Day 17: The Glacier Express, Switzerland - The Slowest Express Train in the World

Monday, July 17, 2023

Zermatt & St. Moritz, Switzerland

After a short but sweet stay in Zermatt, Switzerland, it was time to say goodbye and embark on one of the main reasons for coming to the city below the Matterhorn.  

We awoke to an almost perfect sky and, finally, the revealing of the majestic Matterhorn, which had been shrouded in clouds the majority of our stay.  

We packed, took out the garbage, and bid farewell to our Airbnb apartment.  We walked up the road to the playground, where we would catch the first bus of the day.  

The bus took us to the downtown area, which was bustling the previous days, but in the cool morning air was almost silent and deserted.  

We found the coffee shop I had researched and enjoyed our beverages outside as the town began to awake.  

We continued our walk to the train station, where we had a special 8:52am train that we had made reservations for months in advance.  Today’s journey was a big and long one, something we were really looking forward to.  It’s called, “The Glacier Express”. 

We continued our walk to the train station, where we had a special 8:52am train that we had made reservations for months in advance.  Today’s journey was a big and long one, something we were really looking forward to.  It’s called, “The Glacier Express”. 

The Glacier Express is known to be one of the world’s most scenic train journeys.  As the “slowest express train in the world”, the train travels from Zermatt to Saint Mortiz, covering 180 miles in 8 hours.  That’s right— an 8-hour train ride.  

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The train passes through 91 tunnels, over 291 bridges, and makes its way through the Swiss Alps.  I believe it’s called the Glacier Express because it follows valleys that were carved out by glaciers long past. 

We boarded the train and found our assigned seats and settled in for our longest train ride to date. 

We had ordered a 3-course meal, that ended up being one of our favorites.  

We sat across from another family of five from the States, Scott, and Leah with their three kids.   

The views along the way were great.  The surrounding mountains, pastures, and small villages nestled along rivers and mountainsides, were very nice.  

However, compared to the amazing panoramic mountaintops we had experienced, this trip ended up being a little milder than the views were had gotten used to.  Still, it was a nice experience and we wouldn’t change it. 

After a VERY LONG train trip on the Glacier Express, we finally arrived at St. Moritz, a ski-resort town on a beautiful lake.  We went to the information offices, got some ideas, and took a bus to the Airbnb where we would be staying.

The apartment was very, VERY small— the tiniest space we had experienced on this trip.  But it had everything we needed.  

After a long day of traveling, we were all tired, so we ate dinner and called it a night.