Glacier Express

Brian and I leave today for the Glacier Express, a trip that we have been talking about for months!! The trip promises amazing panoramic views through the Swiss Alps, so we wait in anticipation of something magical on the train from Bern to Visp, where we will pick up the glacier express train.

Our first stop on the way to Visp was Thun (no major views), but at Spiez we saw glimpses of Lake Thun – it was just so beautiful and idyllic. We also caught a brief glimpse of Interlaken before the train disappeared under a tunnel. We emerged to the sight of snow covered mountains. The guidebooks barely mention Visp, but we walk around anyway when we arrive. It is unspectacular by Swiss standards, although there were some nice mountain views and a cute downtown area with cobble stoned streets.

At 11:06 AM, we board our train to St. Moritz and head off for our amazing experience. OMG! It is so beautiful. We are in absolute shock. There is one spectacular view after another as we make our way into the mountains. It’s everything you expect from a Swiss landscape, and more! We are not disappointed. I am so caught up in the scenery I forgot to mention that we immediately ordered champagne and toasted to our journey, actually we toasted to the Fed for giving us this opportunity 

Brian is sulking that there is no anti-glare on the windows. I hope we are getting good pictures as words would definitely not do these views much justice. I’ll hand over the journal to Brian as I drink in the scenery around me.

As we get closer to Andermatt, the glare of the sun reflecting off the snow becomes brighter and brighter. The sun feels warm inside our train car, but outside the snow practically envelops the small houses by the side of the tracks. We slowly wind our way towards Oberalpass, admiring the rugged, snow-swept landscape while dining comfortably on our three course meal. It looks so uninhabitable up here. I notice avalanche barriers protecting the route along the way – but I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or worse!

A little over two hours into our journey, we reach Oberalpass (2,033m) – the highest point of on our trip – at which point we start to descend along the Rhein River towards Chur (585m) in eastern Switzerland. I head to the back of the train to take some pictures and video. Along the way to Chur, we pass the towns of Disentis (1,130m), Trun, and Ilanz. The train stops for 20 minutes at Disentis to change engines, which provides us an opportunity to stretch our legs. I take some pictures in the valley between Trun and Ilanz before we pass through the Rhine Gorge (a.k.a. “Swiss Grand Canyon”) and the town of Reichenau. We finally reach Chur – the oldest town in Switzerland – four and half hours into our journey. We didn’t see much from the train car, but the surrounding region was apparently the inspiration for famous Heidi character.

After Chur, we head south towards Thusis and Tiefencastel, which took as through the “land of castles” and over the Via Mala gorge (the “bad road”). At this point, we had seen so much and traveled so far that our heads started to nod. But even the weariest traveler would awaken for what was in store: the last leg of our journey took us deep into the Alpine mountains of the Oberegadin (Upper Engadine) region, which includes the most photographed attraction on the Glacier Express. This winding, scenic leg of our voyage took us past the mineral spas near Filsur – followed by the picturesque Alpine villages of Burgun and Preda – before finally arriving in St. Moritz. Overall, it was an amazing journey that lived up to its reputation as being the most remarkable and breathtaking railway trips in all of Switzerland, if not the world.

Exhausted and weary from full day of sitting on our ass and eating, we summoned the courage to venture out for a fondue dinner for two at Engiadina after we checked into our hotel. Then we dulled the pain with a few drinks at the hotel bar before retiring for the night.