My husband and I were travelling in Switzerland, and as usual we were travelling on a train.
My husband is a train fanatic, and while I don’t have the same enthusiasm as he does I do agree train travel is the best way to get around Europe. My husband had bought a rail pass for Switzerland, which is a good deal if you plan to travel a lot. One thing we found is that museums fees are often covered with a rail pass, as well as other tourist attractions.
While simply enjoying a rail journey from Zurich, we noticed a small tram/train thing going up a steep mountain nearby. My husband said “Let’s see if that’s covered by the rail pass! We’ll stop on the way back.” The attraction had it’s own stop, so it was going to be easy to check it out after a quick lunch.
We travel on a budget, any extra travel after business travel is done using frequent flyer miles for hotel rooms. We were happy to find that our rail pass included a “buy one, get one free” promotion for the trip up the mountain.
We took the paid for our ticket and got on the train but only after reading that this unusually steep train to the mountain top was built in over a 100 years ago by Italian workers that had been building tunnels. This train was old. The cable pulling the train to the top of the mountain was old.
However, while the train was very steep and I am not a fan of heights, I was able to handle the train. Then we got off, and realized we needed to go on a second train to complete the ride to the top. The second ride was a bit more nerve wracking for me.
Still, it was well worth the shaking knees for the view from the top. It was a clear day and I was taken aback at how high up I was, and also just how beautiful the view was. My husband and I were just happy looking for about an hour, before deciding to brave the trip back down.
I enjoyed seeing the hikers that had made it up without any help from the trains. Also the paragliders jumping off, that came up on the train with us, were worth viewing if not joining.
The wonderful weather made this an indulgence even my very frugal husband was glad to pay for, and would gladly do so again.
Video of the view..
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Categories: Travel
Stunning. I’m afraid you won’t find may perks with rail travel in the UK but most museums are free to enter anyway as are most art galleries. Wales has some stunning views from mountain railways and some pretty villages but I have to confess not much would compare to what you’ve seen.
I wish you much fun in your future travels together.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx