Monday morning saw me setting off on my Swiss rail adventure. (romtomtallie= whizz around). I had spent many hours at home deciding how to squeeze in the most scenic routes. K had given me an 8 day Swiss travel pass which was a fabulous gift as it included all train, bus and ferry travel. It also included entry to about 500 museums. Try as I might, I was unable to squeeze in all the fabulous routes and see all art museums in 5 days. One can plan in advance as Swiss rail has a good website listing all the trains, departures and arrival times. Trains are on time, clean and a pleasure to travel in. Stations also have lots of facilities, especially places to buy food and coffee which are usually open long after other shops have closed. Many a lunch came from the Co-Op at the station.
May 2022: Swiss rail romtomtallie map
Day 1: Geneva to Zermatt
Almost 50 years ago I visited Zermatt for a week over Xmas on a package skiing holiday. I was keen to see it again so my first day took me from Geneva to Zermatt. Leaving Geneva I travelled along the N shore of the lake as far as Montreux at the head of the lake. Near Montreux the line runs along the lake shore and the views are stunning. Here I stopped for break and to wander along the lake front. Montreux looks to be a very attractive town. I did not have time to visit the famous Chillon castle.
We then headed inland past some steeply terraced vineyards to Martigny where I stopped to visit the Fondation Pierre Gianadda. Instead of the main collection they were displaying works by Jean DuBuffet. It was interesting to see how his art evolved over the years.
From Martigny the line continued to Visp where one takes the cog railway to Zermatt. This is a very special route, climbing steeply past gorges, green pastures, trees in blossom and villages full of Swiss chalets, many with heavy stone roofs which seem a feature of this area. Nearing Zermatt one goes through some snow sheds over the track.
It was off season in Zermatt, the skiers were gone and the summer hikers yet to appear. It was quiet and as charming as I remembered. It is a town without cars and development is strictly controlled. I arrived there just in time to visit the Matterhorn museum which is dedicated to the climbers who conquered the mountain and to life in the Alps in earlier times. I also sat for quite some time hoping for a clear shot of the elusive mountain, but the Matterhorn, towering above all the other peaks, remained wrapped in cloud. Eventually I gave up and went to enjoy a supper of raclette, another Swiss speciality. Then off to sleep under my snowy white duvet, which I found in all Swiss hotels.
Day2 : Glacier Express route from Zermatt to Chur
The Glacier Express which runs eastwards from Zermatt to St Moritz is one of the famous Swiss train trips. Had I caught this special train I would have had to pay a considerable booking fee, even with my Swiss travel pass. However there are other trains which cover the same route, and so I decided to travel from Zermatt to Chur in the East on local trains along the Glacier Express route. First I travelled back down the steep track to Visp. Then I caught a train which heads along valleys past Brig to Andermatt. This part of Switzerland looked colder and more barren. The trees had not leaved out yet. The mountains were so high I could not see the tops. As elsewhere I noticed lots of stone crushing plants. I guess making concrete is what you do when you have lots of stones that tumble down the mountains each year.
At Andermatt I caught a train which immediately starts climbing up the Oberalp pass. This is the highlight of this trip. The train winds up and up giving stunning views of Andermatt as it recedes in the distance. Then one is up in the snow at the top of the pass. Once one has descended, the next town along is Disentis, after which the track runs along the Rhine Gorge. Here one can see large potholes in the grey stone of the gorge. At Reichenau just before Chur, a tributary joins joins the Rhine. Like all the rivers in Switzerland, it is icy blue. Maybe this is just seasonal with snow melt.
I arrived in Chur (pronounced Corr) around 5 pm and immediately set about exploring the old town. Chur is the oldest town in Switzerland and here Romansch is the official language. The old section is small but has some nice old buildings including a church with 3 windows designed by Augusto Giacometti. For supper I was just able to catch Da Mamma before it closed and had the best pasta al funghi I have ever eaten. If you ever find yourself it Chur, hurry along to enjoy pasta for lunch here.
Day3: Bernina Express from Chur to Lugano
The Bernina Express is the other great Swiss rail trip and this time I decided to pay the booking fee and catch the little red train. It heads from Chur southwards towards Italy climbing up to the Bernina Pass and then descending quite steeply to Tirano in Italy. The trip takes about 4 hours. From Tirano I took the Bernina Express bus to Lugano
The first part of the trip takes one through a pretty valley full of castles and then on through other valleys with attractive towns, climbing gently all the time. One of the highlights is the Landwasser viaduct (65m. tall) which the train passes over just before entering one of the 55 tunnels on the route. The train then starts climbing steeply through lots of spiral loops. The engineering is amazing as this is not a cogwheel track, but the train climbs to 2253m. Once above the tree line on the Bernina Pass, several glacier are visible on clear days. Unfortunately it was cloudy the day I did the trip. In fact it started to snow up at the top of the pass. The top of the pass has 2 lakes, the white lake and the black lake, but both were still iced over. The top also marks the watershed with water to the south flowing into the Adriatic and to the N flowing eastwards to the Black sea.
We were bussed for part of the descent to Tirano as they were working on the track, so did not experience the Brusio spiral viaduct, another highlight of the trip, but I did see it in the distance. The descent takes one through lots of little villages. We arrived in Tirano in time for lunch and along with a chunk of pizza, I indulged in a slice of very nice torte with layers of pistachio and vanilla cream.
The afternoon 3 hour bus trip to Lugano started with us travelling along a valley with miles of ribbon development, only the hillsides with vineyards and castles/very grand houses, provided respite. However, once we reached the shores of Lake Como things improved. There were some very grand old houses to be seen, some a bit run down. The bus also travels beside Lake Lugano before reaching the town. Lugano is where I realized everyone nowadays uses Google to find their way.
I did eventually find my AirBnB, walk down to the lake shore and visit the garden there and enjoy a pizza with a black crust (made black I think by the addition of vegetable ash?), before falling into bed.
Day 4: From Lugano to Luzern via Domodossola
I had booked a hotel in Luzern for Thursday night, but couldn’t decide which route to take to get there. Going N over the old Gotthard pass will have to wait for my next trip. I opted to travel to Locarno and on to Domodossola in Italy. From there I went through the Simplon Tunnel to Brig, up the mountains to Kandersteg and on the Spiez. Then I travelled beside the lakes, past Interlaken to Luzern. This was a long route, but included at least 3 very scenic sections.
Locarno on Lake Maggiore looks lovely. The station is near the lake and I was able to go for a stroll and buy a coffee and pain au chocolat for breakfast while I waited for the next train. In Italy one had to wear masks on public transport, unlike the other countries where masks had been abandoned.
The route from Locarno to Domodossola is one of the loveliest trips I took. One starts along the lake and then through little towns where I think one travels along the main street. One climbs up into a green forest where one travels for some time beside a deep ravine. Unfortunately it was a rainy day and I could not see the mountain tops, but the mist curling in the ravine was very pretty. The descent to Domodossola is also very pretty. This Italian town seemed to have some posh shops. I needed to replace my brolly, which I had mislaid in Tirano the day before.
Back on a train, we whizzed though the Simplon tunnel (20km and opened in 1906) at great speed and were back in Switzerland at Brig. Then followed a very scenic trip up the mountain to Kandersteg which looks to be a typical Swiss village full of wooden chalets. I believe it is lovely to walk there is summer and no doubt one skies in winter. Switzerland is dotted with pretty villages and the Swiss chalet with shutters and window boxes (not flourishing yet) is not endangered. It must be a very suitable design for the environment and it is fun to see the variations on the theme. The train passed on to Spiez on the Thundersee. From there I caught 2 trains which took me first to Interlaken and then Luzern. Both trips were very pretty, passing lots of lakes and broad green valleys with farms and cows with their bells. The Alps towered above, although I could not see the peaks, and every so often there were spectacular waterfalls.
I arrived in Luzern just in time to visit the Sammlung Rosengart. This is a must for any lover of Picasso’s paintings. I wish I had allowed more time to enjoy their extensive collection. I then found my hotel and wandered down to the lake front to see the famous wooden bridge which sadly burnt down some years back, but has been restored and to have supper. The waterfront in Luzern is justly famous for being attractive and it is a city I would like to visit again, but not for the pasta I had for supper!
Day 5 : Winterthur, Zurich and the Golden pass
Early on Friday morning I was up to catch the train to Winterthur which is NE of Zurich. I was heading for the Oscar Reinhart collection at his villa which was reached after a bus trip and rather a stiff walk in the rain. What a fabulous collection! Scion of a wealthy family he devoted himself to collecting art and left the villa and collection to the nation. I would like to revisit someday. I was hoping to visit the Winterthur art museum too, but realized I would not have time, so hopped on a train and sped along to Zurich.
Instead of trusting Google to help me find my bus to the Zurich Kunsthaus, I listened to a helpful student and took a bus which headed off in wrong direction entirely. I could have walked there in the time it took to right my mistake. So my brief visit to Zurich was rather fraught. I did get to see the famous and controversial Bϋhrle impressionist collection at the Kunsthaus, but had to rush my visit of what is obviously a great museum. It is spread across 2 buildings, which does not help when one is trying to find works in a hurry. I saw a little of the river which runs through the centre of the city, but had to rush to catch my 2pm express train to Berne. As elsewhere, I hope to return one day.
I was now heading home to Geneva, via the scenic route. I did not exit the station in Berne, but caught a train back to Spiez and from there I planned to travel down to Montreux along what is called the Golden pass, a very pretty route past many villages including Gstaad. This is the SW section of the scenic route I had done the day before to Interlaken.
Part of the route was under repair and we were bussed instead to Zweisimmen. Here I almost had a disaster as I leapt on the first bus outside the little station and only inquired of the driver after a few minutes if it was the correct one. “No” he said, “there is your bus” as I watched in horror as it pulled away. I rushed desperately after it and the conductor stopped it and I leapt aboard. As if to make up for lost time the driver hared through the little villages at what felt like 120km an hour.
There were many large chalets in the first villages on the route. Maybe holiday homes of the wealthy, these villages lacked the charm of those further on. Gstaad itself appeared quite modest except for a few large hotels. The train runs right through the centre of town and that bit resembled Zermatt. Nearer to Montreux the route became more scenic and the descent to the lake was especially beautiful. Up on the plateau were fields of narcissi. I wish I had had time to get off and explore, but I still had the trip from Montreux to Geneva to complete and it was getting late. It was a very weary, but exhilarated traveller than got home to Geneva at about 10pm that night.
Holiday in Switzerland?
Would I recommend a holiday in Switzerland? Definitely- the countryside is beautiful and offers many outdoor activities. The villages make one think of Heidi. The cities are attractive and have some fabulous museums. It is spotlessly and the public transport works like a dream. It may be a tad more expensive than elsewhere in Europe, but one can eat cheaply by buying from the station vendors. The Swiss travel pass, especially the 15 day and 8 day passes are worth it, particularly if one is going to cram in as much travel as possible. I hope I get a chance to return and see more of it.
May 2022: Swiss rail romtomtallie gallery
