Rail lovers, let us introduce you to your dreamland.
Picture it: snow-capped peaks on the horizon, lakes so turquoise and emerald they look Photoshopped and villages so charming they could’ve been cast in a Heidi reboot.
There’s even the gentle clang of cowbells echoing through the hills, just in case you needed one more reason to feel like you’re in a storybook. If you haven’t guessed it already, we’re talking about the magical Swiss Alps.
Let’s zoom out the camera lens for a wide angled view for a sec to give you some perspective on this central European land-locked country.
Australia is approximately 188 times bigger than Switzerland and with its population of around 8.5million is it any wonder that by comparison, this tiny (it’s nearly 7 times smaller than New Zealand!) but mighty nation with its French, Italian and German influenced regions is famous (amongst many other things!) for its efficiency in rail travel? Oh, and chocolate, we all know it’s famous for chocolate! Lindt Bunny anyone?
Views to Kill For…
You’ll be feeling like you’ve stepped straight into a Bond film on this adventure (no less than five from the franchise have featured Swiss locations – can you name them all?) and is home to some of the highest mountains in Europe.
You’ll ride the iconic Glacier Express to visit high alpine hero ‘The Matterhorn’ stretching a neck breaking 4,478 metres into the skyline above the iconic village of Zermatt where only electric cars and horse-drawn carriages reign supreme in the pristine mountain air.
And if all the glitz of a stay at two-times Winter Olympics host village St Moritz doesn’t blind you, the blisteringly blue hues of Switzerland’s lakes surely will! Just because this adventure has ‘Rail’ in the title, don’t think you won’t get to experience her iconic locations from the water too!
You’ll cruise pretty-as-a-postcard Lake Thun for a delicious three-course lunch and learn the secrets to never making a gluggy risotto ever again, thanks to an Italian cooking class under the watchful eye of a local chef as you glide the waters of Lake Lugano.
Let your mantra be “I think I can, I think I can!” as you ride the little engine that could, the Brienzer Rothorn to picturesque Brienz for more pinch-me-is-this-real vistas at Lake Brienze. It’s a track this sweet little steam train has been chugging along since 1892! (Psst, that’s it at the top of this email).
With all that head-swivelling scenery you’ll be needing a feathery pillow for a rest and we’ve just the place! The Grand Hotel Giessbach puts the ‘fun’ in ‘funicular’ which is exactly what you’ll be riding to check-in to your room for a night!
Uncork more mirrored aqua vistas amongst the terraced vines of the UNESCO listed Lavaux region as you raise a glass of the regions’ finest Grand Cru and toast this incredible living cultural landscape with origins dating back to the 11th century. Life is good, hey?
Jump aboard the Golden Pass Express and you’ll be strolling the shores of Lake Geneva feeling like royalty, exploring the picturesque villages of Interlaken and Montreux as the sun dips below the horizon and the waters darken to a ‘deep purple’.
Dart across towering viaducts and whiz through mountainous tunnels with your face pressed against the window, eyes ogling and mind boggling at some of the world’s most photo-worthy locations. No rail ride could ever compare on the cute-ometer scale though, than the Vitznau cogwheel train!
This little cutie is Europe’s first ever mountain railway and has been tooting her way back and forth from the gently lapping shores of Lucerne to Mt Rigi since 1871. So, dust off your danke shon’s as this historic little beauty sways heavenwards and delivers you to the summit and the Rigi Kalbad Hotel. Listen closely and you might just hear the words “Hot. Mineral. Spa” echoing across the peaks!
Honestly, we’re so excited about this adventure, there’s just too much to tell except you’d be crazier than a cuckoo clock to miss it! I mean, we’ve made it to the end of this blog post and haven’t even mentioned all the delicious cheese once…
P.S. To save you 007’s from Googling, the 5 Bond films were:
- Golden Eye
- Goldfinger
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
- The Spy Who Loved Me
- A View to A Kill