Glacier Express

Heading back to Zurich

One of the activities we looked forward to the most while visiting Switzerland was riding the Glacier Express. It was said to be one of the must-do’s while in Switzerland. The country is known for its scenery, glaciers and alps; what better way to see it on a train with windows that stretch up to the ceiling? We had done a fair amount of research prior to the trip and most people on Tripadvisor said that you could still see the beautiful scenery by taking a regular train as it also takes the same route. The Glacier Express, however, is just a slower and fancier experience. Since the Glacier Express is included in our train pass (still have to pay for seat reservations), we thought “why not?” We didn’t book a full trip from Zermatt to St Moritz with the Glacier Express. Since we where heading back up to Zurich, we decided the best way to head back up is ride the GE from Zermatt to Chur and another connecting train from Chur back up to Zurich. It was going to be a long slow train ride, so we dedicated one day to enjoy Switzerland’s countryside.

Chris always sleeps :)

We pre-ordered a 3-course meal on the train since the trip is about half a day. Unfortunately the meal was the worst one we had on the entire trip. It cost about 60 CHF for a subpar meal. It comes in a salad for starters, a stew with rice for entrée and chocolate cake for dessert. However, you can ask for seconds if you want more.

Overall, the scenery was beautiful but I would say the Glacier Express was not a mind-blowing experience. At this point of the trip, we’ve been on a fair amount of train rides seeing a lot of ice mountains, alps and rivers. We realized that it would probably be a better trip if it’s in the winter. We also learned that we skipped the best part of the train ride. From Chur to St. Moritz, there is the infamous Landwasser Viaduct (bridge that looks like it’s in a Harry Potter film) and the spiral railway loop. We suggest if you wanted to experience the Glacier Express to its full capacity, it’s best to either go in the winter or ride the full trip and experience the best locations found in between Chur and St. Moritz.