I had purchased our interrail passes all the way back in November to take advantage of a 25% discount, reducing four-days-in-a-month first class tickets to just €269 per person. Valid for a year, I had imagined we would use them for a Lupine race, but ultimately we forged our own path, concentrating almost entirely on Switzerland. We easily got our money’s worth, racking up thirteen trains in total: as before, I’ve picked out three favourites.
Luzern to Locarno: the Treno Gottardo
This one is a bit of a cheat, revisiting the train I declared to be my absolute highlight of the Albanian Connection. It doesn’t quite claim that spot this time around, but only because of stronger competition – it easily lived up to my memories. Departing from Luzern instead of Zurich has little impact on the journey time or experience, as from Arth-Goldau (about half an hour along the line) the route is identical. Continuing on to Locarno adds only six minutes from Tenero, but as that segment runs along the shore of Lake Maggiore, it’s a great addition.
We also travelled on the same equipment as I’d experienced from Zurich – one of the spacious and modern Traverso trains. Despite a lack of reservations, on boarding at Luzern we were able to settle in to a facing solo pair of seats. Travelling on a Monday afternoon, however, the passenger load remained light enough that I was able to switch from one side of the carriage to the other depending on which panoramic window was offering up the better views (although I had no more luck this time in my attempts to capture a decent photo of the wonderful alpine landscape speeding by).
Locarno to Domodossola: the Centovalli Railway
Although Bern and Locarno were immediate additions to our itinerary, I had originally planned not to plan the rest – recreating the freedom of previous trips by arming ourselves with just the interrail passes and a final destination (and a deadline in the shape of a flight home).
Ultimately, I lost my nerve – watching accommodation prices steadily climb, and becoming increasingly sure that I’d want a stop in Interlaken, I went ahead and booked a hotel there a few days before we left the UK. However, I left our route undecided until our last night in Locarno. Both google and the rail planner app wanted us to backtrack – at least to Luzern, potentially all the way to Bern. But I found another way across – or rather, under – the Alps: the Simplon tunnel. To use it, we’d take a detour into Italy, on the Centovalli line.
This is far from a luxury train – in fact, it’s more of a tram, running on narrow gauge tracks and with just a pair of carriages. Seats -even in first class – are basic, and there’s no air-conditioning (other than a breeze through the windows). Nor is it fast, taking almost two hours to cover just 30 miles. Despite all this, there is a surcharge for interrail passengers – although at €1.50 per person, it won’t make much difference to the budget of a Swiss holiday…
So why take this option? The clue is in the name – Centovalli translates to ‘one hundred valleys’, navigated via a similar number of bridges and dozens of tunnels. The lack of speed is a feature, not a flaw, offering more time to enjoy the scenery. The line follows the Melezza river to the Italian border, runs through villages scattered along a mountain valley, and concludes with a dramatic switchback descent to the Toce plain and Domodossola. From there you can take a quick shuttle service to Brig, with connections onwards to elsewhere in Switzerland (for us, Interlaken via Spiez). Definitely a link to keep in mind if you want to build a rail loop of the country, even though you’ll briefly venture out of it!
Interlaken to Montreux: the Goldenpass Express
Part of my motivation in heading to Interlaken was the hope of achieving something special for our last interrail day: a ride on the Goldenpass Express. As with the journeys above, this would be a deliberately slower sight-seeing choice – its route to Montreux via Zweisimmen and Gstaad taking an extra hour compared to the fastest options. Along the way, some recently-developed technical wizardry enables the train to switch gauge, height, and power system without stopping; allowing passengers to enjoy the comforts on board without interruption.
The catch was I couldn’t be certain we’d even get on… As a dedicated tourist service, one of Switzerland’s five premium panoramic trains, reservations are recommended – but seemingly had sold out months earlier. I had read that some last-minute seats remain available on the day, so by joining at the start station Interlaken Ost I hoped we’d be well-placed to claim them.
That worked out perfectly: arriving at the platform 20 minutes early, we were the first aboard and secured the jackpot: a facing pair of solo seats on the right hand side – offering the best views for a westbound ride. To be honest, I needn’t have worried – our first class carriage didn’t fill until Château-d’Oex, some two hours later.
This might be the fanciest train I’ve ever travelled on – certainly, it’s the first to offer caviar as part of the onboard catering! – and after a week of stunning Swiss landscapes, it somehow managed to excel on that front too. It follows the Thunersee as far as Spiez – a repeat for us, but with far clearer views than on the German ICE that had delivered us to Interlaken – before turning inland for the steady climb to Gstaad, over a kilometre above sea level. From there it follows the Saane river across the canton of Vaud through the Pays-d’Enhaut nature park, before a final dive through vineyards to Montreux on Lake Geneva. Switzerland in a nutshell, and an instant recommendation from me!
