Switzerland’s Rhätische Bahn: If you go

Space precluded inclusion of “If You Go” information with June’s Trains Magazine feature on Switzerland’s Rhätische Bahn (the first of two parts), but for anyone who might like to visit, here are a few notes:

Getting there

From Zurich’s main train station, direct service on the Swiss Federal Railways, or SBB, to Chur — the RhB’s headquarters city — can take as little as 1 hour, 15 minutes. From the Zurich airport, it’s 1 hour, 34 minutes, with a train change at the main station.

Or you can do what I did, which is take the scenic route: Treno Gottardo to Göschenen, change to the meter-gauge Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn for the 10-minute trip to Andermatt; change to a MGB train to Disentis/Mustér; change at Disentis/Mustér to the RhB to Chur. Total time, 4 hours, 57 minutes. I was in no hurry, since I landed in Zurich about 7 a.m. and couldn’t get into my hotel in Chur until the afternoon. And it’s a very scenic trip.

Lodging and food

— Chur is the largest city served by the RhB, and the capital of the canton of Graubünden. The hotel where I stayed was serviceable but nothing special, so I’m not making a recommendation. There are few options near the main train station in Old Town, where I stayed. Some in Altstadt would be closer to the train station of the same name on RhB’s Arosa line, served hourly.

— In Scuol, the northwesternmost spot on the system, I stayed at the three-star — yes, this is the actual name — Typically Swiss Hotel Altana. This is the closest lodging to the Scoul-Tarasp station — although that makes it a good 15-minute walk into town. For those less enthused about hoofing it (or who would prefer to stay at a hotel in town), there is bus service from the station.

The room was well-appointed and spacious, with a good view. For me, that meant I was on the station side; you might prefer the other side, with a spectacular mountain view. It does have a restaurant, but I walked into town and had a great pizza at Pizzaria Da Taki. (A side note:  I once had a Swiss Tourism guide tell me the only good pizza in Switzerland is in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino — which is where he was from, making me immediately think of a similar claim by New Yorkers. The truth is there’s a lot of good Swiss pizza, because there are a lot of transplanted Italians. The pizza in Ticino is particularly good, though.)

— In Davos, I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn — I would have preferred something more Swiss, but the rate was too good to pass up, probably because I was in the offseason between summer and winter tourism. As I write this in February, the listed rate is now about 75% more. This was another long-walk location; there are two train stations in central Davos (Davos Platz and Davos Dorf), and this is almost exactly halfway between them. The hotel was fine, and there was, for at least one night, something to be said about a hotel that was a completely familiar experience. For dinner, I opted for ramen at the Golden Dragon, one of several restaurants at the Hotel Grisha, and holder of a Michelin Bib Gourmand Award (for dining value), which I didn’t know until later. That hotel is right by the main train station.

— The delightful mountain resort town of Pontresina is one of two junctions between the Bernina Line and the rest of the RhB system;  nearby St. Moritz is the other. Pontresina is far more charming and significantly less expensive than St. Moritz — which is just 9 minutes away by train, if you want to at least take a look at the jet-set ski resort. I stayed at the Hotel Müller, a long, steep uphill walk from the train station. The hotel will pick you up if you give them an arrival time, however. I probably had my two best meals of the entire trip in Pontresina — in part because I spent a bit more (knowing better where I stood in terms of budgeting). One was at the Steinbock Gastsutben at Hotel Steinbock, the village’s oldest hotel (I had the barley soup, a regional specialty, and that night’s special, but do not recall now what it was). The other was at Savur, the restaurant at the Schloss Hotel and Spa. I had a pasta there, but it was practically worth eating there just for the bread basket before the meal.

— Virtually all of these hotels offer breakfast, sometimes as a part of the room rate and sometimes for an extra fee. I tended to take advantage when it was included and skip it when it wasn’t; most of them offer just a cold buffet. (High-end hotels, which I have stayed in on Swiss Tourism media tours, as well as the Special Interest Tours/Trains tour in 2023, often have extensive hot-food buffets.) Yes, Swiss food is expensive; no, they don’t like hearing about it. For both cost and time reasons, I often just grabbed food at the convenience stores that exist at most major stations across Switzerland. Luckily, it’s pretty good.

— Generally, the Travel Switzerland website is a good planning resource. And I booked all my rooms through either Hotels.com or Booking.com. Their listings overlap but are not identical, and prices for the same hotel can differ between the two sites.

Other notes

If you’re going to ride either of the marquee tourist trains on the RhB — the Glacier Express or Bernina Express — make your plans way, way in advance. In 2024, they ran at 97% and 95% of capacity, respectively. The good news is that local trains also cover both routes, and those are cheaper, generally have equipment with windows that open for photography (not true on the Glacier Express), and — at least in the offseason or shoulder seasons — are fine for walk-up riders. (I am told that during the peak season, even the local trains on the Bernina Line can sometimes be packed to the point of turning away riders.) Covering the entire Glacier Express route by local trains would require multiple train changes, as well as use of two railroads, the other being the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn.

I have mentioned this previously in the magazine, but the single greatest tool for visitors is the Swiss Travel Pass, which covers virtually all trains (for tourist-specific operations like the Glacier Express, it will only get you a discount), as well as buses and streetcars across Switzerland’s amazingly interconnected transit network. The pass also will get you museum discounts. Information is available at the Travel Switzerland website; purchases can be made here.

Oh, and whenever you go, pack layers. In September, I encountered temperatures (Fahrenheit) from the 70s to the 20s, with one day of significant snow. (I had to supplement my clothing a little bit in Davos, which you would think would be a costly undertaking — but it had an H&M that was perfect for the task).

And, as with all travel, if something goes wrong, roll with it. One of my train trips was disrupted by downed catenary caused by the aforementioned snowstorm. But the resulting bus ride gave me a story I would not have otherwise.

— For information on the Rhätische Bahn’s offerings for railfans, please see this article. A two-part look at the company’s shops is available here and here.