of railway holidays, I posted a collection from a trip by sleeper to Venice a few years ago in my gallery here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?app=gallery&module=user&user=6731&do=view_album&album=683 .

[PaulRhB]

hi David, my parents have used The Railway Touring Company a lot for Switzerland as even though they know the country well they like the variety of tours and special trains they do.

 

Personally I don't like the set schedule so I do my own thing which really is so easy in Switzerland and your money goes a lot further.

Last time I went in 2008 I booked the Swiss pass as recommended above, 2nd class so I could open the windows on the RhB rather than air con coaches, it covers trains, buses including post buses into the wilds, lake steamers and even cable cars to villages. The pass gives you half price on a lot of mountain railways and cablecars too.

I stayed in Luzern on the end of the Kapelbrucke at the Hotel Des Alpes which is only 5 min walk over the bridge to the main station, hotel is relatively cheap for a city centre. Also stayed in Chur at Hotel Chur, old decor but excellently placed within 20 yards of the RhB Arosa line.

Anyhow pics below to tempt you and as you are local if you want more info I can drop round some bits, (RhB dvds mostly), though you already have access to all the good guides I hear at work.

 

http://www.flickr.co...57606964208324/

 

http://www.flickr.co...57606964292564/

[Sir Madog]

The Swiss National Tourist Board has a very helpful web page.

 

Swiss Travel

 

It should be easy to develop your own itinerary with the info given there. You will find good (but not always cheap) hotels in any place you´d like to stop. Pre-booking is not really necessary.

[jonhall]

You don't need to use any of the 'rail' holiday companies, they almost all act as agents for the Swiss Tavel Centre anyway, so try going direct http://www.stc.co.uk/

 

The Swiss Classical Tour would be a good starting place, http://www.stc.co.uk/summer_holidays_swiss_classic.html I did this a couple of years ago, booked about 3 weeks before hand, the STC couldn't get all of the first choice hotels so some were a bit further from the station, but the up side was that the cost was about £80 below that advertised.

 

You cannot go wrong with a Swiss railway holiday!

 

Jon

[Horsetan]

Buy your Swiss Pass from the Swiss Travel Centre in Leister Square (done over the web). Fly to Zurich to pick up the train and then play it by ear and go where the mood takes you.

 

^^

What he said.

 

Friend of mine went on honeymoon in 2006 and gave me the keys to his Zurich flat for a fortnight, so I could go where I liked by rail in Switzerland.....and did! The money I would have spent on hotel accommodation was spent on rail travel instead.

 

The Rhaetian Railway network was fantastic. I've also increasingly "driven" it on MS Train Simulator, as well as acquiring one of the Bemo HOm models of G4/5 nr. 108...

[PaulRhB]

Yes flying to Zurich is a good idea as the connections are fantastic.

 

Search various trips using this as it covers trains, buses, cable cars and boats. If you want a particular route you will need to pick one or two via points though or it will just use the fast express trains

SBB online timetable

http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en

[PaulRhB]

Roads how they should be . . . . priority to the train!

Driver just taken avoiding action and got a telling off from the Loco driver.

 

and a proper loco still in regular service, RhB baby Crocodile.

[bmthtrains - David]

Gosh, thanks for the number of replies gentlemen! Plenty to think about there - and stop posting tempting pictures, its making me want to go even more

 

David

[PaulRhB]

It might be better to take a look around the net and see which bits you'd like to see . . . .

 

http://www.railfaneu...x_frameset.html whoops dropped that in

 

. . . and then create an trip around them . . . .

 

http://www.railpictures.net/ (search by country) so sorry there's another site crept in

 

. . . . staying in a couple or more places, Luzern, Chur, Interlaken all spring to mind for a mix of standard and narrow gauge. If you go to Zurich then you'll also see all the cross border ICE trains too .

[Horsetan]

And once you go, you might never want to come back.....

[DIW]

It seems that the majority of the people who tell me about their Swiss holidays while I exhibit my rack railway model layout have travelled with Swiss Travel Service, the next most popular is Thomas Cook.

 

The Swiss travel Centre is no longer in Leicester Square (nor in Leister Square). The Swiss Travel Centre moved out of the Swiss Centre (which is still called that!) in Swiss Court, and is now located at 30 Bedford Street. This is a similar distance away from the Leicester Square Underground Station as its previous location, but in the opposite direction. The same distance away is the Underground Station at Charing Cross, Northern Line side (i.e. the old 'Strand' station). Don't take the Bakerloo Line exit (old 'Trafalgar Square' station) because that is a couple of hundred yards further away. Covent Garden Underground Station is a similar distance away as Leicester Square and Charing Cross (Northern Line).

 

I always drive to Switzerland. I used to buy my motorway vignette at the Swiss Travel centre, but when they then insisted that I told them my address and dates of travel (i.e. when the house was empty) I declined, and now buy the vignette at the border.

 

For driving routes there are probably as many choices as you could wish! Others have already noted routes which include Germany.

 

If you choose a route which allows time near Boulogne in France, there is the Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme railway at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme on which there are a couple of Swiss metre gauge carriages, from the Berner Oberland Bahn. If your route takes you near Pontarlier and Vallorbe, then look in at Les Hopitaux-Neufs where the 'Coni-Fer' (Chemin de Fer Touristique Pontarlier-Vallorbe) keeps their stock. There are a couple of old BLS veranda-ended coaches and several BLS and SBB sputniks.

 

Other routes with other preserved railways nearby are available, but I have specifically mentioned those on which ex-Swiss stock runs.

 

Your cross-channel choice is between the Eurotunnel and the ferries. the tunnel is much quicker, so if you want to save time and/or suffer from seasickness then that is the way to go. Else with the ferries you can choose between long duration - treat as a daytime mini cruise, or sleep overnight (cabin recommended over 'club' seats if you are driving) or take the shortest crossing and enjoy a meal.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Dave

[Irishswissernie]

I have just booked the flights for my 25th trip to Switzerland and always organise my own hotel etc.

I buy the Swiss Pass at Zurich Flughafen station and also change my english money for francs at the same ticket office as SBB's commission and exchange rates are usually quite favourable.

The Swiss Timetable is available on the Internet

 

http://www.fahrplanfelder.ch/en/welcome/

 

and includes buses boats etc so you can easily plan an itinerary.

Buy your food at Migros or the Coop and eat what the locals eat and you will be amazed how cheaper it is than eating in Restaurants etc.

 

Ernie

[eastwestdivide]

I know the thread's a few months old, but maybe better to keep things under the same title:

 

Anyone have any recommendations for overland by train from Yorkshire to the Bernese Oberland?

 

I've been on the seat 61 website, and tinkered round with timetable planning, and while it's theoretically possible to catch an insanely early train from Sheffield and end up in Interlaken late the same day, it's meant to be a holiday, so we're considering breaking the journey, somewhere like Luxembourg, Strasbourg, Cologne. Any tips/recommendations for where to split the journey? Possibly different places outward and return.

Railway interest purely optional, as it's meant to be a walking/mountains/eating type of holiday, and ending up in a hotel with a view of a marshalling yard could result in a few adverse comments "not another industrial estate".

Any tips on scenery visible from the various train routes also gratefully received: willing to trade off high speed for a more interesting journey.

Probably staying in the Grindelwald area, as we did it a few years ago and loved it, on an organised walking holiday which used cable cars and mountain railways to gain height, which was great. However, it involved flying from the UK at awkward hours and a long coach transfer from Geneva, hence the question about doing it by train overland.

 

Replies will be rewarded with a pic of BOB the snowplough when I can find it.

 

Thanks in advance,

ewd

[steverabone]

I notice everybody recommends flying. My wife and I have given up on the airlines and now regularly book a cheap ticket on Eurostar to Paris and then travel by TGV to either Basel (from Gare de l'Est) or Geneva (from Gare de Lyon). We've also used the Paris to Lausanne TGVs.

 

The Eurostar tickets for these journeys can be booked 4 months in advance and TGV ones 3 months. I use Rail Europe's website for the TGV's; it's in English and your tickets arrive almost always the next day. For us the journey then becomes part of the holiday rather than just a means of getting there.

 

It's possible to get to Basel or Geneva from most stations in the UK in a day - failing that I can recommend Ibis Hotel Gare de L'Est, which is in a side street less than 5 minutes from the station. Ibis in Basel is also close to Basel SBB and would allow you to travel from the Bernese Oberland late on the last day of your Swiss Pass and then have a comfortable journey back to Yorkshire without too early starts or late arrivals. A few years ago (also after a walking holiday) we did Montreux to Middlesbrough in a day.

[PaulRhB]

The metre gauge ZentralBahn to Luzern is a really nice trip in itself from Interlaken if you fancy a day exploring Luzern. We even stopped off at Meiringen for Meringues! Did you do any walks on the Murren side of the valley? It's nice walking up the valley above there beneath the Schiltorn. The pastry shop in Lauterbrunnen is still good as I found it again in 2008 after a 15 year gap. Nice walking in that area we did some above Wengen years ago too but can't remember exactly where.

[Oldddudders]

I haven't been to Switzerland for almost 40 years, which is a shame, since some things there have changed, I think, not least the £ to ChF ratio, rather for the worse! I always used Harwich-Hoek van Holland, which gave me an overnight voyage, then onto the Lorelei Express at 07.30, a secondary train down the Rhein. Richer people caught the Rheingold TEE a few minutes earlier. This route through Germany really is most scenic, and in those days it arrived in Basel late afternoon. Bits of Switzerland I enjoyed included the spectacular Bernese Oberland Bahn, and its connection into the Jungfraubahn, terminating 11,333' ASL, with views down the Aletsch Glacier; the Lotschberg main line, with the loops at Blausee Mitholz, and the Furka Oberalp Bahn from Brig east to an end-on meeting with the Rhatische Bahn, of which I have sadly no experience.

 

I see Stena do a £ deal with NX East Anglia Railways for the journey, but whether there are still the classic connections at Hoek is another matter.

[eastwestdivide]

Thanks folks,

 

as promised, some photos from a few years ago:

 

There was some of this:

 

a little of this:

 

but mostly this:

 

and this:

 

Grützi.

[eastwestdivide]

Thanks again people

 

The metre gauge ZentralBahn to Luzern is a really nice trip in itself from Interlaken if you fancy a day exploring Luzern. We even stopped off at Meiringen for Meringues! Did you do any walks on the Murren side of the valley? It's nice walking up the valley above there beneath the Schiltorn. The pastry shop in Lauterbrunnen is still good as I found it again in 2008 after a 15 year gap. Nice walking in that area we did some above Wengen years ago too but can't remember exactly where.

Meringues sounds good. Did you dance the merengue as well? We didn't get to the Mürren side, but did walk from Kleine Scheidegg down to Wengen, also along the Eiger Trail, the long ridge at the top of the very steep little rack railway at Schynige Platte, and countless other spots too.

 

the Jungfraubahn, terminating 11,333' ASL

expensive but brilliant. Went out and walked across the glacier to the Mönchsjochhütte for plum cake and tea at nearly 12,000 feet.

 

a secondary train down the Rhein

sound like a good idea, especially if we split the journey somewhere like Cologne.

 

Eurostar to Paris and then travel by TGV

scenery any good from the TGV?

I tend to find they whizz through boring bits of France and you might as well be on a plane.

[Blue Max]

As Horsetan says above once you go you will never want to come back. Win the lottery and I would relocate there tomorrow.

 

I went to switzerland in August for the best holiday I have ever had, two weeks travelling on some of the most interesting and varied railways I have ever seen. Leysin and Villars are both good villages to stay in and are close enough to get to Montreaux for good train connections. Also close to the Swiss Vapeur Park miniature railway. Not too far to Chamonix for the rack railway to the foothills of Mont Blanc.

 

Within 3 days of arriving home I had already booked accomodation for next year, Grindelwald, close enough to get on the 'kneeling cow' Brienz Rothern and also for the train to Jungfrauoch which must be the best train journey in the world.

 

Not to bad a car journey to the Montreaux area, break the journey in Dijon on the way there and Calais on the way back, brilliant motorways no police or speed cameras and hardly any traffic just as I remember the M1 when it first openned through the Nottingham area. Lots of good reasonably priced hotels in both stop over areas. Tolls not to expensive.

 

Note that there is also a very large model railway shop right in the centre of Laussane, with massive stocks and reasonable prices, if you are interested in stocking up. Lots of items you just dont see in the UK

[R Turner]

Well if you want to get to Zurich the slow way theres always the Amsterdam - Zurich sleeper. The route would be Sheffield - St Pancras // St Pancras - Bruxelles // Bruxelles - Amsterdam // Amsterdam - Zurich. I recommend staying the night in Amsterdam on the way. If you want to plan a journey I have to recommend the Thomas Cook European Timetable, far better than using online journey planners as the International section shows suitable connections next to each other for many routes from London to Switzerland and indeed the rest of Europe.