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Ingrid's world adventure - Majestic Switzerland
Staff member: Ingrid // Trip date: Sep 2011
I have to admit that our train travelling to Switzerland was one of the most stressful we have had so far on our trip. We left Croatia on an overnight train from Zagreb to Venice with the plan of spending a day in Venice and then travelling onwards to Switzerland later that same afternoon. The train was supposed to arrive at about 7am. We wake up in the morning after a restful sleep in a 4 berth sleeper, shared with two other travellers, to find that in fact we were still in Slovenia and a good 5 hours from Venice. We realised that our 'full' day in Venice was now to become a half day, or at least that's what we thought at the time. Once we arrived in Venice we needed to then reserve our place on the evening train into Switzerland. However when we got to the front of the queue we were told that everything was sold out and the only way we'd be getting to Montreux would be the next day, unless we left on the next train which was in 20 minutes. We had no choice having already booked accommodation in Montreux, we had to take whatever route we could to get there. So we accepted the seat reservations in 2nd class (1st class also sold out) and travelled on to Milan. From Milan we had to take a regional train to the small border town of Domodossola and from there a train into Switzerland. The lady at the counter in Venice printed out all the connecting train information for us so it made it very easy for us once we were on that first train.
From Montreux I finally got to experience my very first Swiss scenic train, the Golden Pass. The Swiss alps in early Autumn are simply spectacular. Accompanied by lush green meadows at their base littered with Wooden cabins and Cows, all framed with beautiful Pine trees. It was an amazing journey. We had decided to reserve seats in a panoramic carriage in 1st class although it wasn't actually compulsory and only around 1/2 of the seats in our carriage had been reserved. The rest of the passengers just got on board and found an available seat. However all the "VIP" seats at the very front of the train with the "drivers view" were all fully booked.
We really enjoyed the Panoramic carriages in 1st class and there was also an option to purchase drinks and snacks from the onboard attendant, albeit at expensive swiss prices.
We had to change trains in Zweisimmen. This is the case with all Golden pass trains and is simply because of the fact that the two lines run on different types of tracks, hence the need to actually change trains. The trains wait for each other so there is no stress about meeting your connection. Sometimes you will see on the timetables that trains are only 5 or 6 minutes apart but it is no issue as one train pulls up right beside the next one and all you have to do is walk across the platform. It is all very easy and there are conductors everywhere to assist you if required.
Our next stop in Switzerland was Interlaken where we stayed at the Hotel Interlaken, just a short 5 minute walk from the train station and only another 5 minutes to the town centre. A great location, particularly as we spent the next five days travelling on the different mountain railways in the region.
Whilst in Interlaken we used a Jungfrau VIP pass which, when purchased in Australia, allows 3 days of unlimited travel on the Jungfrau regions railways as well as 1 trip up to the very top of Jungfraujoch.
2012 marks the centenary of the Jungfrau Railway. In took 16 years to complete and was inaugurated on 1st August 1912. An incredible engineering acheivement so long ago. The Jungfraujoch, Top of Europe, railway station actually sits at 3454m high and is the highest altitude railway station in Europe. So I believe 2012 will be a fantastic time to visit the Jungfrau region as they will be celebrating the centenary year with a lot of new experiences including a brand new round tour subway attraction which will be able to take visitors around the fantastic attractions at the top of the mountain. It is opening April 1st 2012.
Anyway back to our Jungfrau railways experience. We had 5 days to experience as much as possible in this beautiful region.
On our first day we Harder Kulm, the lowest elevation of the railways, but I would say definitely the steepest! It is a spectacular funicular railway with a lovely restaurant, hiking trails and stunning views from the top. The ascent is made in just 8 minutes so it means it is an easy thing to do even later in the day. You also get a great view of all three summits, Eiger, Monch & Jungfrau. There is also a great new attraction at Harder Kulm which is called the "Two-Lake Bridge" and gives you the opportunity to walk right out over the top of the mountain so that you can see both the two lakes that sit either side of Interlaken. A great new feature close to Interlaken.
The next day we took what is known as the 'Romantic' railway up to Schynige Platte - romantic because of the old style carriages and quaint countryside it passes through. There is a restaurant up on top of the hill with a brand new panoramic terrace which just opened earlier this year and provides a self service restaurant for people to enjoy a meal at. There is also a Botanical alpine garden with over 500 different species of Alpine flora for those interested in plants. We however took our first opportunity for some hiking in the alps. It was only a short walk but we did a round trip to a nearby lookout to get our leg muscles moving again. We got some great photos and a good bit of well needed exercise at the same time.
Day three in Interlaken saw us make the journey up to the highest train station in Europe; Jungfraujoch. A station built inside the peak of the Jungfrau nearly one hundred years ago. Over the years the station has obviously had some big renovations and additions to it, especially once the swiss realised what an amazing tourist attraction they had now created. The complex is now equipped with numerous restaurants, cafes, lookout points including an outdoor plateau and the Sphinx Terrace, an Ice palace carved out of a glacier that you can walk through (so cool), a snow play area and even helipads for scenic flights. The landscape up on top of Jungfrau is jaw dropping. The really great thing about the Jungfraujoch is that you have the choice of two different railways you can take to get you to Kleine Scheidegg for the last leg up to the top. On the way up we took the railway via Grindelwald and got some fabulous pictures of this gorgeous little mountain town as we wound our way up the hills. On the way back down, we made another stop to do some more hiking, this time an easy walk from Kleine Scheidegg to Mannlichen. We then took a Cable car down off the mountain straight into the Fog, which was quite eerie. The cable car meant we ended up in Wengen, a town on the other side of the mountains so we took the railways back to Interlaken this time via Lauterbrunnen. Lauterbrunnen seems like a much smaller and quieter town than Grindelwald and we took the opportunity for a nice Swiss hot chocolate before heading back to Interlaken.
Our final full day in Interlaken was our adventurous day. That morning we looked at each other and decided to bite the bullet (big bucks!) and go Paragliding. It was amazing! A wonderful experience particularly as we floated over the top of Interlaken looking over at the huge mountain peaks.
That afternoon we went for a trip through Grindelwald up to First (pronounced Fee-erst) at the top of a 25 minute aerial gondola. The way down the mountain was slightly different. We Zip-lined the first third, hiked the second and then hired mountain scooters for the bottom third. The zip-line they have from First is 800m long and can you can apparently travel as fast as 84km/h! It was great fun. Up to four people can go at the same time. A good fun group activity. The scooters we took down to Grindelwald are called Trotti-bikes. I was a little hesitant at first on how I would go on a scooter. My balance is not always the best, but I had absolutely no issues and had a great time riding down the mountain.
From Interlaken we travelled onwards on the Golden Pass to our final Swiss destination of Lucerne. Now that I have completed the entire Golden Pass train I would say that if you are limited in time and can only do one leg of the trip I would definitely recommend between Interlaken & Montreux (or V.V). In particular the part between Zweisimmen & Montreux is just breathtaking.
After overnighting in Lucerne it was on to Munich via Zurich. We decided to pre-reserve our seats on the train from Zurich to Munich due to Oktoberfest in Munich. We were really glad we did as the train was completely full.
All in all I can say that Switzerland is just made for train travel! You would have to be crazy to travel Switzerland any other way in my opinion. It has clean, fast and efficient trains, wonderful mountain railways & cable cars and in the unlikely event that you can't find a suitable train for your destination, if you hold a Swiss Rail Pass you can even use the bus system free of charge. I'm yet to find a more efficient public transport system for an entire country!
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