Glacier Express - One of the Great Train Journeys in Europe

The Glacier Express connects Zermatt with St. Moritzhighest point of the track at 2033 metres above sea
and Chur. The journey across Switzerland takeslevel.
seven and a half hours.The Glacier Express started to operate in 1926. But it
St. Moritz is a famous winter resort, but it is well worthwas first in 1982, when the Furka-Basis tunnel (length
visiting in summer as well. It lacks the picturesque15.4 kilometres) was ready, that the Glacier Express
character you expect from alpine town but thestarted to run all year round. If you have time and the
beautiful surroundings make up for the lack ofweather permits, it is worth taking the cable car from
character. St. Moritz is far from cheap but not asBetten up to the Aletsch Glacier. With 23 kilometres it
expensive as Zermatt.is the longest glacier in Europe.
The journey between St Moritz and Chur uses theThe track follows the Rhone until Visp. Visp is the
same track as the Bernina Express. Since no trackinglowest station on this part of the Glacier Express, 625
system is used on this part of the Glacier Express, themetres above sea level. From here the train climbs up
track had to be artificially lengthen in many places. Ato Zermatt, 1605 metres above sea level. This is
number of loops and tunnels have been created toanother beautiful part of the journey.
make the track less steep. This is one of the mostZermatt is a car-free town, with a wonderful view of
interesting parts of the journey. It includes the famousthe Matterhorn. Zermatt has three world-class ski
Landwasser Viaduct, probably the most photographedareas, the Sunnegga, the Gornergrat, and the Klein
bridge on the whole journey.Matterhorn. In summer, hiking is popular thanks to the
On the way down to Chur, you will see many oldmany beautiful trails. The main drawback with Zermatt
castles and ruins. After leaving Chur, the track runsis the cost. Even for Swiss standards, Zermatt is
along the Rhine which it follows almost to the source.expensive.
The Glacier Express climbs up to Oberalp Pass, the