 Poster: A snowHead
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Planning a trip to Saas Fee next year which will involve a railway transfer from either Zurich or Geneva.
Both are fairly lengthy (Geneva is about 40 mins shorter) so would like to know which journey offers the most pleasant / spectacular scenery.
thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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masmith,
I would imagine from Zurich..... but I have only done the bit from Lucerne to Andermatt. Check how many changes
are involved as well, if that matters to you
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Quote: |
Check how many changes
are involved as well, if that matters to you
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It certainly does .... have checked out all the details, including changes, on sbb.ch - 1 change is all that's necessary on both journey's (that is to change for bus in Visp or Brig). There are other schedules with more changes but as I'd be travelling with kids I'd be looking to keep it to a minimum.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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masmith,
Hmmnn...we changed 3 times to get down from Andermatt and I thought that was the line that goes through to Brig..
But I may be wrong
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brian
brian
Guest
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masmith, views across Lake Geneva to the Chablais are pretty spectacular.
Not sure what the route would be from Zurich to Brig but I remember the journey from Lucerne to Interlaken as being pretty special.
But it's Switzerland, you're not going to be short of scenery !
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brian
brian
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JT, just checked on SBB's site. There is a direct train from Zurich to Brig via Berne and Thun and then through the Lotschberg tunnel.
So ignore what I said above about Luzern - Interlaken 
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masmith, I've done the Geneva transfer a couple of times. The views over the lake are good and it's also quite good later on. Train is very straightforward with an hourly connection through to Visp. There is a 5 minute walk to the bus station and a short wait. Everything was, as you would expect, very punctual.
Can't tell you anything about the Zurich transfer, although when going from Zurich to Austria it was necessary to change at the main city station and there was a long wait. Zurich to Brig goes through the very long Lotschberg tunnel which I guess will detract from the scenery.
Whichever way you go, remember to take a trip to the bus station a day or two before you leave to reserve seats on the bus. At busy times they will put on an extra bus (1 fast, 1 stopping) to cope with the demand, or at least they did when we were there a couple of weeks ago.
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I have done the Zurich-Saas Fee trip by train/bus. Very pleasant - though if Geneva is equally accessible, I think I'd opt for that to reduce travel time.
One culture clash. The friendly girl at the Zurich rail desk at the airport saw I was a bit unhappy with the timetable she had handed me, and asked me what was wrong. I pointed out that there was only a 3 minute gap between train arrival and departure for a train change between Zurich and Brig. She replied that 3 minutes was plenty of time to me to walk between one side of the platform to the other. She didn't have my British mentality that it was best to allow at least 30 minutes for changes. She was spot on - the trip was fine.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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masmith, recently I did the whole trip by train: London - Paris - Lausanne - Visp, then bus up to Saas Fee.
I have also previously trained from Geneva to Visp when going up to Zermatt.
The trip round Lake Geneva is a delight, and then you notice the snow-topped mountains, and the journey can just whizz by.
But, beware, the train line out of Geneva to Visp/Brig is a popular commuter route. If you try this in the rush hour you may find yourself standing until Montruex, or even as far as Martigny. Try to avoid the rush-hour period.
If you do go from Geneva, getting off at Visp gives you a half hour wait for the bus: perfect time for a relaxing beer. The downside is a 10 minute walk to the bus station (not fun with lots of baggage), and the bus arriving with all the seats already taken. It may be better to get off at Brig.
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Nick Zotov,  The Swiss plan their trains to perfection!
Last year I needed to travel from Esjberg (Denmark) to Lauterbrunnen (Switz). I booked the ticket through Swiss Rail and the schedule that they gave me generally allowed around 5 mins for a connection. I was timed to leave Esjberg at 6am and arrive in Lauterbrunnnen at 9pm. It all came unstuck when one train was 30 mins late due to a fire on the track (we had to wait while the fire engines put it out 25 yrd ahead of us!!). This meant I missed the last train from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen. Swiss Rail happily refunded my taxi fare when I explained the problem. Try getting that service in Britain!!
masmith, my friends left Saas Fee yesterday, and they booked via Geneva. They had contemplated Basel, but the airfare was cheaper via Geneva. They certainly had a hassle free journey to Saas.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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If you have an extra half day you could get the boat from Geneva to Montreaux and pick up the train from there. That's even nicer.
The Zurich -> Interlaken route is nice (esp. after Bern) and I would say is in places on a par with the Geneva route, but the Geneva route is nicer for longer, if you see what I mean. However you don't have to go the timetabled route, if you want to go via Luzerne and on the very scenic route from there to Interlaken you can do - just make sure you tell the ticket people. If you buy the correct ticket (they do lots of different tourist or nultiple journey tickets that are very reasonable) then you can go any route you wish.
Used to be that you could fly internally to Sion, but I don't know how much extra that costs.
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