Flying the long way to Europe to take the world's slowest express train (plus a wedding) - HCO

[elanshin]

I thought about Matterhorn this trip, but settled on more time in Geneva and Alps via Chamonix instead.

 

[PrezRegan]

After checking out, the Omnia very kindly organised the transfer of my bags to the next hotel, gave me a lift down, and helped with buying the tickets. Excellent service throughout, and in a car-free village that transfer is worth more than it sounds.

Then up to the Gornergrat. It's a cogwheel rack railway rather than a funicular - similar idea to the Scenic Railway in the Blue Mountains, though this one runs 9.3km and climbs to 3,089 metres, which makes it the second highest railway in Europe after the Jungfraujoch. Departures roughly every 20 to 25 minutes, about 33 minutes each way, and an eye-watering 132 CHF return.

The view on the way up is very good and worth sitting on the right hand side for. Saw a fair few walkers on the way - you can break the journey at any of the intermediate stations on the same ticket and walk a section - but we were short on time so went straight to the top.


Had lunch at one of the three restaurants up there, with a bit of a view. Food was okay, and quite expensive.


Spent about an hour up there all up, taking in the view. There's an interactive experience included in the ticket price, which in practice means sitting there with a VR headset on. Meant to come back down on the 1440 but there was an issue with the train, so everyone waited for the next one and went down on that instead.

Back down and checked into the Alpen Resort. Got upgraded for free, which was very welcome - the original booking was a single at about 14 square metres and they've put me in a double instead, which is much nicer and a decent size.

Checked out the gym, which is very limited. They do however have an expansive spa and wellness area, which seems to be common across the hotels here. I assume it's aimed at the post-ski crowd.

Dinner with a mate at Restaurant Julian. It was okay - and there's the trend. Outside the Omnia the food in Switzerland has consistently been expensive without being amazing. I suppose that's simply what you pay for here.

We split a Wiener schnitzel, a raclette and a lamb fondue. The fondue was the interesting one - it used a broth rather than cheese, and came with a collection of pickles and sauces, closer to a hot pot than anything. As I understand it cheese fondue is the one served with bread and vegetables, while meat fondue is either cooked in broth (fondue chinoise) or in oil (fondue bourguignonne). Neat concept and the meat was good, but not cheap. All up about 80 CHF a head.

Then laundry. There's a laundromat in town about 10 minutes from the hotel - which I only discovered existed while I was at dinner, and which turns out to be directly next door to the restaurant. So I walked 15 minutes back to the hotel to get my washing, then walked back into town to do it. 28 CHF all up for a wash and dry. For context the hotel offered to do the same load for 54 CHF.

While it ran I caught up with my mate for a drink at the Omnia, since he's still staying there and it was just up the road then collected the washing and headed back.

Transfer to the station organised for the morning and the Glacier Express. Breakfast is included in the rate but I'm not sure I'll bother - I suspect there'll be a lot of eating tomorrow.

 

[craven morehead]

Hello friends,

Another one. This time the anchor is a mate's wedding in Tunbridge Wells on 12 Sep - but the actual reason the trip looks like this is the Glacier Express. Everything elsewas built around getting to a train.

Booked as an Oneworld RTW for 365,800 QFF points plus taxes across 11 sectors. HCO again, obviously - 30 days out of my trusty July carry-on, a garment bag, and a backpack. I have cheated slightly because my mate (whose wedding it is) has agreed to take my uniform across but hey - he's the one who wanted a service wedding.

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10 cities — Chicago, London, Tunbridge Wells, Paris, Zermatt, Chur, Vienna, Budapest, Kraków and Dallas on the way home — and 14 hotels. I don't think I'll be slumming it on this one, but I am swapping between a few hotels just to compare them. Mostly Accor but also GHA, Hilton, and Radisson RED as well as some independents.

Some of the highlights:
- The Glacier Express, the Gornergrat cog railway and the UNESCO-listed Albula line, all inside two days
- Afternoon tea at the Ritz
- A day trip to Reims for the cathedral and a couple of the big Champagne houses
- The usual military history — Les Invalides, the coughnal in Vienna, the House of Terror in Budapest, the Polish Aviation Museum

And of course a few decent restaurants along the way. Keen to continue my comparison of Michelin restaurants around the world.

First flight is on a Dash-8 from Canberra... may not review the flight but we'll see how much time I have to kill in the flounge.

Here we go again

 

[PrezRegan]

The Glacier Express, St Moritz to Zermatt - except I did it the other way, Zermatt to St Moritz, on GEX 902. Excellence Class, carriage 21, seat 16.

Look, there's not much to say. It was amazing. The weather was truly stunning, the views were great throughout, the food and wine were good, and it's one of those things you just have to experience. Highly recommend.

Some detail for anyone considering it. Excellence Class is 20 seats in the whole carriage, a guaranteed window seat, and a surcharge of 540 CHF on top of a first class ticket. You get champagne and an aperitif platter on boarding, then a five course menu with a wine pairing per course, plus soft drinks, water, coffee and afternoon tea-time treats. There's a bar at one end and a concierge team who come through with commentary on what you're looking at.

Menu here: Glacier Express: Culinary Highlights Onboard

The wines are regional and genuinely well chosen rather than an afterthought. Two that stood out, both from Graubunden and both from villages within twenty minutes of Chur, which is where the train was heading. A Davaz Flascher Pinot Blanc 2025 - crisp, high acid, green apple and pear, and the pick of the day for me. And a Manfred Meier "Schiller" 2025 from Zizers, which isn't a normal rose at all - Schillerwein is a traditional Swiss style where red and white grapes are fermented together rather than the rose being pressed off red grapes, so it has real body and grip where a Provence rose has none.

Also got a martini from the bar for 15 CHF - it was well made.

High point of the route is the Oberalp Pass at just over 2,000 metres. The train runs at about 40km/h for most of the day, which is the entire point - it's billed as the world's slowest express train and it earns the title.

Eight hours and it did not drag once.

Interestingly there were two seats which I wasn't expecting as my mate had tried to book last minute and it said sold out. Let's just say it would have been a very expensive no show -they do make it clear there are no refunds - but hey you never know.

 

[PrezRegan]

And a separate post for a selection of highly reflective and out of focus pictures I took along the way. Honestly they just don't do them justice, the Swiss countryside is like nothing else, even the small towns you whizz past are amazing.

Also possibly not clear in the pics but the mountains are covered in red leaf from a berry plant - it makes them really colourful.