If you have something against a vacation where you see everything from a bus window, try seeing Switzerland from a train window! If you are good on foot and like to travel at your own pace, then train travel is the way to go.
Start in Zurich, Switzerland's financial hub. The Hotel Widder in the oldest part of Zurich or the Bauer au Lac on the lake are good places to hang your hat if you have a fat wallet. Expensive, but less than the latter, is the Hotel Haus zum Kindli in the old town. Best bet for the least amount of Swiss francs is the Moevenpick Hotel at the airport. Its shuttle takes you to the airport in minutes from where you can catch the train to downtown Zurich every 10 or 15 minutes. Do take a day to poke around Zurich, it's a very walkable city.
After Zurich take a train to Lucerne. But don’t stay in Lucerne. Although it’s a pretty town, it’s also the tour bus capital of Switzerland. Instead take a boat from the train station to Vitznau (the boats are run by the Swiss train system). An hour’s cruise among breathtaking scenery will bring you to this tiny resort town.
Where to stay?
Three hotels here are worth considering. First, there’s the turreted, creamy white Grand Hotel Vitznau, where the prices match its five stars. Then there is the charming Hotel Vitznauerhof, a red-and-white-shuttered Victorian situated next to the boat landing. The chocolate croissants for breakfast are worth the stay itself, and the prices won't sent you to the poorhouse. Lastly there is the Hotel Floralpina, with a spectacular setting on a hillside above the lake. It's the least expensive of the three, but it oozes Swiss charm, and oh, that view!
Give yourself a few days in Vitzau, for you’ll want to take a cruise on the lake to Fluehelen on the south end, the most stunning section of the lake as far as the scenery goes. On the return you can get off at Brunnen and return to Vitznau via Schwyz, the town that gave the country its name, and the little village of Einsiedeln, where you not only find elaborately painted houses, but also its famous and gorgeous 17th century Roccoco pilgrimage church.
Or take a day to go by boat and narrow gage train to Engleberg, a resort high in the mountains above the lake. You will probably want to spend a day among the tour bus crowds in Lucerne itself, which is quite okay. On your return to Vitznau in the afternoon, take the little red train of the Rigibahn to the top of the Rigi which is barely above timberline and blanketed with fragrant meadows where wildflowers grow in abundance and Swiss cows graze. Your Swiss Pass offers discounts.
On the way down you can get off at Rigi Kaltbad and have a gourmet dinner at the Hotel Bergsonne where the view sweeps over what seems all of Switzeralnd. Not cheap but worth every delicious bite.
When you leave Vitznau, return by boat to Lucerne, then travel aboard the Bruening-Meiringen Railroad to Interlaken. The scenery is beyond spectacular and you can hang out the open windows to admire it all. In Interlaken, change to the Berner Oberalp Bahn to indulge in more scenic spectacles as the train climbs to Grindelwald at the foot of the Eiger. (Remember Clint Eastwood chasing villains in The Eiger Sanction?)
Grindelwald hotels include the Grand Hotel Regina (requires coat and tie for dinner), the lovely Schweizerhof, a sun-burned, red-shuttered Swiss chalet, and the attractive Hotel Alpenrose, set in a meadow above the train station. Prices correspond to the order they’re listed.
Plan on staying!
You need to plan at least three days in Grindelwald – one day to ascend the Jungfrau (a must for tourists, but not our first choice), another to visit less touristy Muerren, set on a sunny plateau a few thousand feet above a narrow valley. From Muerren you can take two cable cars to the Schilthorn where, on a clear day, you can see no fewer than 400 alpine peaks.
On another day take the postal bus from Grindelwald to the Kleine Scheidegg, even more away from tourists than Muerren. Here you can walk among lush meadows towered over by craggy granite peaks. You can walk back to Grindelwald if you want, or plan to have lunch in the alpine hut at the Kleine Scheidegg.
After Muerren head for Zermatt, taking the train back to Interlaken then change to a trans-alpine express train that will take you via the Loetschberg to Brig. From there you take the Zermatt Bahn to Zermatt. Yes, bus groups go there too, but most for no more than a token look. Plan three nights there. If the day is clear when you arrive, you will be overwhelmed by the Matterhorn which rises high above the village. Look for the electric buggy from your hotel in front of the station to take you to the hotel. Zermatt is traffic free – no cars allowed; only the trash truck!
By all means book the Hotel Eden where your balconied room looks out onto the Matterhorn (request the third or fourth floor). You can spend your days riding mountain trams to alpine peaks. Skip the Gornergrat train which is similar to the Jungfrau and equally packed with camera-laden tourists. Instead take the cable car to the Schwarzsee, where you will find yourself at the very base of the Matterhorn. You can walk down to a little lake in a mountain meadow where the chapel of Our Lady of the Snows once stood and is still a stop for climbers en route to ascend the Matterhorn.
For a thrill take the cable car to Trockener Steg and another one to the Little Matterhorn, at 12,000 feet the highest tram station in the Alps. (Make sure your ticker is in good working order!) From the top you will look down into Italy and the Italian side of the Matterhorn. You can also walk deep into a glacier, which is as good a thrill as you can find almost anywhere.
Another fine outing is to the Sunegga to have lunch on the terrace of a mountain restaurant with knock-out views of the Matterhorn. Plan to walk down from one or two of these places (with the exception of the little Matterhorn, where you find yourself in a world of ice and snow.) In town do not miss the Alpine Museum which displays the history of Zermatt and the tragic first climb of the Matterhorn. Plan a meal at the cozy Wimperstube in the Seiler Hotel where Edward Whymper and his companions ate before their fatal climb of the Matterhorn in 1865.
If you have money to burn, eat at Enzo-Vrony, feasting on haute cuisine Zermatt style. If you are on a budget the Schwyzer Stuebli in the Hotel Schweizerhof serves good, hearty meals while a Swiss trio entertains you. Two dishes you must try are Alplermacaroni, (put the applesauce served with it on top of your macaroni if you don't want to look like a tourist). The other is Raclette, boiled potatoes with melted cheese; order a crisp white Valiser with this typical old farmers dish.
When the time comes to leave Zermatt, take the Glacier Express to Chur. You must have advance reservations on this train. You also must make reservations for the dining car. The food aboard the train is ausgezeichnet (exquisite; perfect) and having a meal while the train passes over the 2,000-meter-high (6,600 feet) Oberalp Pass is as good as it gets.
Nestling in Chur
Make Chur your abode for a couple of days. You can choose between the congenial and modern ABC Hotel across from the train station and the more tradition Hotel Stern at the edge of Chur's old town. If you ask, the Hotel Stern will pick you up at the station in its 1933 Buick. Both hotels are in the medium price range (that is in the 200-or-so Swiss francs).
Chur is not touristy – it’s very old – but it also has some of the classiest designer shops in Switzerland. It was founded by a hermit monk in the 6th century who preached Christianity to the wild Raethians who inhabited this area. The local language is Romansh, a Latin dialect that is the forth official language of Switzerland (French, German and Italian are the others). And do try the local Grischun cuisine; it's different from anything else you’ll find in Switzerland. The Hotel Stern is one of the best places in town for this.
You can take one of your Chur days to visit the spa town of Bad Ragaz, a 15-minute train ride from Chur, where you can soak in the hot water of the Dorfbad, the first spa facility in Ragaz to open to the public. You can also take a bus or horse-drawn carriage to the old spa of Bad Pfeffers at the end of a narrow canyon where you can walk into a deep and dark gorge to the spring that supplies the spa’s hot mineral water.
And do take the little train to the high alpine resort of Arosa, an hour’s ride from Chur. In Arosa take the local bus to its terminal on either side of town, where you will find yourself in scenery straight out of Heidi.
Across the Alps to Italy
While in Chur, also take the Bernina Express to Tirano in Italy. The train climbs through tunnels and over viaducts, and beneath glacier-crusted peaks to the 2,000-meter high (6,600 feet) Bernina Pass, then drops in unending curves into the Valtellina, the Italian speaking region of Switzerland, before it arrives in Tirano. Spend the night at the Albergo Bernina in Tirano where the train ends. The inn is just across from the station and staying there won't bankrupt you. Eat there, too – the food is northern Italian and excellent.
In the afternoon explore the old center of Tirano with its narrow cobbled streets and 14th and 15th-century palaces where crumbling paintings decorate the aged walls. Have the hotel make a reservation(before you leave home) for a wine tasting and visit to the Palazzo Salis, a 14th- century palace owned by a Milan wine merchant.
The next morning, walk to the Sanctuary of Madonna di Tirano where it is said that the Virgin Mary appeared before the farmer Mario in 1504 and ask him to build a church. In return she would end the plague that ravished the Tirano. The church was built, the plague ended and ever since the Madonna di Tirano has been one of the most important and stunning pilgrimage churches in Italy.
On your walk back to the hotel pick up a bag of dried Porcini mushrooms which are a good buy and perhaps a chunk of Parmegiano Reggiano, the best Parmesan cheese in Italy. Have lunch at the Albergo Bernina before returning to Chur, where you’ll arrive in the evening. An overnight in Chur is necessary before returning to Zurich for your return flight home.
Your best bet: Buy a Swiss Rail Pass – a 14-day pass should do. Also important: travel light! Remember that you will have to get your luggage on and off the trains, and often up and down stairs, when you change trains. But if you love train travel, you can't do much better than “train-ing” in Switzerland.
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