Switzerland · Luxury
Prestige Continental Express
Belle Époque dining cars for gourmet rail events.
8h · Prestige Continental Express
- Luxury
- Culinary
- Heritage
AI-generated editorial illustration by Rail Atlas
Country hub
Switzerland by train
One small country holding the densest set of scenic railways in the catalogue: panoramic express routes, rack railways up to a summit, and ordinary regional lines that happen to be spectacular.
Swiss rail travel divides by what you are buying. A panoramic express is a reserved, named service run end to end for the view. A mountain railway is a short climb to a summit and back, priced as an excursion. A regional line is an ordinary timetabled train that happens to run through the Alps.
Every journey here has a published route, season and booking record; nothing is estimated.
17 published journeys · 5 groupings
Featured journeys
Start with these
Switzerland → Italy · Scenic
Bernina Express
From glaciers to palms across the Swiss Alps
4h · Rhaetian Railway
- Scenic
- Panoramic
- Engineering
Photo: Christoph Radtke / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0
Switzerland · Scenic
Brienz Rothorn Railway
Steam from Lake Brienz to a 360-degree mountain panorama.
1h · Brienz Rothorn Bahn
- Scenic
- Heritage
- Steam
Photo: Hans-Peter Bärtschi · CC BY 4.0
1 journey
Luxury and dining trains
Switzerland · Luxury
Prestige Continental Express
Belle Époque dining cars for gourmet rail events.
8h · Prestige Continental Express
- Luxury
- Culinary
- Heritage
AI-generated editorial illustration by Rail Atlas
5 journeys
Panoramic express routes
Named, reserved services run end to end for the window.
Switzerland → Italy · Scenic
Bernina Express
From glaciers to palms across the Swiss Alps
4h · Rhaetian Railway
- Scenic
- Panoramic
- Engineering
Photo: Christoph Radtke / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0
Switzerland · Scenic
Glacier Express
Eight hours across the high Swiss Alps
8h · Glacier Express AG
- Scenic
- Panoramic
- Epic
Photo: Tim Adams / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0
Switzerland · Scenic
GoldenPass Express
Montreux to Interlaken without changing gauge; or trains.
3h 15m · Montreux Oberland Bernois Railway
- Scenic
- Panoramic
AI-generated editorial illustration by Rail Atlas
Switzerland · Scenic
Gotthard Panorama Express
Steamer, historic Gotthard railway and Ticino in one day.
5h 30m · Swiss Federal Railways
- Scenic
- Panoramic
- Engineering
Photo: Nelso Silva from Porto, Portugal · CC BY-SA 2.0
Switzerland · Scenic
Luzern–Interlaken Express
Five lakes and the Brünig Pass on an hourly panorama train.
1h 50m · Zentralbahn
- Scenic
- Panoramic
Photo: Kabelleger / David Gubler (http://www.bahnbilder.ch) · CC BY-SA 3.0
7 journeys
Mountain and summit railways
Rack and cogwheel lines climbing to a viewpoint, usually a half-day return.
Switzerland · Scenic
Brienz Rothorn Railway
Steam from Lake Brienz to a 360-degree mountain panorama.
1h · Brienz Rothorn Bahn
- Scenic
- Heritage
- Steam
Photo: Hans-Peter Bärtschi · CC BY 4.0
Switzerland · Scenic
Gornergrat Railway
Matterhorn views from one of Europe’s highest rack railways.
33m · Gornergrat Bahn
- Scenic
- Engineering
- Excursion
Photo: Rail Away TV / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Switzerland · Scenic
Jungfrau Railway to Jungfraujoch
A railway into the world of glaciers at 3,454 metres.
41m · Jungfrau Railways
- Scenic
- Engineering
- Excursion
Photo: Maria Feofilova / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Switzerland · Scenic
Pilatus Cogwheel Railway
The world’s steepest cogwheel railway, up to 48 percent.
27m · Pilatus Bahnen
- Scenic
- Engineering
- Excursion
Photo: Maria Feofilova / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Switzerland · Scenic
Rigi Railways
Europe’s first mountain railway, now with modern panoramic rack trains.
30m · Rigi Bahnen
- Scenic
- Heritage
- Excursion
Photo: Ttrainer · CC BY-SA 3.0
Switzerland · Scenic
Schynige Platte Railway
A century-old electric mountain train to a classic Jungfrau panorama.
56m · Jungfrau Railways
- Scenic
- Heritage
- Excursion
Photo: Frank Nowotny / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Switzerland · Scenic
Wengernalp Railway to Kleine Scheidegg
Panorama cogwheel trains beneath the Eiger.
42m · Jungfrau Railways
- Scenic
- Excursion
Photo: ZachT / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
1 journey
Steam and heritage lines
Switzerland · Scenic
Furka Steam Railway
Historic steam high above the Furka base tunnel.
2h 15m · Furka Mountain Steam Railway
- Scenic
- Heritage
- Steam
Photo: Marcin Wichary / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
3 journeys
Scenic regional lines
Switzerland → Italy · Scenic
Centovalli Railway
Two countries and a hundred valleys in about two hours.
2h · Vigezzina-Centovalli Railway
- Scenic
Photo: Alain GAVILLET from Chêne-Bougeries, Suisse · CC BY 2.0
France → Switzerland · Scenic
Mont-Blanc Express
A cross-border mountain railway through the Trient and Chamonix valleys.
1h 30m · Transports de Martigny et Régions
- Scenic
Photo: AndrewvdBK / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
Switzerland · Scenic
Voralpen-Express
Lakes, hills and high viaducts between St. Gallen and Lucerne every hour.
2h 15m · Schweizerische Südostbahn
- Scenic
Photo: JoachimKohler-HB · CC BY-SA 4.0