This Train Ride Through The Swiss Alps Is Like Traveling Inside A 5-Star Resort
Let's face it: No one does trains quite like the Swiss. Rail travel in the country is famously reliable, clean, and scenic. And with the launch of a new, super-luxury train route, the country has seriously upped the ante. I'll see your Orient Express and raise you: The Glacier Express Excellence Class.
As its name suggests, the Glacier Express is a Swiss train route that runs through the country's famous, majestic alps. The line runs from St. Moritz to Davos to Zermatt, traversing forests, viaducts, charming valley towns, and, of course, glaciers on its route. Given that its path connects some of the biggest hotspots for the global elite, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the route would offer one of the most luxurious classes of train travel ever. Excellence Class, which was unveiled this spring, is an experience entirely unlike any other form of train travel.
Let's start at the beginning, before the train ride itself: You'll board Excellence Class at your origin station via a red carpet, which leads you into you car—don't worry about pesky luggage; a bellman will take care of that. The accommodations on board are nicer than many a luxury hotel: leather seats face wooden tables next to glass walls—and ceilings!— that offer sweeping views of the countryside flying by.
Once you're seated, you can enjoy a five-course meal with a wine pairing. If that doesn't leave you completely sated, there's also a tea service—plus unlimited drinks and coffee. Fancy giving your legs a stretch? Head to the bar car, where top-shelf liquors await.
You'll want to have a camera handy, as the route from St. Moritz to Zermatt covers a whopping 291 bridges and 91 tunnels. Among them are such wonders of engineering as the Landwasser Viaduct, a 213 foot high wonder of arched stone spanning the towns of Schmitten and Filisur. As you wind towards (or away from) St. Moritz, you'll take in the famously scenic Engadin valley, whose mountain faces and valley towns reveal themselves as the train snakes around, over, and through the landscape. When you're closer to Zermatt, you'll have a view of the famous Matterhorn.
Of course, such luxury comes at a price: A one-way ticket in Excellence Class goes for CHF 450, or about $455—a supplement added to the price of a regular First Class ticket (which is around $270).
But, it figures that if you're already traveling Excellence class, you're likely living in style, so some of the top hotels in the regions at both end of the line have teamed up to make it all the more easy to make a real trip out of your train experience: St. Moritz's 5-star Kulm Hotel has partnered with The Mont Cervin Palace in Zermatt to offer up a package that includes a night at each on either end of your journey. If you're only up for half the train ride, they also offer a partnership with The Chedi Andermatt in between St. Moritz and Zermatt. Packages begin at around $1,100—but can you really put a price on views like these?
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