BY RAIL
SWISS SCENIC AND AUSTRIAN CULTURAL HIGHLIGHTS BY TRAIN
11 nights / 12 days From £ 2,720 per person
Glacier Express
LAUSANNE • GLACIER EXPRESS • CHUR • BERNINA EXPRESS • INNSBRUCK • SALZBURG • VIENNA
This 11-night rail holiday allows you to discover the stunning Alpine scenery of Switzerland, with iconic rail journeys on the Glacier and Bernina Express and visiting key cultural cities of Austria. You return from Vienna to Cologne by overnight sleeper train, and then day-time trains via Brussels to London.
DAY-BY-DAY ITINERARY
DAY ONE London to Lausanne Leave London mid-morning on the Eurostar to Paris, before changing to a TGV to Lausanne. On arrival here at about 7.30pm transfer to your hotel where you spend two nights.
DAY TWO In Lausanne Spend the day at leisure in Lausanne, making the most of the Swiss Pass which entitles you to unlimited rail travel as well as boat trips. Perhaps travel across Lake Geneva by boat to Evian or Montreux, enjoy a scenic journey on the Golden Pass Line, take a day trip on the Chocolate Train or visit nearby Geneva for the day.
DAY THREE Lausanne to Chur on the Glacier Express Leave Lausanne just after 9am to travel to Visp, where you board the Glacier Express for the beautiful journey through the mountains on the way to Chur. Stop briefly in Andermatt, nestled in the indomitable Gotthard Pass, initially avoided by the Romans, but conquered when the Scholenen Ravine, an important North-South connection, was established. To get from Andermatt to the next stop in Disentis, the Glacier Express takes you over the Oberalp Pass; a network of tunnels, viaducts, and winding roads and railway tracks. From here, travel through the Ruinaulta, or Rhine Gorge, taking in one of the most picturesque landscapes in the Alps, which makes for a sensational experience. Check in to your hotel in Chur for two nights.
DAY FOUR Chur to Tirano and back on the Bernina Express Take a day trip on the Bernina Express, allowing you to enjoy one of the world’ s most spectacular rail journeys whilst travelling to Tirano and back. The first stop on the journey is at Tiefencastel, which has ochre-fronted houses, stunning, narrow stone bridges, and is crowned by a solitary tower. Hurtle on towards St Moritz, passing the Cresta Run in Celerina, one of the St Moritz area’ s most famous attributes. At 1856m above sea level, visitors are welcomed by stunning views across the lakes of the Upper Engadine Valley, and the refreshing dry, clear, Alpine climate. The next leg of the journey passes two exceptional sights: the Montebello Curve and the Morteratsch Glacier. From here, move on to perhaps the most unique stop on the Bernina Express route: Alp Grum. This restaurant is the only restaurant that is exclusively accessed by rail. Next, the Bernina Express takes you through to Brusio. Though not a stop, this particularly unique viaduct stretch has a novel way of negotiating the changing altitudes. The Bernina Railway ends across the Italian border in Tirano, where the influences of Italy can already be seen in the architecture of the townhouses lining the riverside. You have time for a brief stop in Tirano before taking the Bernina Express back to Chur where you spend a second night.
DAY FIVE Chur to Innsbruck by train Leave Chur mid-morning on a train to Innsbruck, changing in Sargans on the Swiss side of the border. The high mountains, the roof of Europe, loom in the distance. After the descent into the Inn valley, it is definitely the Austrian Tirol: traditional haystacks, onion-domed churches, wayside chapels. Arrive in Innsbruck in the afternoon. You have the rest of the day and the evening to explore the city and its array of architectural gems from the Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Neo-Classical period. You spend one night in Innsbruck.
DAY SIX Innsbruck to Salzburg by train Enjoy breakfast at your hotel and board a direct train to Salzburg where you will arrive in under two hours. As you leave Innsbruck, ski slopes are visible in the distance, and you know that Kitzbuehel is off to the south-east but at Kufstein the train crosses into Germany and the landscape flattens slightly with fields and forests yet the Chiemgau Alps are in the near distance. Upon arrival in Salzburg check in to your hotel for a stay of two nights.
84 To speak to our specialist rail holidays team telephone 01392 441250 or see www. expressionsholidays. co. uk