Switzerland and Discovery Trains: a love story

Laure à Interlaken © Discovery Trains

Is Switzerland a good destination for rail travel?

Switzerland: we love it. It's a perfect destination for rail travel: the trains themselves are modern and reliable, the stations are right in the heart of the cities, Swiss tours can be done '100% by train. As long as you know the country well and have a good grasp of how tickets and passes are issued, rail travel in Switzerland is a pleasure to organise.

Is Discovery Trains the representative of Swiss trains?

Discovery trains is an official representative agency of the Swiss railways. Our advisers have been trained in the Swiss Travel System. This simplifies our work and enables us to take advantage of the best rates, for example on the Swiss Travel Passes that we include in our packages or on certain panoramic trains.

Tatiana on the Swiss Travel System © Discovery Trains

What's the difference between an ordinary train and a panoramic train?

Technically, the difference is of course the size of the windows. In panoramic trains, they cover part of the roof of the train, which is therefore transparent. If you look up, you can see the mountains above you and the sky.... But the real difference lies in what you experience on board: Swiss panorama trains are more than just a means of transport. The experience is more like a show than just a journey. When these trains with their oversized windows pass through some of Switzerland's magnificent landscapes, you get an intense feeling of freedom and beauty. I'd almost say... a bit like flying?

Is the Glacier Express the best panoramic train?

The Glacier Express is the star of the panoramic trains. It's the best known. That's why we're dedicating a short 4-day programme to it: our Glacier Express weekend is almost entirely centred on it. The Glacier Express is also part of our winter tour: "Panoramic Switzerland in Winter" and our best-seller, "The Grand Tour of the Summits".
But we also have a panoramic train tour that doesn't include the Glacier Express at all: it's our "From the Glaciers to the Palm Trees" tour, which takes place on board the Bernina Express and the Gotthard Panorama Express.
It would be unfair to say that the Glacier Express is the best panoramic train in Switzerland. Because its "colleagues" also have different strengths. Each has its own personality.

Romane and Yulia near Mount Rigi © Discovery Trains

Glacier Express weekend: a journey aboard a panoramic restaurant train

What's the difference between the Swiss panorama trains?

To sum up: The Glacier Express is an elegant restaurant train that links two mountain areas in 8 hours. The Bernina Express, the red train of the peaks, is a very high mountain train that climbs to the glaciers and then descends very quickly in altitude. The Gotthard Panorama is a train-excursion that tells the story of Switzerland and ends with a cruise. They are not at all interchangeable. You can read all about it in our comparison of Swiss panorama trains. Or better still, you can experience it for yourself by trying out our Grand Tour des Sommets tour, which includes these three magnificent trains.

Yulia at Alp Grüm, the highest point of the Bernina Express © Discovery Trains

The Grand Tour of the Summits: the trinity of Swiss panoramic trains

Do your tours of Switzerland always include panoramic trains?

Our Top of Switzerland tour does not include any of the 3 flagship panoramic trains mentioned above. It's a tour dedicated to discovering the Swiss mountains, with stops at the most impressive high-altitude sites such as Mount Rigi or the Jungfraujoch and Glacier 3000. But to do this, you need to take the GoldenPass Line, where certain trains such as the Luzern-Interlaken Express or the GoldenPass Panoramique are also panoramic trains, since their windows are larger than those of normal trains.

Top of Switzerland: the best of the Swiss mountains by train

Cédrick on the train to Jungenfraujoch © Discovery Trains

We also have a number of train tours that pass through Switzerland, but also include stops in other countries. For example, our Switzerland-Germany train journey: "Secrets of the Black Forest and Legends of the Rhine" and also a straight-line itinerary that stops in Zurich, then heads back to Germany, Austria and Hungary.

Is Discovery Trains planning to develop its Swiss offer?

Discovery Trains has already become something of a travel agency for Switzerland! The more we explore the country, the more we want people to discover it. Our Production Manager Yulia Santalova now works part-time in France and part-time in Lausanne. She comes back every week with new ideas that delight the team. So it's not out of the question for us to expand our offer to this destination.

Romane in Montreux, near the GoldenPass Belle Epoque © Discovery Trains