but there’s more to Switzerland than the major cities. And one of the best ways to experience Switzerland is by train. Through the panoramic windows, you’ll see tiny villages, vast mountains, and rolling countryside.

There are many places, and a seemingly infinite number of itineraries.
Mountain railways intrigue visitors while scenic excursion trains enchant them. High-speed trains zoom travelers between Switzerland and cities in Germany and the Netherlands. Think Basel to Frankfurt, Cologne and Hamburg. Or, Basel to Stuttgart and Munich. Or, Basel to Frankfurt, Cologne and Amsterdam. Or, Prague, Vienna, and Budapest.

Switzerland, indeed, has an extensive and dense public transportation network that connects with rail lines beyond
its borders.

Tours that include rail within Switzerland
Winter Magic Tour. To view frozen lakes, powdery show, and grand glaciers, consider this journey from Lucerne to Interlaken to Zermatt and the renowned Matterhorn. Next, ride the Glacier and Bernina Express trains to St. Moritz. The tour includes scenic routes on the Lucerne—Interlaken Express, the Glacier Express and Bernina Express. Travelers can choice from 17 mountain excursions such as Jungfraujoch or Matterhorn glacier paradise. The trip includes a Swiss Travel Pass for six days. A typical trip is eight days, seven nights with two to three days of skiing.

Alpine Lakes & Scenic Trains. This is an 11-day, 10-night Collette tour that starts in Zurich, Switzerland’s largest city, and continues to Andermatt, where travelers meet the Glacier Express train. Arrive in the village of Zermatt, and choose the Gornergrat Railway to view the Matterhorn. Ride in a 1961 carriage with guaranteed window seats. Later, journey via the Bernina Express to St. Moritz, the trip’s final stop.

Swiss Splendors by Train. This Globus eight-day journey begins in Lake Geneva, and is designed for an 18-person group. It includes a train journey from Lucerne to Zermatt that includes Gornergrat as well as a railway to take in view of the Matterhorn. In addition, the tour includes riding the Lötschberg train to Interlaken. Finally, travelers ride the Eiger Express Cable Car and the cogwheel Jungfrau Railway to Jungfraujoch where they experience Europe’s railway station to take in the views of the Alps.

Swiss Winter Rail Journeys. This eight-day Audley Travel tour beginning in Zurich takes travelers on trains throughout the journey. From Zurich, ride the train to Davos Platz, south of Davos, and choose a horse-drawn sleigh to explore the Swiss village. The next day, a train takes travelers to Andermatt in the Swiss Alps, where cross-country skiing, winter hiking, snowshoeing and ice skating are popular activities. After a day of exploration, board the Glacier Express that runs through mountain passes and Alpine villages. Next, transfer by train to Montreux on Lake Geneva’s eastern shore. For the next part of the tour, ride the scenic GoldenPass Express train from Montreux to Lucerne, a municipality with preserved medieval architecture. The last part of the journey includes a short boat ride from Lucerne to Weggis, ride a cable car and cogwheel train to the top of Mount Rigi to view hundreds of Swiss mountaintops. This trip features Swiss fondue at the top of Mount Rigi and a stop at the Lindt chocolate factory.

Grand Train Tour of Switzerland. This is an all-inclusive train tour package that includes Swiss scenic train journeys through the Alps, lakes, and villages. Among the excursion trains are the Glacier Express, the Bernina Express, and GoldenPass Express. The Original Tour is eight days, seven nights or more. Scenic rides include Luzern–Interlaken Express, GoldenPass Express, Visp–Zermatt, Glacier Express, Bernina Express, Gotthard Panorama Express or Treno Gottardo, Voralpen-Express, and the Lake Line. Destinations include Zurich, Interlaken, Montreux, Zermatt, Chur, St. Moritz, Lugano, Lucerne, St. Gallen, and Schaffhausen.

The package can be customized to include mountain excursions in the Jungfrau Region as well. For example, travelers can ride the train from Interlaken to Grindelwald in about 33 minutes, and ride the Eiger Express cable car in 15 minutes to the Eiger Glacier station, and a Jungfrau Railway cogwheel train to Jungfraujoch, known as the Top of Europe, home to the highest railway station in Europe. www.myswitzerland.com