Characterized as slow-moving rivers of solid ice, Switzerland’s glaciers carve broad valleys over eons, create river headwaters where they terminate and are indicators of rising earth temperatures. The largest glaciers are also magnificent to behold, snaking downward below snow-capped mountains like striped mega-reptiles. While Swiss trains do not take you directly to glaciers, you can view the white wonders from a distance by rail, get closer on an aerial cable car, or, where possible, traverse the icy flows on foot.
Jungfrau Railway
- Travel to a pinnacle of Europe on the Jungfrau Railway, a cogwheel all-season train. For 50 minutes, the rail cars click-clack from Kleine Scheidegg up and through a long tunnel to two stations in the tunnel. At the inside stops, windows built into the mountainside let you to peer at glaciers and alpine scenes as a primer for your final destination, the highest railroad station in Europe. At 11,333-feet elevation, the Jungfraujoch station is dubbed the Top of Europe, where you disembark to viewing areas, a restaurant and hotel. For the ultimate experience, ride an elevator up to Sphinx Observatory for panoramic scenes of the Aletsch Glacier, the longest in the Alps at 14 miles. Whether you stay in the comfort of the station’s trappings, or elect to go on an organized hike over the glacier, the snowy sights and craggy heights will take your breath away, if the altitude doesn't.
The Gornergrat Bahn
- The Gornergrat Bahn cogwheel railway climbs from the ski village of Zermatt to just over 10,000 feet elevation to the Gornergrat station. This is the second highest railway in Europe. From the open-air station, look down on the Gorner Glacer, the second longest in the Alps, and up at more than two dozen mountain peaks rising above 13,000 feet with their nascent glaciers. Clear days reveal the Matterhorn, of which some of the best views are back in Zermat. This car-free town, easily accessed by rail from Zurich, entices with its storybook allure and can capture your heart as much as any fairy tale illustration you remember as a child.
- The Glacier Express
- One of the most well-known east-west train trips in Switzerland, the Glacier Express, is a misnomer of sorts. The private train doesn’t climb up to the highest and longest glaciers, but lumbers about 20 miles an hour for a seven-hour trip from posh St. Moritz to the Swiss-perfected ski village of Zermatt. But speed is not your ally on this rail adventure. The train meanders through the “Grand Canyon” of Switzerland and by substantial numbers of glaciers in the heart of the Alps. The floweret valleys, lazy brown cows and passing Swiss chalets that look like big cuckoo clocks will make you wish that this train ride could last a lifetime. En route, if you can’t stand leaving the glacier picture show for the dining car, you can always order service at your seat.
Bernina Express
- Cross the glacier-laden Swiss Alps from north to south on the Bernina Express and enter a UNESCO section of the track, with postcard-setting vistas of valleys, tunnels, lakes, stone bridges and glaciers galore. The train originates at Chur or Davos, crosses the Bernina Pass and ends in Tirano, Italy. You can stop at the ski destination of St. Moritz, site of the 1928 and 1948 Winter Olympics, and experience hikes with experienced mountain guides across the Pers and Morteratsch glaciers.
Zentralbahn Luzern-Engelberg Express
- Catch the Zentralbahn Luzern-Engelberg Express at Lucerne and be whisked in 47 minutes to Engleberg and the Mt. Titlus ski area. Enter an icy world, the very heart of a glacier, the Ice Grotto by way of a revolving aerial cable car. The “Rotair” turns for 360-degree views of the Engleberg valley behind and ahead toward a deep ice crevasse. Walk through a 400-foot tunnel of outlandish ice formations and witness mystifying blue light passing through glacial ice. While the ice cave may provide a moving experience, this isn’t the kind of glacier where you experience a glacier moving. It shouldn’t leave you too cold.
