Switzerland by Train – A Remarkable and Thrilling Time

Visiting Switzerland by Train

While on a trip through Western Europe in the fall, my wife and I had the pleasure of spending quite a bit of time using the train system in Switzerland. We found the trains to be exceptionally clean, quick and quiet. On the advice of my aunt, who resides in Italy, we purchased 1st class Eurail passes for train travel. We were very comfortable with little crowds on the trains. Sometimes we were the only ones on an entire train car. We traveled from Paris and were treated to tremendous views of the Swiss countryside. We made our way to the city of Bern, the capital of Switzerland.

Bern, The Capital of Switzerland

While in Bern, our hotel let us know of the Bern Ticket. From your very first overnight stay at a tourist accommodation in the city of Bern, you will receive a Bern Ticket for your entire stay, which lets you travel for free on public transport in zones 100/101 operated by the LIBERO Association. We took full advantage of this generous gift to get around the city by bus, tram and funicular. We used funiculars in other parts of Switzerland as they are popular for hill or mountain sides. A funicular is a cable railroad, especially one on a mountainside, in which ascending and descending cars are counterbalanced.

Thun, Switzerland by Train

On the next leg of our Swiss adventure we stopped in the small town of Thun. Thun is a beautiful village along the Aare River at the entrance to Lake Thun. The river was a stunning glacial green surrounded by small businesses and residences. It was a short hike to get to the elevator which travelled in the hillside to reach Castle Thun on top of the hill overlooking the city. This short excursion was well worth the hike. We were rewarded with rich history of the region and incredible views of Thun, the valley and the Swiss Alps in the distance. After a brief lunch we boarded the train for our next stop which would be Interlaken. This was a brief stop to change trains.

Heading Toward the Swiss Alps

Then we went on to our final train destination for the day which was Lauterbrunnen. From there we hopped on a local bus which makes round trips through the valley regularly and ended up at the tiny village of Stechelberg. Our last form of additional transportation for the day (besides our feet) would a cable car to take us part way up the Swiss Alps to the village of Murren, located at about 5400 feet. This would be our home base from where we would explore the Swiss Alps for the next few days using the following forms of additional transportation, bikes, cable cars, funiculars, buses and of course our feet. It was easy to obtain tickets for all local travel including renting bikes at an outdoor sports shop in Lauterbrunnen. For more details of this trip with suggestions on sights to see, please visit my personal website, mitytim.com.

Additional Transportation in Switzerland

As we proceeded to make our way out of the Swiss Alps, we stopped for a quick visit in Spiez. We reversed our forms of additional transportation options and ended up on the train from Lauterbrunnen to Interlakken and then on the Spiez where we would stop for a walk through the cozy lakefront town and have lunch before we hopped on the next train heading toward Italy. All in all, the Swiss train system was exceptionally prompt, well organized and easy to navigate. This trip in particular, was a driving force behind my enthusiasm to explore the U.S. rail system and highlight its positive aspects, while exposing its inadequacies.

Swiss Rail & Additional Transportation Videos