Steaming Around Switzerland

ITINERARY

Day 1 – To Cologne

Depart by morning Eurostar service in Standard Class from London St Pancras to Brussels. We make an onward connection to Cologne for an overnight stay.

Day 2 – Onwards to Chur

We travel from Cologne to Chur taking the old route along the scenic Rhine Valley with its fairytale villages and castles between Cologne and Mainz. Continuing via Basle from where our First Class Swiss Pass starts, we stay in Chur for 4 nights.

Day 3 – Bernina Express

Enjoy a full day’s spectacular excursion on a return trip from Chur to Tirano, across the border in Italy, on the Bernina Express, climbing across Europe’s highest railway Alpine pass at a height of over 2000m. The spirals and tunnels of the Albula section, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, views of glaciers on the Bernina Pass and the spiral viaduct at Brusio near the end of the line make this a day not to be missed. Reserved seats both ways in First Class. There will be time in Tirano for lunch and a chance to look around the old town.

Day 4 – Rhaetian Railway (RhB) Steam Charter

After a short journey to Landquart on a scheduled train, we join our private steam hauled charter made up of one of the RhB’s steam locos, the historic 1st class car A1102, 2nd class car B2060 and the legendary ‘Rhätia-Stübli’ standing bar. We will journey via the scenic Prättigau Valley and Klosters to the lines highest point at 1,625m before descending to Davos Platz and returning to Landquart via the same route. With its many horseshoe curves, panoramic views and steep gradients this journey will be spectacular. A packed lunch will be included.

Day 5 – Landquart Works

Today we have a guided behind the scenes tour of the RhB workshops at Landquart. Here you will find an impressive up-to-date facility capable of dealing not only with the day-to-day maintenance of both modern and historic equipment but also major overhauls and complete rebuilds. The RhB may be a narrow gauge line but, in terms of operation and engineering, it thinks very big indeed. The rest of the day is free to explore further with your Swiss Pass.

Day 6 – Route of the Glacier Express

We follow the route of the Glacier Express as we traverse the Oberalp Pass, travel through the Furka base tunnel and pass along the Valais valley towards Brig. We make a change of train and travel onwards to Martigny for a 1-night stay.

Day 7 – Golden Pass Express

After a leisurely breakfast we make our way to Montreux to take a one-way journey on the Golden Pass Express to Spiez. From here we continue to Thun for a 3-night stay. The Golden Pass line was opened in the late 19th Century to connect Lake Geneva, Gstaad and the lakes of Thun and Brienz. Whilst the plan was to build an uninterrupted railway, the line was built with two differing gauges requiring a change of train in Zweisimmen. The modern trains, introduced in 2022, have gauge changing technology meaning the journey can finally be made without changing trains.

Day 8 – Brienzer Rothorn

This morning we take a short journey to Brienz to ride the Brienz Rothorn Bahn. This oil-fired steam cogwheel railway will take us to just below the peak of Brienzer Rothorn where the summit station is located at an elevation of 2,224m. Once we arrive back in Brienz, sit back and relax as we take a lake cruise across Lake Brienz back to Interlaken and by rail on to Thun.

Day 9 – Bernese Oberland at Leisure

A free day to explore the Bernese Oberland or surrounding area with your Swiss Travel Pass.

Day 10 – Travel to Rapperswil

We travel via Lucerne to Rapperswil where we find our well appointed hotel located a short walk from the station. We stay here for 4 nights.

Day 11 – Appenzeller Bahn

After breakfast we make a circular journey to St Gallen, where we will ride the scenic Appenzeller Bahn to Appenzell. The Appenzeller Bahn is the steepest adhesion railway in Switzerland with an incline of up to 8%. There will be time for a spot of lunch in Appenzell before our return to Rapperswil.

Day 12 – Zürich Oberland Railway

This afternoon we have an excursion on the Zürich Oberland Steam Railway. This railway has operated since 1978 with heritage trains running over the former tracks of the Uerikon-Bauma-Bahn between Bauma–Bäretswil–Hinwil – the regular services ceased in the same year.

Day 13 – Rigi Mountain

An excursion to the Rigi Mountain Railway where we make our ascent using the rack railway. We then make a return journey and the rest of the day is free to explore.

Day 14 – North to Bonn

Our homeward stopover is in the lovely city and former federal capital of Bonn where our hotel is adjacent to the station and close to the old city.

Day 15 – Homeward Bound

A short rail journey brings us to Cologne from where we catch a mid-morning train to Brussels, connecting with a Eurostar service to London, arriving late afternoon.