Yorkshire to Switzerland by eastwestdivide

[eastwestdivide]

Last summer, I took myself off to Switzerland, mostly for watching the trains. Here's a report...

Day one

Bus into town, as it was raining very hard, and the first 4-wheeler of the week (thanks Northern) into Sheffield. Shared a table on the London train with a lady in her 80s going to see family S of London, who was impressed by the international journeys of her two fellow-travellers, me to Switzerland and a woman going to Frankfurt to pick up the overnight sleeper to Scandinavia because she doesn't like flying. Sarnies on the train, and tea.
Nice burger at St Pancras, before my rucksack prompted the security staff to have a look inside - all very polite and pleasant - but I still don't know what triggered the search. Away on the Eurostar, brief sun at Calais, downpour beyond Lille to Brussels.
Salmon broccoli pizza in the station as it was pouring with rain, and a 1h30 wait, during which I gave directions to someone (I must look like a local, as this often happens), and spotted the various adverts for the London Olympics.

On time departure on the Thalys to Cologne. Everything's red on these trains - really oppressive colour scheme. Sunny by Liege, with its impressive station roof, and on into Germany, right on time at Cologne, for my hotel, 2 mins from station on a quiet back road.
Quick look round the station in the evening, where among the S-Bahn departures announced for later was the sleeper for Warsaw and Prague.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Day 2

Up bright and early for a hearty breakfast, in good time for the 0853 EC7 train (Hamburg-Chur), which I'm taking as far as Basel, despite my destination being Chur. Don't want to spend all day on one train. Stocked up at Crobag - croissants etc.

Comfy Swiss international stock, four seats to myself. Rhine gorge excellent, but tricky photos due to the sun, which disappeared after Bingen. Coffee from the trolley "Caddy-Service" after Mainz. More glimpses of the Rhine, with lots of freight traffic, both water and rail.

Into Basel on time, and shuffle the contents of my wallet for Swiss Francs. Twisty brot thing pretzel, and mango yogurt drink from Migros supermarket in the station, and then upstairs on the Inter City to Chur:

where one coach has a play area including a slide for kids:

Rainy but bright and warm. and after Zurich, the train's getting busy for first time today. Nice and scenic along the lake and round to Landquart:

Then into Chur nicely on time.
Checked in to traditional hotel, and out for photos of the Arosa train running through the streets, including one with cement wagons tacked onto the back of a 3-car Allegra EMU.

Dinner of Spargelravioli, Spinat + Bärlauchbutter in hotel. I'll leave you to google the translation.
Minor disaster - unpacking, discovered I'd left my soap dish (and soap) in the hotel in Cologne. After deciding that Seifedose was the best translation I could manage, a quick email to the hotel from my phone saying that I'd be back through in a week, and I got a reply saying we'll keep it for you. Luckily, hotels normally give you some kind of soap in their bathrooms, so no stink at breakfast.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Day three

Heavy rain overnight in Chur clearing in time for an early steam train (I was asked for directions again, while wandering round looking for vantage points), stocked up on bread and cheese from Migros. I'd already booked the week when I discovered that the RhB steam special was running, one of only two runs that summer, so lucked out there.

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(the electric is painted up with the Landwasser viaduct)

Then the 1008 train to Arosa, aiming for photos round the Langwies viaduct. Here's some video through the Chur street section.
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It just climbs and climbs up the side of the valley. Off at Langwies intending to walk on to Arosa but turned back for rain which then promptly stopped as I got back to Langwies. My train was again an Allegra EMU, but this time towing a 1st class coach for a reserved party of choral singers.

Train to Arosa, walk down to Litzirüti, past this hairpin bend (spot the train in the distance)

by which time the sun was out and hot enough to prompt a beer at Litzirüti station. Many places were closed between the skiing and summer seasons. Walked on to Langwies, caught the sun on my forehead. Oops.

Train back to Chur, and into the booking office to arrange my supplementary ticket for tomorrow - I was using an Interrail for the stretches to/from Germany-Switzerland, and for some journeys in Switzerland, but tomorrow's train required a supplement. This was first of these that the man in the ticket office had sold that summer, so I explained in my best German I already had a ticket and just needed a supplement. After much swivelling of screens and looking at websites, all sorted. He actually thanked me for not being in a hurry, as he now knew what he had to do throughout the summer.
Dinner in hotel again, gnocchi and coffee ice cream, followed by a bizarre French TV tribute to Bob Dylan with Brian Ferry and Carla Bruni duetting. More rain overnight.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Day four

Yesterday's booking was for the Crocodile-hauled museum train - some of the same 4-wheelers as were on yesterday's steam train, plus the Aussichtswagen - a carriage open to the elements. 0923 departure in the open carriage... rain overnight now turned to just showers but too cold with the wind to stay in the open carriage, so I had to keep wandering off for a warm-up. Not crowded at all. There were two other blokes, who I overheard speaking Spanish. Using three sevenths of my Spanish vocabulary* (no hablo español), I discovered they were a father and son who met up there to go on the train, and the son lived in UK, speaking pretty good English. They'd come prepared, with great big puffa jackets. I videoed the inter-carriage connections, which took a bit of getting used to.

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And here, coming in to Tiefencastel
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over the Landwasser viaduct:

and onwards up to Preda:

Off the train at Preda, to walk down to Bergün, chatting to a German rail fan on the way. The line gains height by spiralling including spiral tunnels. Quite hard to give a good impression, but I'll do my best: this train has just come up in the foreground from bottom left, then gone out of the picture to the right, done a hard left spiral through a tunnel to come out where you see it now:

And the Crocodile coming back down

Back into Bergün for a quick look at the new rail museum there, not many big exhibits, but not bad. Met some Brummies, who were looking forward to the freight running tomorrow (today being a Sunday). Food and drink including Darjeeling tea in their cafe. Presumably as a mountain railway, they've got an affinity with the Indian Darjeeling line! Then back on the Crocodile to Filisur and change trains.

The Brummies on the back:

My train to Davos...

...for a round the houses route home. Davos was all concrete buildings and dead quiet at 1745 on a Sun. Currywurst from a fair - the only place open. Local train back to Chur, basic but comfy:

arriving 1938, and ham and spargel roll and beer to top up. Rain again in the evening as I got off the train, after a fine day, despite the rainy start and cold in the open carriage in the morning. Lucky really.

*The remainder is "dos cervezas por favor".

 

[eastwestdivide]

Day five


Plan A for the 0758 train from Chur to Alp Grüm abandoned due to a headache. Late breakfast, slow start, wander round Chur in the sunshine. Saw a model Allegra EMU in a shop for CHF749, or way over £500. Also a travel agent advert for a trip to Scotland "on the trail of Harry Potter":

Plan B, to the Landwasser viaduct, on the 1058 from Chur to Filisur, passing this shunter, which I can only describe as "cute", at Reichenau-Tamins:

Arrived at Filisur, ice cream and a walk to the Landwasser viaduct first viewpoint. Two German couples came along an hour later, not a bad chat, half in English half in German. Comedy moment with one couple, who were taking photos of each other with the viaduct in the background. I asked if they wanted me to take a photo of them together - simultaneously, she said yes and he said no.

video attempting to put the viaduct in context with the surrounding lansdcape:
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Freight! Hope the Brummies were happy

Back to the station for Filisurer Hirschwurst + Tee (Filisur venison sausage and tea). While waiting for the sausage, another freight:

Took my Birnekuchen (pear cake) to the other viewpoint. Some rain now, but warm, especially going uphill. Standing with my umbrella over me and the camera...

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Note the freight wagon on the back, not at all uncommon on the RhB. The coach at the front is a Gourmino dining car.

One of the portions of the Glacier Express, its panoramic coaches having windows in the roof:

and a quick photo under the viaduct:

It really is a huge construction, and yet it's dwarfed by the surrounding mountains.

Then back to the station for yet another tea, and the 1701 back to Chur.

Looking for a present for my other half, I decided that a chocolate marmot would be good, but the woman in the posh chocolate shop just laughed when I asked for Murmeltier aus Schokolade. Ate in the hotel again - local produce, and very nice indeed.

 

[Cab2Cab]

Hi,

I bet you was up all night putting that together, nice work.

I was in Switzerland last year and did the glacier express from st Moritz to Zermatt (7 hours) and did all the connections to and from the airport at Zurich by rail. Them double decker trains are fab and great viewing platforms for the swiss scenery.

I wanted to do the glacier express from Chur to Zermatt cut the journey time down a bit, but our lass wanted 3 days in st Moritz :cry:, got conned into that one. Moritz has got all these top name designer shops on the high street, it's literally like taking your dog for a walk stopping and sniffing at every lampost.

But apart from that the rail system is fantastic and nice to see all the railfreight hubs for each town, (the swiss speedlink and mixed freight services)

 

[eastwestdivide]

Day six

Check out of Chur for the journey to Brig via the Oberalppass, on the route of the Glacier Express, but travelling in local trains with opening windows. On the 0856 to Disentis/Mustér, announcements in German and Rumantsch:

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and a quick change to an MGB train at 1014 via Sedrun, where there's a worksite for the Gotthard base tunnel (in Rumantsch)...

...up the rack section to the summit, Oberalppass, where there was snow, a part-frozen lake (in June) and a Dutch lighthouse at the source of the Rhine (2048 m asl). Those crazy Dutch put it there as a thankyou to the Swiss people for looking after the Rhine for them. (Thanks to a fellow passenger for pointing it out, as it's not obvious going in that direction.

Downhill steeply on another rack section into clouds to Andermatt. Weather foul so coffee and apfelstrudel in the station cafe. No wonder the rail workers wear these natty Alpine hats:

The poster on the right is advertising a yodelling festival. I didn't go.

Then the 1137 onwards from Andermatt to Brig, passing the car shuttle service at Oberwald (remember this is all metre-gauge). These save motorists a hard drive over the Alpine passes.

The MGB local trains are odd, powered by a cross between a loco and a luggage van, which was in the middle of my train.

Rain finally stopped as the train headed down the Rhone valley to Brig. Checked in to my hotel 1345. I'd intended to hang around Andermatt for some photos, but the weather was against it, so had time on my hands. Now what? Interrail to the rescue with the 1428 whizzing down the Rhone to Montreux by the Lake Geneva shoreline, passing the St Bernard train at Martigny on the way.

Watched a storm coming up the lake...

...then scuttled off for tea in a Montreux tearoom - seemed appropriate for such an elegant lakeside town. Confused myself and everyone else by speaking German, as of course it's the French part of Switzerland there. Back to Brig, dinner pizza prosciutto in a genuine Italian resturant (Italy's only a tunnel away from Brig).

 

[eastwestdivide]

Hi,

I bet you was up all night putting that together, nice work.

Well, most of the morning, but thanks. I'd done a lot of the write-up for myself earlier, and just embellished it a bit here. Still a little bit to come.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Day seven

Starting to make my way home...

Checked out of Brig for the 0836 Brig-Kandersteg BLS EMU, up the steep Lötschberg line looking down over the Rhone valley. Really feels like you're taking off in an aircraft.

Quick look at Kandersteg village, full of English hikers, and quite traditional Swiss buildings. Back to the station, where there's another car shuttle service operating.

Next hour's train on to Bern via Lake Thun. Amused by a Windows error message on the in-train info screen:

Spitty rain again. Bern looks nice except the station's underground like Birmingham New St. Onwards to Basel, after only a 15 min wait.
At Basel, picked up supermarket rolls and cheese for the train, the 1312 ICE, which was almost empty, as far as Mannheim, where I changed trains. Currywurst to tide me over, and saw the late running Paris-Moscow sleeper call, running 50 mins late with 2400km still to go:

Then the 1608 IC118 back up the Rhine to Cologne. Loco-hauled compartment stock! Loads of freight on both banks of the Rhine, such as:

Chatted half in English half in German with a rugby-playing German, who thought I might be Dutch from my accent, and when he realised I was English, asked about the UK's rail franchising system, compared to the concessions system in Germany.
Pretty rainy, enough to cause Verspäterungen. Back to Cologne a bit late, and checked back in to the same family hotel as day one.
Snacks in station, and a slightly disturbed night in the hotel, due to noisy football fans watching Germany beat the Netherlands. On the plus side, I picked up my soap dish after its week's holiday in Cologne.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Day eight

Repeat of day one in reverse really. Check out of Cologne, pics of the Rhine bridge with all the locks. Snacks in station for the 1143 ICE to Brussels. Among the drinks on offer in bakery stall was a Cokkie-Shake, which I took to be a milkshake with bits of cookie in it, but I wasn't going to try it to find out.
The roof at Liege:

Transfer at Brussels to the Eurostar, all on time, moderately full, as was ICE. Olympic rings on the channel tunnel portal, and back to England.


In summary: "Such Fun!"
The advance planning made it work, all the way from timetables, to bookings, to sussing out photo locations, and even loading Swiss map extracts of the photo locations onto my phone.
I'd recommend staying in one place for a few days, as moving on every day means you're always travelling with all your belongings.
Was it expensive? Well I didn't do it on the cheap, but it wasn't ridiculous. By supermarket snacking, you can cut the cost down a bit, and I got some bargains on the hotels.
Being able to speak a bit of German helped a lot, as the Swiss seem to be able to switch from their own impenetrable version of German to something more standard when they realise you're not Swiss.

Grützi!

 

[Techniquest]

That was a most enjoyable read, the photos made it much more real. Some stunning scenery there, definitely worth popping over there one day.

Know what you mean about travelling around with your possessions by staying in different places every day, but to be honest even if I'm in one hotel room for two nights in a row I still tend to take all my stuff with me. Just feel more secure that way.

Thanks for sharing it with us

 

[Greenback]

That was a very good read, and very useful for me as we are going to spend a few days in Switzerland very soon!

 

[Oscar]

Being able to speak a bit of German helped a lot, as the Swiss seem to be able to switch from their own impenetrable version of German to something more standard when they realise you're not Swiss.

Grützi!

Standard German is the written language and language of education so the Swiss have ample opportunities to learn and practise it.

Graubünden in particular is a fantastic place for trains. It's a shame you didn't fit in the Berninabahn.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Standard German is the written language and language of education so the Swiss have ample opportunities to learn and practise it.

Graubünden in particular is a fantastic place for trains. It's a shame you didn't fit in the Berninabahn.

Yes, it's the instant switch that gets me - you can be overhearing someone's conversation and getting maybe one word in ten, then when you speak to them, it all becomes clear.

Bernina all the way maybe next year - there's only so much you can do.

 

[Lee_Again]

Another excellent trip report. Sounds/looks like you a had an excellent time. Very jealous.

This part of the forum has really taken off in recent weeks. Let's hope that continues.