Glacier Express and the Engadin
Six days across Switzerland by narrow gauge: Zermatt to St Moritz, then the Bernina line to the Italian border.
Rail Journey · 6 days · Jan, Feb, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Dec
The Glacier Express is sold as an eight-hour panoramic window and left at that, which is a shame because the two ends of it are the interesting part and the line it connects to at St Moritz is better than the train itself. This does Zermatt first, takes the whole traverse, then puts two nights in the Engadin so the Bernina line - the steepest adhesion railway in the world, and a World Heritage site - is a day rather than a connection. No car for the whole week, which in this country is a feature.
Day by day
- Day 1
Up to Zermatt
Three and a half hours from Zurich, the last of it on the cog railway from Tasch.
15:00Zermatt village and the Kirchbrucke
The bridge in the middle of the village frames the Matterhorn straight up the valley, and the mountaineers' cemetery beside the church is a sobering companion piece.
Cars stop at Tasch and the shuttle train takes twelve minutes. Electric taxis only in the village.
17:00Sunnegga and the Leisee
A small lake at 2,300 metres that holds the Matterhorn's reflection when the wind drops, and the easiest high ground to reach on an arrival evening.
An underground funicular from the village, three minutes. Last descent is earlier than you expect.
- Day 2
Gornergrat
The best mountain railway in the country, and a glacier system you can walk beside.
08:00Gornergrat railway
Thirty-three minutes to 3,089 metres, with twenty-nine peaks over 4,000 metres visible from the terrace and the Gorner glacier below it.
Sit on the right going up. It runs year-round and has done since 1898.
12:00Riffelberg to Riffelalp on foot
The Riffelsee is the reflection photograph everyone has seen, and walking down means you get it without the crowd that came up for it.
Downhill on a marked path, about two hours, with the Riffelsee on the way. Rejoin the train at any station.
- Day 3
The Glacier Express
Eight hours, 291 bridges and 91 tunnels, across the middle of the country.
08:50Zermatt to St Moritz
It calls itself the slowest express in the world and earns it: the Oberalp Pass at 2,033 metres, the Rhine gorge, and the Landwasser viaduct into the cliff face.
Seat reservation is compulsory and separate from the rail pass. Lunch is served at your seat and should be pre-booked.
- Day 4
The Bernina line
The World Heritage railway, from glaciers to palm trees in two and a half hours.
08:30Bernina Express to Tirano
2,253 metres at Ospizio Bernina down to 429 at Tirano, on adhesion alone, past the Morteratsch glacier and round the Brusio spiral viaduct.
No rack and no cog anywhere on the line. Take your passport; Tirano is in Italy.
13:00Tirano and the Brusio spiral
An open circular viaduct built to lose height where the valley gave no room, and the train runs across the road in the middle of Tirano to reach the Italian station.
You can walk to the viaduct from Brusio station in about fifteen minutes and watch a train come round it.
- Day 5
The Engadin on foot
A glacier valley and a chain of lakes, both reachable from the same train line.
09:00Morteratsch glacier trail
The path follows ground the ice covered within living memory, and the year-markers are the clearest illustration of glacial retreat anywhere in the Alps.
The station is on the Bernina line. Flat and easy; markers along the path show the glacier's retreat by year.
15:00Muottas Muragl and the Engadin lakes
The whole upper Engadin from 2,456 metres, with all four lakes lined up along the valley floor toward Maloja.
Funicular up, and the panorama trail to Alp Languard is a two-hour balcony path back down.
- Day 6
Sils and out
A last morning on the lakes, then the Albula line north or the road south to Milan.
09:30Sils Maria and the Chaste peninsula
A wooded spit between two lakes where Nietzsche spent seven summers writing, and the light in this valley is the reason painters kept coming back.
Nietzsche's house in the village is a small museum. The peninsula walk is flat and takes about an hour.
13:30Segantini Museum, St Moritz
The Alpine triptych is here, unfinished when he died at 2,700 metres, and it is the best possible last look at the landscape you have spent the week crossing.
Small, and closed between seasons. Check before making the walk up.
Questions
- How long is the Glacier Express and the Engadin itinerary?
- The Glacier Express and the Engadin itinerary runs 6 days and covers 11 stops across Zermatt, St Moritz, Pontresina, Tirano.
- When is the best time to do the Glacier Express and the Engadin itinerary?
- Jan, Feb, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Dec is the best window for the Glacier Express and the Engadin itinerary.
- What happens on day one of the Glacier Express and the Engadin itinerary?
- Day one is up to zermatt: Three and a half hours from Zurich, the last of it on the cog railway from Tasch.
Sources
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