Switzerland by Rail
May 3–7, 2026
Our cruise ended on May 3 in Basel. We would spend the next four nights in Zürich and then fly home from there. So we rode the train there. We had first-class rail passes, so we rode in comfort. The Swiss rail pass covers all public transportaion thoughout the country, too. So it is very convenient just to hop on without worrying about tickets. About the only things not covered are some of the cogwheel trains and gondolas to tops of mountains. We saw great scenery along the way.
The Zürich main train station is huge, with tracks on multiple levels. Our hotel was just one tram stop away from the hotel, though we often need to walk halfway around the station to get to the right track. We would walk farther than that when we got lost on the lower levels.
Once we got checked in at the hotel, we wandered around looking for somewhere to eat lunch. We decided to head back to the station to eat at the food court. We had talked about riding the trams around town, but decided to hop on a real train instead. It headed north, and would have taken us into Germany if we had stayed on. We got off the train at Schaffhausen and ate some ice cream near the charming main square. After spending a bit of time there, we got on the train back.
We started our day trips the next morning, heading to St. Moritz to change trains for one of the most scenic journeys in Switzerland. For the first twenty-four miles we traveled beside Lake Zürich.
One of the famous excursion trains in Switzerland is the Bernina Express. It provides food and deluxe service. We rode regular trains through the most scenic portion of that route, from Pontresina to Poschiavo. We had first-class seats and large windows. There were always enough empty seats that we could change to the ones with the best views. Even so, getting good pictures through the windows of a moving train is challenging and depends upon a lot of luck.
Ospizio Bernina is the highest rail station in eastern Switzerland. I took the screen shot on my phone relatively near there, so the elevation at the station must be around 7400 feet, over 700 feet higher than Mount Mitchell, the highest point in the US east of the Mississippi. My pictures can give you only a hint of what it was like to be there. Travel tip: if you ever get a chance to take this train trip, do so.
We did see the Bernina Express itself. My original plan was to take the train as far as Poschiavo, but we had decided to continue on all the way to Tirano, just across the border in Italy. (See map, above.) But when we arrived at Poschiavo, we were told that because of some issue, the rest of the way would be by bus. I’m sure that was a dissapointment to the folks on the Bernina Express.
We decided to get something to eat and to head back through the scenery while we still had plenty of daylight. Mary Jane found a pizza place near the station. We weren't sure we had enough time to wait for pizza, so we got sandwiches. We were well within the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. The waitress asked whether we preferred German or English, even though she might have heard my German. I had talked a bit with a guy at the next table, who I took to be the owner. I did get to use my handy Italian phrase that I had never had occasion before: “Non parlo tedesco.” The guy spoke German to me anyway.
We got done with our sandwiches and had plenty of time to board the next train back.
And this is our train as it goes around a curve.
