Glacier Express: The Ultimate Alpine Escape
Since moving to Europe nearly four years ago, beautiful train journeys have become a part of my life. But this one train journey always had a special spot on my bucket list, and we finally found the perfect moment to strike it off the list. As someone who believes that “the journey is my home,” the Glacier Express was a truly unforgettable experience!
After a life-changing trip to India, we chose Switzerland as our first destination as husband and wife. We have been meaning to travel to Switzerland since a long time, and we decided it was finally time to indulge in a dream trip—after all, having a simple, budget-friendly wedding was finally paying off! :D
For this trip, we had a special experience in mind: spending half a day on what’s often described as one of the “most picturesque train journeys in the world”. As someone who loves watching the world unfold through train windows, I was especially excited for my own version of the Hogwarts Express experience. The Glacier Express, known as the “slowest express train in the world”, connects the ski towns of St. Moritz and Zermatt. We hopped on at Chur, and buckled up for a 6-hour scenic ride to Zermatt. The start of the trip was not very smooth. Despite spending weeks researching how to make the most of the Glacier Express experience, the seats we had reserved ended up being a bit too far apart. My seperation anxiety kicked in, but thankfully, the staff helped us (and another couple) out, so we only had to sit apart for 10 minutes. Phew!
The views started getting impressive the moment we boarded the train, but the first highlight was the Swiss Grand Canyon. We could see gigantic rock formations peeping through the clouds as sunlight bathed the riverbanks. This took me back to my trip to Ladakh (India). As we continued our journey, the landscape tranformed into a winter wonderland-where every inch of land we could see was covered with a thick layer of snow. The Alps were beautiful, feeling almost like a pocket-sized version of the Himalayas :D
We were slowly reaching the Oberalp pass, the highest point of our journey. To reach this point, the engine pulled up the train to a height of 2033 metres above sea level with the help of a cog wheel. We made our way to the windows near the compartment door, because they were the only ones that could be opened for an unobstructed view. The sight was breathtaking—quite literally, thanks to the icy gusts of wind! This was the most mesmerizing part of the journey. Next, we reached Andermatt, a charming little ski town that looked straight out of a Disney movie. From our train window, it felt like we were passing through Arendelle (the town in Frozen). Two women sitting across from us disembarked in Andermatt, though their seats were reserved till Zermatt. In an incredibly kind (and surprising) gesture, they offered their seats to us, and for the final three hours of our journey, we sat facing each other, soaking in every moment. Imagine this: sipping Swiss wine, indulging in Swiss chocolate, and watching the most beautiful scenery unfold outside our window. In that moment, life just couldn’t get any better!
The next station, Brig, was at a lower elevation. We could slowly see the landscape change from snow to autumn. Unfortunately, we don’t have many photos from this stretch because, well… the wine wasn’t going to drink itself! ;) We soon saw the sun setting over the Alps, and guessed that we were nearing our final destination: Zermatt. Honestly, we had assumed that after six hours on a train, we might start getting restless. But instead, we spent most of our time staring out of the window in disbelief, wondering whether the views were even real. A lot of planning went into making this trip happen, and I’ve shared some useful tips here to help you plan your own adventure through this winter wonderland.
We reached Zermatt just after sunset, and while the experience had been nothing short of magical, I couldn’t shake the bittersweet feeling. Ever since moving to Europe, I had dreamt of riding the Glacier Express. It was everything I had hoped for, but now, it was over. And yet, as I reflected on the journey, one quote took on a whole new meaning for me: “Safar khoobsurat hai manzil se bhi” (translation: the journey is more beautiful than the destination).
Little did I know, the adventure was far from over. In the next few days, we were about to witness something that would justify the title we had given this trip from the very beginning: a dream trip.