Swiss Railway Tour: The Glacier Express

Although located just 25 km south of Lake Lucerne, the Alpine town founded in 1120 exists in a completely different world and is suit­able for longer stays. Mount Titlis soars above the picturesque mountain valley to the south, while Mount Hahnen dominates the skyline to the east of the town, creating a fork in the valley. Numerous cable cars and ski lifts lead up the mountain­side, espe­cially in the area around Titlis. During the summer months, a network of marked trails of various levels of diffi­culty await hikers. Other possible activ­i­ties include mountain climbing and parag­liding.

After the Furka Base Tunnel between Realp and Oberwald was completed, the cogwheel railway over the pass was deemed to be closed perma­nently. However, ideal­ists and railway enthu­siasts ensured that the historic railway line over the mountain was preserved. From May to late September steam engines depart daily needing a good two hours for the 18 kilometer route.

This mountain road winds its way elegantly up the Gotthard Pass. It has been a protected landmark since 1832 and is consid­ered one of the “great drives of the Alps.” From the Middle Ages up until the 20th century, the pass was one of the most important routes over the mountains. Coaches would use the road in the summer, and sleighs in the winter. Today, it is preferred by nostalgic visitors; those in a hurry can simply drive straight through the mountain via the Gotthard tunnel.

The valley in the extreme northwest of Italy is an inde­pen­dent region – by far the smallest in Italy, but also one of the most beau­tiful. The valley is surrounded by the highest mountains in Europe. To the west the Mont Blanc, to the north the Matter­horn and the Monterosa group, to the south the Gran Paradiso massif. While the largest glaciers in Europe lie at the top, wine and palm trees grow at the bottom. The large and the small St.-Bernhard-Pass have been opening up the valley for many centuries. Numerous customs castles and mountain fortresses have been preserved along the medieval trade routes.

This historic town with 5,000 inhab­i­tants is situ­ated on the southern shores of the Rhone between the Bernese and the Valais Alps. A few kilome­ters to the north lies the UNESCO world heritage site of the Aletsch area with the largest glacier of the Alps. Various cable cars lead to the glacier area. The best cable car ride to Belalp, a car free village, is from Brig. Because of its loca­tion at the foot of the Simplon Pass, an important connec­tion to Italy, the site was already settled in 7 B.C.(!) Brig has a picturesque historic old quarter with the Stockalper Palace.

With an eleva­tion of 2,005 meters, this pass connects the Rhône Valley in the Swiss canton of Wallis with the Val d'Ossola in the Italian province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola. People have been using the pass since prehistoric times. It was even later used by Roman emperors. The influ­en­tial merchant Kaspar von Stockalper built the first road here in the 17th century, which is now a hiking trail. The modern road through the pass follows Napoleon Bonaparte's route. At the top of the pass there is a hospice. Coming down the southern side, you will find the Mediterranean-looking town of Simplon and the the romantically wild Gondo Gorge with the majestic, glacier-covered Fletschhorn towering above it.

The health resort with 35,000 inhab­i­tants lies picturesquely on a terrace on the southern shore of Lake Geneva. From the spa you can see far over the lake into the Swiss Jura. All around, wine is grown that bears the designa­tion of origin Vin de Savoie. Thonon-les-Bains was the seat of the Dukes of Savoy until 1589. Their castle stood on a peninsula in the lake and has completely disap­peared today. Ripaille Castle now stands on the same site. It was bought and rebuilt by an Alsa­tian indus­trialist in 1892.

In the 7th century the Luciara monastery stood where the river Reuss leaves Lake Lucerne. A trading place grad­u­ally grew around the monastery, which was declared a town in 1178. The citi­zens and merchants benefited from the loca­tion on Gotthards­traße. When the Habsburg Duke Rudolph bought the town in 1291, the rebellious citi­zens joined forces with the orig­inal cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden to secure the survival of the young Swiss Confed­er­a­tion. Pros­perity and beauty are at home in all epochs of the city – in the medieval build­ings, the patri­cian houses of the Renais­sance, the Art Nouveau hotels and the bold build­ings of the present. The landmark is the Kapellbrück (Chapel Bridge) from the 14th century. It leads across the crystal clear lake, which reflects a magnif­i­cent mountain pano­rama.

A thou­sand steps lead to the pilgrimage chapel in Hergiswald, which was conse­crated in 1662. It is simple on the outside, but unique on the inside. The picture of the Black Madonna and a vaulted wooden ceiling with 324 sections amaze and enthuse art histo­rians. Kaspar Megglinger, the crea­tive artist, was partic­u­larly known in the Baroque period for his Marian symbolism. After all, the more than 300 images of the Virgin Mary are regarded as the only cycle in the world to have been designed in this form.

The rugged mountain massif south of Lucerne is Switz­er­land's most famous vantage point. From above you have a fantastic view of Lake Lucerne, Lucerne and the Central Alps. Earlier gener­a­tions regarded it not as a sublime local mountain, but as an uncanny place of dragons and ghosts that sent weather plunges and mudslides into the city. No wonder there are so many tales and legends about Pilatus. From Kriens a cable car leads up the mountain, from Alpnachstad a rack railway. The historic Hotel Pilatus-Kulm awaits you at the top.