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GRAND TOURS Bernina Express © RhB, Andrea Badrutt

Steaming Around Switzerland

Wednesday 1 October to Wednesday 15 October 2025

A two-week holiday embracing some of Switzerland’s finest railways. We stay in Chur, Thun and Rapperswil and travel on some of the best railway
lines in the country, including two steam rail journeys plus a private steam charter on the Rhaetian Railway.

Day 1 - To Cologne Day 4 - Rhaetian Railway (RhB) Steam Charter Day 6 - Route of the Glacier Express
Depart by morning Eurostar service in Standard After a short journey to Landquart on a scheduled We follow the route of the Glacier Express as we
Class from London St Pancras to Brussels. We make train, we join our private steam hauled charter made traverse the Oberalp Pass, travel through the Furka
an onward connection to Cologne for an overnight up of one of the RhB’s steam locos, the historic base tunnel and pass along the Valais valley towards
stay. 1st class car A1102, 2nd class car B2060 and the Brig. We make a change of train and travel onwards
legendary ‘Rhätia-Stübli’ standing bar. We will journey to Martigny for a 1-night stay.
Day 2 - Onwards to Chur via the scenic Prättigau Valley and Klosters to the lines
We travel from Cologne to Chur taking the old route highest point at 1,625m before descending to Davos
along the scenic Rhine Valley with its fairytale villages Platz and returning to Landquart via the same route.
and castles between Cologne and Mainz. Continuing With its many horseshoe curves, panoramic views
via Basle from where our First Class Swiss Pass starts, and steep gradients this journey will be spectacular.
we stay in Chur for 4 nights. A packed lunch will be included.
Day 3 - Bernina Express Day 5 - Landquart Works
Enjoy a full day’s spectacular excursion on a return Today we have a guided behind the scenes tour of
trip from Chur to Tirano, across the border in Italy, the RhB workshops at Landquart. Here you will find
on the Bernina Express, climbing across Europe’s an impressive up-to-date facility capable of dealing
highest railway Alpine pass at a height of over 2000m. not only with the day-to-day maintenance of both
The spirals and tunnels of the Albula section, now a modern and historic equipment but also major
UNESCO World Heritage Site, views of glaciers on overhauls and complete rebuilds. The RhB may be
the Bernina Pass and the spiral viaduct at Brusio near a narrow gauge line but, in terms of operation and
the end of the line make this a day not to be missed. engineering, it thinks very big indeed. The rest of the Golden Pass Express - Georg Trüb
Reserved seats both ways in First Class. There will be day is free to explore further with your Swiss Pass.
time in Tirano for lunch and a chance to look around
the old town.
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 19 Century to connect Lake
th
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,

meaning the journey can finally be made without
Rapperswil Landquart Workshop introduced in 2022, have gauge changing technology
changing trains.

23 Over 50 Years of Unforgettable Rail Journeys