Riding first class on Switzerland’s Glacier Express train to Zermatt!

Switzerland has an excellent railway network especially as a means to get to the picturesque mountains. The glacier express is the only way to get to Zermatt which is car free – there are only electric operated buses and taxi’s (in miniature size!)

I took the Glacier Express train from Chur to Zermatt. It departed at 11:30am and arrived at 5:10pm (approx. 6.5hrs) with some spectacular scenery along the way!

What you’ll see / best time of year

I visited the first week of May after a long harsh winter so there was still plenty of snow with green hills in the foreground – very scenic! If you want to see everything when it’s white, you’ll need to brave the cold and visit during the northern hemisphere’s winter – around December / January. To see the leaves change color in autumn, visit around October. To see green rolling hills and no snow, travel in summer (June / July).

You’ll see lots of mountains, cute villages, the river, bridges and tunnels!

The train stops at various points along the way and there was also a 5 minute photo stop so you could take a picture of the snow capped mountains.

The train

The train has panoramic windows – half of the roof is windows. One of my frustrations with travelling on a bus is that there is scenery on both sides but you can’t see out the other window – you can only see part of the snow-capped mountains if they are on the other side of the bus. With the train you can see everything on the left and right sides of the train a lot clearer, plus you can get up and move to the other side of the carriage to take photos.

With so many windows there was a lot of glare on my pictures from the glass and the lighting. To avoid this I used my iPhone and put it right up against the glass (as I do when I’m on a bus).

After doing a bit of research, I found a few people commenting that in second class you can open the windows which would give better photos without the glare. If I had done the train journey myself and not through an organized tour, I definitely would have booked 2^nd class tickets to get better photos.

You can take luggage with you – there is luggage store on the train.

There is a toilet on board which was similar to a plane toilet.

The seat configuration is single seat, aisle and double seat. For the journey from Chur to Zermatt I got lucky with a seat on the left hand side seat which had the best views – much better than the right side! The seats were comfy, but not really comfy enough to fall asleep in and they don’t recline.

Was 1^ST class worth it?

You can choose from a 1^st class or 2^nd class ticket. Visiting Zermatt and taking the Glacier Express train to get there was included in a Globus tour I took (I’m not affiliated with them, I paid for the tour myself). The ticket included was a 1^st class seat.

The 1^st class seats were quite roomy – which was definitely appreciated on the 6.5 hour train joinery from Chur to Zermatt.

I didn’t see what 2^nd class looked like but personally I don’t think 1st class was worth it. I checked the prices and 1^st class is double the cost of 2^nd class.

Food on the Glacier Express

A 3 course meal on the train was included with the Globus tour I took. To be honest, the food wasn’t very good. The entrée was a tasteless asparagus soup. The main meal was beef with rice and carrots which tasted ok. Dessert was a brownie which needless to say, was my favorite of the 3 courses!

The meals are served at the start of the journey. I presume it’s to try and get you to buy snacks later in the journey when you’re bored…

I was glad I had my own water bottle as no drinks were included with the meal – not even water. I found this a bit ridiculous considering the 3 course meal is 43 CHF (at the time of writing this in 2018).

The cost of drinks and snacks on board if you don’t buy the proper meal is ridiculous – bring your own or buy a pastry in the train station before departing.

Overall, I recommend the train, but in my opinion 1st class is not worth the splurge and you’ll probably get better photos from 2nd class anyway.