A Swiss Travel Pass connects Switzerland to Italy: slow down, take in the scenic landscapes and reduce your carbon emissions at the same time. Jacqui Gibson tries out a multi-day pass.
I’m a bit short of breath, peering up at one of Europe’s tallest
How to travel from Italy to Switzerland by train
By Jacqui Gibson
NZ Herald·
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A 'Scenic Switzerland by Train' tour gives travellers a chance to ride famous trains such as the Glacier Express and Gornergrat. Photo / Hans-Peter Merten
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Though it’s possible to fly cheaply in Europe, I’ve opted to travel by rail to ease my growing climate anxiety and sate my appetite for stunning scenery and places best accessed by slower modes of transport.
Zermatt ticks all the boxes.
The mountain village is completely car-free. Instead of driving, people get about on foot, bike and electric buses like the little red shoebox that shuttles me from the train station to Hotel Aristella, my accommodation for two days.
On my first day, I walked Zermatt’s dark cobbled streets past heavy wooden architecture decorated with blossoming planter boxes and names like Chalet Maria.
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The mountaineers’ cemetery in the village centre was a reminder of the perilous event that transformed this farming hamlet into a mountaineering mecca overnight.
In 1865, the Matterhorn was first summitted by a British-Swiss team after several attempts. Tragically, though, only three of the seven adventurers survived.
This morning, a cable car has delivered me to Europe’s highest station in just 40 minutes.
From the viewing platform, I see 38 snowy peaks more than 4000 metres high, including the breathtaking Matterhorn.
Up here, there’s a cinema, a glacier tunnel and a restaurant and shop. I visit them all, then head outside to throw snowballs in the sun.
By 8.52am the next morning, I’m on the Glacier Express as it pulls out of Zermatt station.
I’ve scored a second-class seat on one of the continent’s most popular scenic trains next to Texans George and Linda.
They’re my travel buddies for eight hours as we course our way through 91 tunnels, over nearly 300 bridges and across six towering viaducts.
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Gliding through the picturesque village of Stalden, I learn George, a retired military man, and Linda, a retired government worker, are on a week-long train tour of Switzerland.
“We usually vacation on cruise ships, but we’ve found we love travelling by rail,” Linda explains, snapping photos of a stone church before it disappears from view. “The pace of a train; the views from these enormous windows. We’re total converts. Aren’t you?”
Turns out I am. As we say goodbye at St Moritz station, I find myself eagerly anticipating my next rail journey to Lugano in two days’ time.
But St Moritz is yet another must-see jewel in Switzerland’s crown.
Perhaps best known as the ski resort that twice held the winter Olympics and frequently hosts celebrities like Madonna and the Prince and Princess of Wales, St Moritz is also the high-altitude training base of some of the world’s top athletes.
On a morning walk around the lake, I’m overtaken by lycra-clad bodies sprinting by.
I see the same athletes on mountain bikes as I hike the rocky trails beneath Piz Nair, one of St Moritz’s high peaks, the following day.
But St Moritz isn’t just for ski bunnies, stars and fitness pros. There’s plenty for foodies and shoppers too.
My central city hotel, Hotel Hauser, serves traditional delicacies like Engadine nut cake, made with caramelised tree nuts, and elegant chocolates from the hotel’s busy in-house bakery.
For the well-heeled, there are stores like Hermes, Bulgari and Versace all within the town centre.
When I roll into Lugano on day five, the temperature has spiked and I’m ready for a swim.
My two-part journey south has taken me via a chunk of the Unesco-world heritage listed Rhaetian railway line by train and through the San Bernardino highlands into Lugano by bus.
In Italian-speaking Lugano, I buy a scoop of pistachio gelato, grab my togs and walk to the lakeshore to join crowds of bathing locals.
Some are sunning themselves on rented deckchairs atop a giant floating pontoon. Others are wading in near Parco Ciani, a classically styled garden on the lake’s edge.
I hire a small fizz boat and plop overboard when I reach a sheltered bay. It’s bliss on a hot afternoon and proof a slow train is all you need to arrive at some of Europe’s best destinations.
Checklist
SWITZERLAND TO ITALY BY TRAIN
GETTING THERE
Emirates and Qatar Airways fly from Auckland to Zurich with stopovers.
DETAILS
A Swiss Travel Pass takes you from Switzerland to Italy by train, bus and boat and offers discounts on other tourist attractions.
