Swiss Holiday - Tips and Advice?

Sorcerer · 6 Jul 2026

Hey everyone. From the end of August to early September I am taking a week-long trip to Switzerland staying in Basel and plan to use the rail network for daytrips utilising a Swiss Travel Pass. Some trains I want to use in particular are the RABDe 500 ICN (IC51 to Lausanne/Biel-Bienne) as part of a daytrip to Lausanne and Geneva, the RABDe 503/ETR 610 (IC6 or IC61 for a day trip to Bern or Interlaken) and the RABe 501 Giruno (IC21 from Lugano).

Can anyone possibly also give me some helpful tips and travel advice for travelling on the Swiss network including (but not limited to) the use of the aforementioned rolling stock? Any tips and tricks in general will be greatly appreciated!

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30907 · 6 Jul 2026

This site, despite its dated look, is extremely useful.
https://www.reisezuege.ch/

thejuggler · 7 Jul 2026

Montreux is well worth a stop off. The fenicular from Territet to Gilon is a great trip. From Gilon you can get into the mountains on the narrow gauge system.

Bletchleyite · 7 Jul 2026

thejuggler said:
Montreux is well worth a stop off. The fenicular from Territet to Gilon is a great trip. From Gilon you can get into the mountains on the narrow gauge system.

I think you're mixing that up a bit. There's a Montreux-Glion-Caux standalone rack line (which is well worth a ride, be it starting from Glion or Montreux) but the main Montreux-Oberland Bernoise* narrow gauge system only connects to it at Montreux itself.

Vevey (Nestle-land) is worth a stop off, it's a charming little town.

To be honest, the whole route from Geneva through to Brig is in my view one of the most scenic lines anywhere. It was also the original Orient-Express route!

* I do find the mixed language in this curious - it's all a bit "Bayern Munich" - they seem to treat "Oberland" as a name rather than translating it, you'd almost expect it to be "Montreux-Berner Oberland" or "Montreux-Haute Berne" or something.

alistairlees · 7 Jul 2026

Sorcerer said:
Hey everyone. From the end of August to early September I am taking a week-long trip to Switzerland staying in Basel and plan to use the rail network for daytrips utilising a Swiss Travel Pass. Some trains I want to use in particular are the RABDe 500 ICN (IC51 to Lausanne/Biel-Bienne) as part of a daytrip to Lausanne and Geneva, the RABDe 503/ETR 610 (IC6 or IC61 for a day trip to Bern or Interlaken) and the RABe 501 Giruno (IC21 from Lugano).

Can anyone possibly also give me some helpful tips and travel advice for travelling on the Swiss network including (but not limited to) the use of the aforementioned rolling stock? Any tips and tricks in general will be greatly appreciated!

I'd recommend you fit in trips on:
- Goldenpass line from Spiez to Montreux. Stunning views coming down to Montreux, as well as generally. Gets busy though!
- Rigi from Arth Goldau and then down to Vitznau with a paddle steamer back to Luzern. Rigi is a very walkable mountain top, green and fairly level. Rigi is included in the pass - not many mountain railways are. 180 degree view of mountains to the south, and flatter borthern Europe to the north
- Brig to Andermatt on MGB. Most trains are still non-airconditioned with opening windows. It's a beautiful quiet valley and the trains are not crowded. Then Andermatt to Goschenen and back north.
- Chur to St Moritz or Arosa on RhB. Lots of stunning scenery

These are all quite doable in a day from Basel

Porty · 7 Jul 2026

alistairlees said:
I'd recommend you fit in trips on:
- Goldenpass line from Spiez to Montreux. Stunning views coming down to Montreux, as well as generally. Gets busy though!
- Rigi from Arth Goldau and then down to Vitznau with a paddle steamer back to Luzern. Rigi is a very walkable mountain top, green and fairly level. Rigi is included in the pass - not many mountain railways are. 180 degree view of mountains to the south, and flatter borthern Europe to the north
- Brig to Andermatt on MGB. Most trains are still non-airconditioned with opening windows. It's a beautiful quiet valley and the trains are not crowded. Then Andermatt to Goschenen and back north.
- Chur to St Moritz or Arosa on RhB. Lots of stunning scenery

These are all quite doable in a day from Basel

I'd echo the comments on Brig/Andermatt/Goschenen. The old Alpine route over the Gotthard via Goschenen, avoiding the base tunnel has an excellent quality of service yet was very quiet when I used it a couple of weeks ago. You could probably do a day trip from Basel down to Bellinzona or maybe even lakeside Locarno via Goschenen.

Sir Felix Pole · 7 Jul 2026

Zuerich is the other obvious day trip from Basel - impressive, busy Hbf. Interesting tram and trolleybus systems - you can admire the prices in the bars and restaurants too!

Farigiraf · 7 Jul 2026

Sorcerer said:
Hey everyone. From the end of August to early September I am taking a week-long trip to Switzerland staying in Basel and plan to use the rail network for daytrips utilising a Swiss Travel Pass. Some trains I want to use in particular are the RABDe 500 ICN (IC51 to Lausanne/Biel-Bienne) as part of a daytrip to Lausanne and Geneva, the RABDe 503/ETR 610 (IC6 or IC61 for a day trip to Bern or Interlaken) and the RABe 501 Giruno (IC21 from Lugano).

Can anyone possibly also give me some helpful tips and travel advice for travelling on the Swiss network including (but not limited to) the use of the aforementioned rolling stock? Any tips and tricks in general will be greatly appreciated!

As an extension from Interlaken, the Swiss Travel Pass is fully valid to Mürren via either the Grütschalp rail route or the Stechelberg cable car route. It's a standard car-free tourist town (though quieter than most of them in the Interlaken area) but the ride is really scenic. It's a fairly time-consuming day trip from Basel but certainly worth the time if Interlaken town itself isn't interesting enough for you.

ac6000cw · 7 Jul 2026

alistairlees said:
I'd recommend you fit in trips on:
- Goldenpass line from Spiez to Montreux. Stunning views coming down to Montreux, as well as generally. Gets busy though!
- Rigi from Arth Goldau and then down to Vitznau with a paddle steamer back to Luzern. Rigi is a very walkable mountain top, green and fairly level. Rigi is included in the pass - not many mountain railways are. 180 degree view of mountains to the south, and flatter borthern Europe to the north
- Brig to Andermatt on MGB. Most trains are still non-airconditioned with opening windows. It's a beautiful quiet valley and the trains are not crowded. Then Andermatt to Goschenen and back north.
- Chur to St Moritz or Arosa on RhB. Lots of stunning scenery

These are all quite doable in a day from Basel

++1 from me for all of those.

But really, in the mountain areas the scenery is fabulous almost everywhere. The main problems with visiting Switzerland are the prices (ouch) and not wanting to leave at the end of the trip...

Re. prices - it can be significantly cheaper to eat out at lunchtime than in the evening, and prime tourist spots are inevitably expensive (the Swiss have been catering to tourists for a very long time - they do it very well, but you do pay for it).

The exile · 7 Jul 2026

ac6000cw said:
++1 from me for all of those.

But really, in the mountain areas the scenery is fabulous almost everywhere. The main problems with visiting Switzerland are the prices (ouch) and not wanting to leave at the end of the trip...

but not being able to afford to stay!

Sorcerer · 7 Jul 2026

Thanks everyone for the tips so far! The itinerary includes the GoldenPass and Glacier Express but I didn't have which stops in mind, so I will certainly consider some of the destinations given to me. The Rigi is a particularly interesting suggestion and one I will definitely look into squeezing in! Lugano's funicular is also on the agenda as well as the chance to use both Gotthard routes. As for prices, well, let me just say that that I've seen hotels further abroad for cheaper than what I'm paying here. :lol:

in_luzern · 7 Jul 2026

Sorcerer said:
RABe 501 Giruno (IC21 from Lugano)

The IC21 isn't always operated by Girunos, sometimes it's (much less comfortable) Bombardier double-deckers. I'm not sure if there is any way of knowing in advance which it will be, maybe someone else can help here.

Alfonso · 7 Jul 2026

It's worth checking which mountain railways etc are included in the pass. I think the cable cars from fiesch etc up to the aletsch alps above are included. The higher mountain lifts from the alps up to the peaks are I believe 50%off. Switzerland can be very expensive, but there's free very nice water from fountains everywhere, accommodation is often not extortionate, and there are cheap places to eat...picnics and beer from denner discount etc at the real bottom end, cafeteria in supermarkets like Migros are good value, and even station restaurants tend to have one or two affordable dishes

Sorcerer · 7 Jul 2026

in_luzern said:
The IC21 isn't always operated by Girunos, sometimes it's (much less comfortable) Bombardier double-deckers. I'm not sure if there is any way of knowing in advance which it will be, maybe someone else can help here.

Allegedly the SBB planner app will be able to tell you if it's a Giruno, or perhaps if need be I can use a EuroCity service to Milan as far as Lugano or vice versa.

Ant1966 · 7 Jul 2026

Probably to

Sorcerer said:
Thanks everyone for the tips so far! The itinerary includes the GoldenPass and Glacier Express but I didn't have which stops in mind, so I will certainly consider some of the destinations given to me. The Rigi is a particularly interesting suggestion and one I will definitely look into squeezing in! Lugano's funicular is also on the agenda as well as the chance to use both Gotthard routes. As for prices, well, let me just say that that I've seen hotels further abroad for cheaper than what I'm paying here.

Probably too late for this trip now, but if you are set on Basle then accom just across the border in FR or DE is about half the price. Even better is Domodossola, which is included in the Swiss pass (although the service North to Brig on whats supposed to be a main line can be patchy!)

matt · 7 Jul 2026

Another ticket to consider is the saver day pass which starts from 52 chf per day depending how far in advance you purchase it. The only thing to consider is that this will not give any discounts on the non-included mountain railways whereas the Swiss Travel Pass does. Mountains such as Rigi and Stanserhorn are still included.

Sorcerer · 8 Jul 2026

Ant1966 said:
Probably too late for this trip now, but if you are set on Basle then accom just across the border in FR or DE is about half the price. Even better is Domodossola, which is included in the Swiss pass (although the service North to Brig on whats supposed to be a main line can be patchy!)

Yeah at this point Basel is already sorted, and it seems that my original itinerary has to be cut down for optimisation which means much of eastern Switzerland further than Zurich is probably not on the table. But more in a sense of "save for next time" rather than "cut out completely".

Swiss Holiday - Tips and Advice?

Sorcerer

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