{"id":1543,"date":"2011-09-11T11:52:22","date_gmt":"2011-09-11T15:52:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stationstudios.ca\/blog\/?p=1543"},"modified":"2026-01-21T10:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T15:50:14","slug":"swiss-rail-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stationstudios.ca\/blog\/swiss-rail-adventure\/","title":{"rendered":"Photo Set: Swiss Rail Adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Visit the photo set Swiss Rail Adventure<\/a> on Flickr.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We decide to break up our vacations this year into a trip in May (Ireland<\/a>) and a second shorter one in late August. Continuing on the train theme that we’ve gotten ourselves into here in Europe, we booked a Swiss Rail Adventure through Treinreiswinkel<\/a> here in Amsterdam. The following map shows the basic outline of the trip:<\/p>\n

\"Treinreiswinkel<\/a><\/p>\n

There were three main tourist trains we rode during the week:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The Willem Tell Express (Luzern to Lugano): Actually this leg was half done by steam paddlewheeler and the second half by train. The paddlewheeler was impressive and we had a beautiful day to be on Lake Lucerne. The train ride was also impressive with a series of spiral tunnels on both side of the Gotthard Pass and a 15 km long tunnel under the pass.<\/li>\n
  2. The Bernina Express (Lugano to St Moritz): We took a bus between Lugano and Tirano through Italy to start this leg. The road along Lake Lugano was barely one lane wide for 40 km so it was quite an adventure in a large modern bus. The train from Tirano to St Moritz was probably my favourite, a very impressive piece of engineering.<\/li>\n
  3. The Glacier Express (St Moritz to Zermatt): This was Robin’s favourite as it covered a wide variety of Swiss geography. On the other hand, it was over 8 straight hours on the train. Coming over the Oberalppass and coming into Zermatt were definite highlights.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    We enjoyed all four cities\/towns we stayed in but have to say that Lugano and Zermatt made the biggest impression of us: Lugano, because of its Mediterranean feel, Zermatt because of the mountain lifestyle. Robin and I agreed that a return trip to Zermatt for an extended stay should be in the cards for 2012.<\/p>\n

    We did a little hiking in Zermatt; nothing too strenuous. With all of the trains and ski lifts in the area, hiking here can be quite a bit different than in the Canadian Rockies as you can take the lift up and walk down. Add in many options for dining on the the way down, it’s no surprise that there were many couples in their 70’s and 80’s out enjoying the mountain air.<\/p>\n

    We definitely ate well during the trip, including two nice dinners in St Moritz at Lapin Bleu<\/a> and Alca<\/a>, a good cheese fondue at the Whymper-Stube<\/a> in Zermatt and a great Italian lunch at the Riffelalp<\/a> 500 m above Zermatt.<\/p>\n

    We also had some very nice wine. We tried to sample as much regional wine as possible, including bottles of:<\/p>\n